~Wed~ Jun 28th 2006
SmartMoney has a list of ten things your supermarket won’t tell you. Though this was first published five years ago, it’s still informative:
- “We trick you into paying higher prices.” Frugal folk preach “buy in bulk”. But supermarkets have caught on. Now bulk isn’t always cheaper. “We found proof at a store near the SmartMoney offices, where a 12-ounce bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup cost $2.09, while a 24-ounce bottle was $4.65; a quart of Lactaid milk was selling for $1.79, while a half-gallon was $3.85.” Always check the unit pricing.
- “Our ’specials’ are anything but.” Some stores raise prices on advertised specials. Coupons are often for more expensive brands. Your best defense: shop at one store and learn its prices.
- “Everybody pays a price for our ‘loyalty’ program.” You either pay higher prices by not joining, or you pay with your privacy by signing up. Some experts advise using a fake name when joining these programs.
- “Our stores might make you sick…” Insects, rats, and other vermin are a problem for any place that handles a large quantity of food.
- “…and if they don’t, our employees will.” Cleanliness programs cost money. And people are lazy, in the grocery industry just as anywhere else. Surveys have found that nearly half of all deli and meat workers engage in unsafe practices.
- “Federal guidelines? Who cares?” There’s no uniform standard for supermarket safety. Some of the guidelines are thirty years old, and there’s little enforcement.
- “‘Fresh’ is a relative term.” “Except for regulations about baby food and infant formula, there are no federal laws mandating product dating. In most states a retailer may legally sell foods beyond the date on the package as long as the product can be considered unspoiled and safe to eat. Even repackaging is legal.”
- “We like to play head games.” Remember my review of Why We Buy? Supermarkets use many subtle ploys to get you to buy more than you plan. Sometimes not even shopping with a list will save you.
- “Our product offerings are rigged.” Supermarkets make more profits from manufacturers than from consumers. Manufacturers pay “slotting fees” to have their products placed in desirable locations. Supermarkets say these fees keep costs low for customers, but the manufacturers say the fees result in increased wholesale prices.
- “Our scanners are a scam.” You’re overcharged more than you think. “Over the course of one year, [one man] patronized California supermarkets that give customers an item for free if the scanner rings up the wrong price. By year’s end, he says, he took home more than $4,000 in free good…”
Supermarkets want to make money. You want to save money. Sometimes it’s a battle of wills. Read the entire article for more details.
June 28th, 2006 at 11:36 am
This is a great summary for all the supermarket tricks that they play on you. My post of
checking your receipts go over a few other tricks that supermarkets can play on you, such as putting look-alike and more expensive items along with on-sale items.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Great tips. I am in love with the calculator on my cellphone. I broke it out just the other day to unit price between two brands of orange juice on sale. Love, love, love it.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Heh.
I’ve stood in the peanut butter aisle before, mentally calculating the cost-per-serving on various brands and sizes of peanut butter.
June 29th, 2006 at 12:30 am
I was watching a documentary from FrontLine about Walmart this afternoon.
They have an interesting system they use to lure customers to buy their expensive items. They have a lead item for a category - say a microwave for $30. Then you say - wow that’s cheap. Then you keep walking. 10 feet later you are in the microwave section looking at the premium brand microwaves that are much more expensive.
But you still have the suggestion in your mind that their microwaves were cheap. But according to a former manager there it isn’t the case. Some of those higher priced items are much more expensive than what you would get outside.
Very smart tactic! The same tactic Old Sam Walton used when he first started.
June 29th, 2006 at 6:00 am
[…] Choose a grocery store and learn its prices. As I mentioned yesterday, supermarkets monkey with prices. You can’t be sure a sale price is really a deal unless you know what the store usually charges. Once you learn the prices at one store, you can save even more by adding another supermarket to the mix. Learn its prices, too, and note how they compare to the first. Your goal should be to recognize bargains. You want to know when those Lucky Charms are really on sale. […]
June 29th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Why not push for better food regs in the US?
Here in the UK the major supermarkets - Tesco being one of them, who I gather are expanding in the US - label the shelves with theunit pricing as a matter of course.
There are also laws regarding promotions - any price reduction must be backed up by proof that the higher price was genuine and on sale at a given location.
Keep an eye on Tesco, if they don’t do those things in the US, demand them, because the store has these practises elsewhere. Once you’ve got Tesco doing it, the market (you guys) will force WalMart etc (speaking of whom their UK arm, Asda also have these practises) to follow suit.
Go for it…
June 29th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
[…] Attention, visitors from The Consumerist: This is not the article you’re looking for. Here is the post on Ten Things Your Supermarket Won’t Tell You. This piece is interesting, too, though. Come back and read it when you’ve finished! […]
June 29th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
Thanks for the insights about SM article. Yours is a thought provoking post - but there seems to be somewhat less here than meets the eye. Here’s my take. I guess I fall into the category of someone who shops pretty much in one place (Whole Foods) and am wise to their tricks! I’m not looking forward to the day I get outsmarted by product placements!
June 30th, 2006 at 8:10 am
[…] Cribcage took exception to a comment I posted yesterday. In the further discussion of things your supermarket won’t tell you, I quoted a Digg-user who works at a grocery store: Since I have started changing prices I have noticed a lot of tricks that Safeway uses. […] Everything at a grocery store is close to double the price of Walmart or Target. […]