Grocery Tricks
Posted
Sat, 05/03/14
The other day while sitting around in a waiting room for an appointment, I began flipping through a large-print edition of Reader's Digest (February 2014 issue). One of the food-related articles caught my eye: Who Knew? 50 Secrets Your Grocer Won't Tell You or 50 Supermarket Tricks You Still Fall For.
Food experts, industry analysts, and store employees share their insider strategies on how to save money on groceries, stay healthy, and beat the supermarkets at their own game.
Here's just some of the tricks:
Grocery stores are very aware of the role that the senses play in marketing. When you walk in the door, you smell bread baking or rotisserie chicken roasting in the deli area because we know those smells get your salivary glands working. When you're salivating, you're a much less disciplined shopper.
The average consumer tends to remember the price of only four items: Milk, bread, bananas, and eggs. Ninety-five percent of shoppers have no idea what all the other items cost and don't know if they're getting a good deal when they buy them.
The produce department is at the front of the store because its bright colors put you in a good mood and inspire you to buy more. That's why I recommend that you start shopping in the middle of the store, with its bland boxes and cans.
Over 60 percent of shoppers off-load products as they check out. So supermarkets started making checkout lanes narrower, with less shelf space, which means it’s harder to ditch goods at the last minute.
People believe milk is located in the back of the store so that they have to walk through the aisles to get to it, but the real reason is simple logistics. Milk needs to be refrigerated right away; the trucks unload in the back, so the fridges are there so that we can fill the cases as quickly and easily as possible.
Some of the same cheeses displayed behind the deli counter are available in the dairy case. The packaging isn't as fancy, but they're much cheaper.
The mist that's sprayed on your fruits and veggies may make them look fresh, but it can make them rot faster. The water also adds to an item's weight, so make sure you shake off leafy greens.
In a supermarket, a good sale is anything that's half price. "Buy one, get the second one 50 percent off" discounts are not good sales - that's only 25 percent off each. Almost everything is reduced to 50 percent at some point.
Customers think that when they buy in bulk they end up with a better deal, but that's not always the case. In the produce department, individual peppers are almost always cheaper than those in the multi-packs, and loose avocados are usually cheaper than the ones grouped in mesh bags.
The ten-for-$10 promotion is one of the most effective. When a store does it, volume takes off, even if the promotion raises the price of something. We'll take an 89-cent can of tuna and mark it "ten for $10," and instead of buying six cans for 89 cents, people will buy ten for $10.
Do not assume that if something is displayed at the end of an aisle, it is a good deal. Often, it's not. Those end-caps are sold specifically to companies trying to promote a product.
Just because something is advertised in your grocery store circular doesn't mean it's on sale. There's a whole lot in there that's full price.
Grocery stores usually don't have the best milk prices. The milk at drugstores and convenience stores is typically priced 30 to 50 cents less per gallon; it may even be locally produced and hormone-free.
Do you like the hot pizza from the deli? It's likely the same store-brand pizza offered over in the freezer section for almost half the price per slice.
At the fresh seafood counter most products are labeled previously frozen in small type. Those same products are probably for sale in the frozen-food case for 40 percent less. Not only that, but you won't have to use them right away, since they haven't been thawed out.
When you buy fresh bread it comes in a brown paper bag. Why? Because the bread may go stale faster, sending you back to the store to buy more. A quick fix: Place loaves in airtight plastic bags as soon as you get home.
If you can, shop when the store is not busy. Studies show that most consumers buy more when the store is crowded because they subconsciously want to be part of the group. Mondays and Tuesdays are the best days to shop. Whatever you do, avoid weekends.
One of the best-kept secrets is that you get filet mignon much cheaper by buying whole T-bone steaks. Every T-bone has a small filet mignon on the bone, and a New York strip on the opposite side. The price difference can be $3 to $5 a pound.
I've known about many of the "secrets" for years, while others are fairly obvious. When it comes to money and retailers trying to lure it away from me, I can become hardcore. I never shop hungry and also pointedly ignore front-store displays, rarely if ever buying anything shoved at me the minute I walk through the door.
I tend to frequent grocery stores who offer the best prices on pet food. For example, I've recently taken to buying Gravy Train canned food for Rainee because it's sold as 2-for-$1. Luckily, she likes the variety. I stopped purchasing Alpo canned food because they charge .89-cents-per can. However, if Gravy Train were to go up in price I would likely buy something else again. It's a misnomer that most customers will buy something on sale and then like it so much they continue to purchase it even if the price increases. Wrong! If something I buy on a regular basis goes up, I simply don't get it anymore.
As for the notion that I'll be deterred from "off-loading" groceries at checkout because the lane is narrow couldn't be further from the truth. If I don't want something, I'll get rid of it even if I have to inconvenience people in line behind me. I wouldn't do it to be rude, but I won't be forced or be made to feel guilty into spending money on a product I don't want or need.
Tags: Grocery Stores
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