# Coles Woolworths ALDI Scraper (`scrape-lads/au-grocery-scraper`) Actor

Coles, Woolworths and ALDI Australia prices, specials and unit prices in one dataset with the same columns. Reliable Coles scraping, store pricing by postcode, optional ingredients and nutrition.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrape-lads/au-grocery-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Scrape Lads](https://apify.com/scrape-lads) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 products

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

### What does Coles Woolworths ALDI Scraper do?

**Coles Woolworths ALDI Scraper** collects product prices, specials, unit prices and stock status from the three big Australian supermarkets in one run, **for the online catalogue or for the stores nearest any postcode**, with **identical columns for every store** so you can do grocery price comparison without any cleanup. It is a **Coles scraper**, a **Woolworths scraper** and an **ALDI Australia** scraper in one Actor: search by keyword, paste category or product links, or pull everything that is on special this week.

Coles is protected by Imperva bot detection, which is why most Coles scrapers fail a large share of runs. This Actor opens a real browser on an Australian residential connection once, then reads Coles' own data routes from inside that session, so the Coles part is the reliable part. Run it on the Apify platform for API access, scheduling, webhooks, integrations and monitoring.

### Why use this Australian supermarket scraper?

- **Grocery price comparison**: search "milk" once and get Coles, Woolworths and ALDI prices and per-100g or per-litre unit prices side by side.
- **Specials tracking**: find half-price items, multibuys and price drops, or schedule a weekly run and watch prices move.
- **Retail and brand analytics**: monitor how your products are priced, stocked and promoted across retailers.
- **Apps and deal sites**: feed a price-comparison app, newsletter or shopping list tool with fresh data through the API.

### How to scrape Coles, Woolworths and ALDI prices

1. Open the Actor and add **Search terms** such as `milk` or `tim tam`.
2. Pick the **Stores** to search (all three by default).
3. Optionally paste **Category, search or product URLs** from any of the three sites.
4. Turn on **Specials only** if you only want discounted products, and add **postcodes** to get prices from the stores near you.
5. Press **Start** and open the Price comparison view in the Output tab, or download the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `searchTerms` | Keywords, each searched at every selected store |
| `stores` | `coles`, `woolworths`, `aldi` |
| `startUrls` | Coles, Woolworths or ALDI search, category or product URLs |
| `specialsOnly` | Only products currently on special |
| `maxItemsPerQuery` | Cap per search term or URL (0 = everything) |
| `maxItems` | Cap for the whole run |
| `postcodes` | Postcodes or suburbs: each one prices the nearest Coles and Woolworths supermarket, and checks ALDI in-store stock. One set of rows per store |
| `includeDetails` | Adds ingredients, allergens, health star rating, country of origin and nutrition |
| `includeOutOfStock` | Keep or drop unavailable products |
| `aldiStoreId` | ALDI store used for the catalogue (ALDI prices are national) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Optional own proxy; an Australian residential proxy is built in |

Supported URLs: `coles.com.au/browse/...`, `coles.com.au/on-special/...`, `coles.com.au/search/products?q=...`, `coles.com.au/product/...`, `woolworths.com.au/shop/browse/...`, `woolworths.com.au/shop/search/products?searchTerm=...`, `woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/...`, `aldi.com.au/results?q=...`, `aldi.com.au/products/.../k/...`, `aldi.com.au/product/...`.

### Output

```json
[
  {
    "retailer": "woolworths",
    "productId": "36066",
    "name": "Arnott's Tim Tam Original Chocolate Biscuits 200g",
    "brand": "Arnott's",
    "size": "200g",
    "price": 4.5,
    "wasPrice": 6,
    "unitPrice": 2.25,
    "unit": "100g",
    "onSpecial": true,
    "specialType": "Save $1.50",
    "inStock": true,
    "category": "Pantry > Snacks & Confectionery > Biscuits & Crackers > Biscuits & Cookies",
    "productUrl": "https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/36066/arnott-s-tim-tam-original-chocolate-biscuits",
    "query": "tim tam"
  },
  {
    "retailer": "coles",
    "productId": "6634760",
    "name": "Arnott's Tim Tam Original Chocolate Biscuit Large Pack",
    "size": "365g",
    "price": 6.4,
    "wasPrice": 8,
    "unitPrice": 1.75,
    "unit": "100g",
    "onSpecial": true,
    "specialType": "Save $1.60",
    "inStock": true
  }
]
```

You can download the dataset in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

#### Data table

| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `retailer` | `coles`, `woolworths` or `aldi` |
| `productId` | Retailer product ID (ALDI: SKU) |
| `name`, `brand`, `size` | Product title, brand and pack size |
| `price`, `wasPrice` | Current price and previous price in AUD (when on special) |
| `unitPrice`, `unit` | Price per unit, e.g. 1.75 per `100g` |
| `onSpecial`, `specialType` | Special flag and type (Half price, Save $1.60, Multibuy, Super Saver) |
| `inStock`, `stockStatus` | Availability. For ALDI it is filled when `postcodes` are set and ALDI publishes stock for the item (Special Buys and limited lines) |
| `storeId`, `storeName` | The store the price was read from (null = online default price) |
| `category`, `categoryPath` | Department and category breadcrumb |
| `imageUrl`, `productUrl`, `barcode` | Image, product page and GTIN (Woolworths; Coles with `includeDetails`) |
| `details` | Only with `includeDetails`: ingredients, allergens, health star rating, country of origin, nutrition |
| `query`, `scrapedAt` | Search term or URL it came from, and timestamp |

### How much does it cost to scrape Coles, Woolworths and ALDI?

Pay per event: **$0.01 per run plus $1.50 per 1,000 products** ($0.0015 per product row), no matter which supermarket they come from. Platform usage is included in the price.

- 100 products from Coles, Woolworths and ALDI: about $0.16
- 1,000 products: about $1.51
- With `postcodes`, each store gets its own rows, so 3 postcodes x 100 products = 300 rows (about $0.46)

Set a maximum cost per run in the run options and the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

### Tips

- Use specific search terms; each term is capped by `maxItemsPerQuery`.
- To compare one product across stores, keep all three stores selected and use the Price comparison view.
- **Store pricing:** add `postcodes` to read each store's own prices. The same Tim Tam pack was $5.70 at Woolworths Barangaroo Metro and $4.50 at Woolworths Perth St Georges Terrace in our tests, and Coles ranges differ by state too. Rows multiply by the number of postcodes, so start with one or two. ALDI prices are national.
- Turn on `includeDetails` for ingredients, allergens and nutrition. Coles and ALDI need one extra request per product, so those runs are slower.
- Schedule the Actor weekly with `specialsOnly` to track the new catalogue specials.

### FAQ, disclaimers and support

**Is it legal to scrape supermarket prices?** This Actor only collects publicly visible product and price information. You are responsible for using the data in line with the retailers' terms and applicable law.

**Why is `inStock` often null for ALDI?** ALDI Australia does not sell groceries online. It publishes a per-store stock level only for Special Buys and limited lines, which the Actor reads when you set `postcodes`. Core range items have no stock data.

**Does it use store-specific pricing?** Yes, for Coles and Woolworths: each postcode is matched to the nearest supermarket and you get that store's shelf price, was price and stock. ALDI prices are national.

Found a bug or want a custom solution? Open an issue in the Issues tab.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Products to search for, e.g. "milk", "weet-bix", "chicken breast". Each term is searched at every store selected below, so you get the same products side by side for price comparison. Provide search terms, URLs below, or both.

## `stores` (type: `array`):

Which supermarkets to search. URLs below always go to the store they belong to.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Paste any mix of Coles, Woolworths and ALDI Australia links: category pages (coles.com.au/browse/..., coles.com.au/on-special, woolworths.com.au/shop/browse/..., aldi.com.au/products/.../k/...), search result pages, or single product pages.

## `specialsOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only return products that are on special right now (half price, multibuy, price drops, ALDI Super Savers).

## `maxItemsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Stop each search term or category (per store) after this many products. 0 = everything (a big category can be thousands of products).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap for the whole run across all stores. 0 = no cap.

## `postcodes` (type: `array`):

Prices and stock differ by store. For each postcode or suburb (e.g. 2000, 6000, Bondi) the Actor picks the nearest Coles and Woolworths supermarket and reads that store's own prices, and the nearest ALDI for in-store stock of Special Buys. Each store gets its own rows. Leave empty for the online default prices.

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Adds a details object (ingredients, allergens, health star rating, country of origin, nutrition table where the store publishes it). Coles and ALDI need one extra request per product, so runs are slower.

## `includeOutOfStock` (type: `boolean`):

Turn off to drop products the store marks as unavailable.

## `aldiStoreId` (type: `string`):

ALDI service point used for the ALDI catalogue (the website's default is G452). ALDI prices are national, so you rarely need to change this.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Coles blocks datacenter IPs, so Coles requests use an Australian residential proxy. The Actor already ships with one; only set this if you want to use your own proxy.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "milk",
    "tim tam"
  ],
  "stores": [
    "coles",
    "woolworths",
    "aldi"
  ],
  "specialsOnly": false,
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 50,
  "maxItems": 0,
  "includeDetails": false,
  "includeOutOfStock": true,
  "aldiStoreId": "G452",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `products` (type: `string`):

No description

## `specials` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "milk",
        "tim tam"
    ],
    "stores": [
        "coles",
        "woolworths",
        "aldi"
    ],
    "maxItemsPerQuery": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrape-lads/au-grocery-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "milk",
        "tim tam",
    ],
    "stores": [
        "coles",
        "woolworths",
        "aldi",
    ],
    "maxItemsPerQuery": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrape-lads/au-grocery-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "milk",
    "tim tam"
  ],
  "stores": [
    "coles",
    "woolworths",
    "aldi"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 50
}' |
apify call scrape-lads/au-grocery-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,scrape-lads/au-grocery-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/GJKeyOHFeQj02opRD/builds/WTMkszHuBe1GgISIa/openapi.json