Grocery prices in-store, pickup or same-day delivery: What NBC's national experiment found

NBC Connecticut Responds teamed up with 12 NBC stations across the U.S. and TODAY to see if grocery prices were the same, regardless of if you bought them in-store, online for store pickup or same-day delivery.

We went shopping on the same day at Walmart, Target and Whole Foods and bought the same exact items: milk, eggs, butter, cheese, bread, coffee, cereal, orange juice, fresh meat, vegetables, pasta and tomato sauce.

When we compared prices, we found that retailers charged us the same amount, whether we bought in-store, ordered online for store pickup, or same-day delivery.

For home delivery, we did pay an additional fee ranging from $9.95-$13.95 and some retailers asked us to tip the drivers.

As for the total cost, Connecticut came in as one of the cheapest grocery orders in our survey. The Walmart we shopped at ranked 5^th cheapest, similar to greater Boston and Cleveland.

At Target, we also ranked 5^th, about 9% cheaper than the most expensive Target outside of San Jose, CA.

Our Whole Foods ranked 3^rd cheapest in the survey, with prices similar to Richmond, VA and northern New Jersey.

In a statement, Walmart said in part that most of its stores use the same prices, but “certain commodities…can vary regionally due to localized cost and distribution differences.”

Target told us in part that its prices can differ from store to store due to local promotions and competition.

Whole Foods said in part that its prices may vary due to “region-specific promotions, regulatory compliance, [and] variances in transportation and operating costs.”

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