Website listing supermarket prices may help fight inflation

ISTANBUL

A new website has enabled consumers to browse and compare prices for up to 50,000 items sold at chain supermarkets, with officials hoping it will aid in combating steep price hikes and inflation.

The searchable website, marketfiyati.org.tr, lists the current prices of goods sold by seven chain supermarkets, including discount grocers, across various categories such as food, fruit, meat, fish, chicken, dairy and cleaning products.

Officials believe the application will exert “significant pressure” on chain markets to help combat inflation and limit exorbitant price increases.

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) initially developed the website for the use of researchers at the Central Bank and other government agencies. Now, it is open to consumers to help them find the cheapest product and the nearest supermarket.

The website allows consumers to compare prices across retailers, namely Migros, A101, BİM, CarrefourSA, Hakmar, Şok and Türkiye Tarım Kredileri Kooperatifleri.

“We made the website, which is the product of the work we conducted through TÜBİTAK, available for the use and access of all our citizens,” Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır wrote on social media platform X.

“Everyone will be able to see and compare the prices of nearly 50,000 products at chain supermarket branches,” he said.

TÜBİTAK’s Informatics and Information Security Research Center BİLGEM has developed algorithms by applying various methods to clean outliers and improve data quality on the incoming data.

The filtered data is then shared in real-time on CimriMarket and MarketTamam applications.

Officials said the "Market Price" mobile application will soon be available for access.

When consumers use their power to shop consciously and choose the market that sells the product at the best price, competitors are forced to follow suit, they said, adding that the website will help consumers manage their household budget more effectively.

Türkiye's annual inflation rate dropped to a 19-month low of 42.12 percent in January.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 3.86 percent monthly in January for an annualized increase of 41.8 percent.

The monthly and annual increases in fresh fruit and vegetables were 3.4 percent and 62.1 percent, respectively, according to the latest official inflation data.

The price of processed food products rose by 4.9 percent month-on-month and 39.4 percent year-on-year.

Last week, the Central Bank lifted its inflation forecast for 2025 from a previous 21 percent to 24 percent, while keeping it unchanged at 12 percent for next year.