Supermarkets discussion

[Silver Cobra]

The stores are desperate to get you to visit them over someone else to sell all the party food, cakes, cards, wrapping paper, booze and so on - so it's okay to sell some veg at a loss. Given some supermarkets have some crazy profit margins on some things that people aren't price sensitive about, they'll do just fine.

Last year it got to the point that we were giving away the 8p veg for free on Christmas Eve. "Better that than sending it all to waste" is what I was told by the store manager.

 

[Darandio]

Last year it got to the point that we were giving away the 8p veg for free on Christmas Eve. "Better that than sending it all to waste" is what I was told by the store manager.

Happens every year. You'll quite often see a mountain of sprouts available to take for free on the 27th.

 

[philjo]

Our Morrisons only had 4 bags of carrots when I called in this afternoon. It wasn’t clear from the signage if these were the 5p ones or not. The till charged me 69p.
They did have a lot of loose carrots, far more then normal.
All of the other 5p veg bag displays were empty.

 

[Steddenm]

Our Morrisons only had 4 bags of carrots when I called in this afternoon. It wasn’t clear from the signage if these were the 5p ones or not. The till charged me 69p.
They did have a lot of loose carrots, far more then normal.
All of the other 5p veg bag displays were empty.

They are 69p without the More Card, 5p with.

 

[philjo]

They are 69p without the More Card, 5p with.

My More card was scanned and I got other price reductions after it was scanned.

 

[Lewisham2221]

Morrisons self scan tills absolutely baffle me. If an item is reduced/on offer sometimes it scans at the lower price.

Other times it scans at the higher price, but immediately shows the reduction e.g

Beans 0.50
Beans offer -0.25

Total 0.25

Then, other times, it scans at the higher price and continues to show only the higher price until you press "finish & pay" when it then applies some reductions.

It almost feels like it's a deliberate design feature to make it more difficult to keep track of discounted pricing so that you don't notice if any of the reductions aren't applied for whatever reason.

 

[Forty29]

Back to the cheap Xmas veg, l reckon it's old stock, last year the carrots amd parsnips from Tesco were wooden and looked as if been in cold storage conditions. The potatoes soaked up oil like a sponge so Xmas dinner last year was a bit disappointing. Their turkey was good though. Sprouts this year are excellent!

 

[AM9]

Back to the cheap Xmas veg, l reckon it's old stock, last year the carrots amd parsnips from Tesco were wooden and looked as if been in cold storage conditions. The potatoes soaked up oil like a sponge so Xmas dinner last year was a bit disappointing. Their turkey was good though. Sprouts this year are excellent!

I doubt if most of it is. Most supply chains in supermarket fresh vegetables are 'Just In Time' operations where old stock cannot be handled to any extent.
It's all about generating footfall as @jon0844 says, the veg on question is relatively low cast and a well greased path always exists between grower and store shelves so ignoring the potential for sales of higher priced items, the losses are minimal.

 

[johntea]

I was in Sainsburys at Leeds station the other night at 22:30 or so and the staff member was seemingly just scooping all the unsold bakery items into bin bags!

Perhaps there would be more sold if something like a croissant was £1 rather than £1.35 or whatever it is these days, I'm sure they used to be 60p a couple of years back...for the same price you can pick up a whole pack of donuts

 

[Halwynd]

I was in Sainsburys at Leeds station the other night at 22:30 or so and the staff member was seemingly just scooping all the unsold bakery items into bin bags!

Perhaps there would be more sold if something like a croissant was £1 rather than £1.35 or whatever it is these days, I'm sure they used to be 60p a couple of years back...for the same price you can pick up a whole pack of donuts

Funny you mention that... the Co-op sell a bag of 4 doughuts for £1.35, I think they used to be £1, but they are always flogging them off for 50p on yellow labels late-afternoon. I went in last week and they'd reduced the normal price to £1.05.

I suspect at £1.05 they're not selling at a loss, so was £1.35 just being slightly greedy? At the end of the day, a bag of doughnuts are 'take it or leave it', and clearly people were clearly leaving it.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Morrisons self scan tills absolutely baffle me. If an item is reduced/on offer sometimes it scans at the lower price.

Other times it scans at the higher price, but immediately shows the reduction e.g


Then, other times, it scans at the higher price and continues to show only the higher price until you press "finish & pay" when it then applies some reductions.

It almost feels like it's a deliberate design feature to make it more difficult to keep track of discounted pricing so that you don't notice if any of the reductions aren't applied for whatever reason.

Yes. I have found Morrisons receipt checking can be quite challenging. The worst is several reductions rolled into one reduction at the bottom of the receipt, on a large shop that can be challenging.

 

[jon0844]

Back to the cheap Xmas veg, l reckon it's old stock, last year the carrots amd parsnips from Tesco were wooden and looked as if been in cold storage conditions. The potatoes soaked up oil like a sponge so Xmas dinner last year was a bit disappointing. Their turkey was good though. Sprouts this year are excellent!

M&S this morning (queues to get in for opening time and marshalls in the car park) had loads of vegetables stacked up and they all looked super fresh.

It was manic (like a Xmas movie involving people rushing out to get that last present) so I can't see how anything gets to be old.

We got all the fruit and veg we needed - and came away spending £160. So I think they did okay!!

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Another factor in the veg pricing is the sheer volume involved at this time of year. This must help to keep storage costs down as turnover is so quick. And items like Brussels Sprouts and Parsnips, perhaps Swedes too, which sell in small volumes the rest of the year but do much better now allows for fairly accurate advance planning in the whole supply chain.

 

[ChrisC]

Funny you mention that... the Co-op sell a bag of 4 doughuts for £1.35, I think they used to be £1, but they are always flogging them off for 50p on yellow labels late-afternoon. I went in last week and they'd reduced the normal price to £1.05.

I suspect at £1.05 they're not selling at a loss, so was £1.35 just being slightly greedy? At the end of the day, a bag of doughnuts are 'take it or leave it', and clearly people were clearly leaving it.

The Co op has recently started selling all in store bakery items at half price after 6pm if you have a members card.

 

[1D53]

The Co op has recently started selling all in store bakery items at half price after 6pm if you have a members card.

Lidl do the same, as do some Tesco Express branches.

 

[Harpo]

Lidl do the same, as do some Tesco Express branches.

Beware the Lidl brownies. Absolute catnip if you have a sweet tooth.

 

[dgl]

I believe you have to apply the lidl discount in the app for the bakery to get the discount though.
Tesco also discount their loose baked goods after a certain time with a clubcard.

 

[Tester]

Tesco also discount their loose baked goods after a certain time with a clubcard.

I have had this (50% after 1900), and don't recall the clubcard requirement (I used one so can't say for sure).

I noticed that the 50% reduction was also applied to yellow label reduced bakery items - leading to some unexpectedly cheap things!

 

[Hadders]

I was in Sainsburys at Leeds station the other night at 22:30 or so and the staff member was seemingly just scooping all the unsold bakery items into bin bags!

Perhaps there would be more sold if something like a croissant was £1 rather than £1.35 or whatever it is these days, I'm sure they used to be 60p a couple of years back...for the same price you can pick up a whole pack of donuts

It's not the price that's the issue.

I'll bet that the store hasn't followed the bakery production plan correctly.

 

[Mojo]

I bought some Co-Op doughnuts the other day (they were also reduced as it was the evening) and they were absolutely rancid. In Waitrose or Sainsburys they’re impossible to get if you go after midday or so, they’re always sold out! Co-Op also seem to be taking the michael with the pricing, only giving you 4 in a bag compared to 5 for every other supermarket (except M&S who give you 4 also).

 

[stadler]

I bought some Co-Op doughnuts the other day (they were also reduced as it was the evening) and they were absolutely rancid. In Waitrose or Sainsburys they’re impossible to get if you go after midday or so, they’re always sold out! Co-Op also seem to be taking the michael with the pricing, only giving you 4 in a bag compared to 5 for every other supermarket (except M&S who give you 4 also).

Coop have always been a rip off with their pricing. I rarely go in there these days but every time i do i am shocked at the prices. People complain that Waitrose is expensive but Coop is far worse and even double the price for some things. I know that Coop is mostly a convinience shop format (they have very few large supermarkets left) but their prices are even more expensive than Sainsburys Local and Tesco Express which themselves are known to charge more than the large stores.

 

[Halwynd]

The Co op has recently started selling all in store bakery items at half price after 6pm if you have a members card.

Thanks for that... do you know if this replaces the yellow label offers?

I bought some Co-Op doughnuts the other day (they were also reduced as it was the evening) and they were absolutely rancid. In Waitrose or Sainsburys they’re impossible to get if you go after midday or so, they’re always sold out! Co-Op also seem to be taking the michael with the pricing, only giving you 4 in a bag compared to 5 for every other supermarket (except M&S who give you 4 also).

I only ever buy them from on impulse from the local Co-op, I didn't realise they were 5-packs everywhere else - yes they don't half take the mick with their pricing.

Coop have always been a rip off with their pricing. I rarely go in there these days but every time i do i am shocked at the prices. People complain that Waitrose is expensive but Coop is far worse and even double the price for some things. I know that Coop is mostly a convinience shop format (they have very few large supermarkets left) but their prices are even more expensive than Sainsburys Local and Tesco Express which themselves are known to charge more than the large stores.

I often whince at some of the prices at the Co-op. Fruit and veg is not usually too bad, and is good quality, but a lot of the rest is just profiteering. I just stick to the better deals or member offers and use Sainsbury's (a recent convert from Asda) for 95% of my shopping.

 

[125Spotter]

In Australia (I'm there now) there is a 'Scanning Code of Practice' which specifies that if an item scans higher than the shelf price, the item is free of charge (first item only if multiple items - others at correct price).

I seem to recall that decades ago Tesco voluntarily had a similar policy of refunding the full item in cases of overcharging.

one makes you take them as they have fitted gates which requires the receipt to be scanned in order to exit

I find supermarkets treating/suspecting me of being a criminal deeply vexing and offputting to the experience, to be honest. But perhaps it’s all about how times are changing; after all, I don’t find gates at stations to be irritating.

 

[Tester]

I seem to recall that decades ago Tesco voluntarily had a similar policy of refunding the full item in cases of overcharging.

Yes I recall that too.

 

[JKF]

The Co op has recently started selling all in store bakery items at half price after 6pm if you have a members card.

There are lots of different coop societies operating store groups, so that may not be universal. I haven’t noticed it in my local one although I don’t go in that often.

The local Parsons bakery chain does half price after 3pm which is handy for the afternoon school run, my kids get treated to cheap cakes on a Friday!

 

[JamesT]

There are lots of different coop societies operating store groups, so that may not be universal. I haven’t noticed it in my local one although I don’t go in that often.

Even more irritating is living somewhere that has more than one society operating. Then getting a time-limited voucher that doesn’t work in the nearest one.

 

[Ashley Hill]

We have two Co-op stores near us. One is a main store, the other is a smaller corner shop type which is a franchise. The franchise one can apparently choose to opt out of Co-op promotions. Both have miserable staff and only get used for emergencies.

 

[Peter Sarf]

I seem to recall that decades ago Tesco voluntarily had a similar policy of refunding the full item in cases of overcharging.


I find supermarkets treating/suspecting me of being a criminal deeply vexing and offputting to the experience, to be honest. But perhaps it’s all about how times are changing; after all, I don’t find gates at stations to be irritating.

Don't take it personally. The barriers are a catch all - as in they are there to check everybody regardless of who/what they are.
What is sad is it is a sign of the times that shoplifting is getting more common (rife in my view - just like fare evasion).

 

[AM9]

I seem to recall that decades ago Tesco voluntarily had a similar policy of refunding the full item in cases of overcharging.


I find supermarkets treating/suspecting me of being a criminal deeply vexing and offputting to the experience, to be honest. But perhaps it’s all about how times are changing; after all, I don’t find gates at stations to be irritating.

They aren't treating you as a criminal and I'm sure that you know that. Shops have plenty of experience of criminal activities in self-service shops, but a simple check on the way out helps to keep the cost of 'shrinkage' down for honest customers.

 

[stadler]

I just push the barriers open. I have never bothered with this new receipt scanning nonsense. These new supermarket checkout barriers are very light and just require a tiny amount of force. It beeps when you do that but most of the time the staff dont care or say anything. Unfortunately more and more branches of the big chains are getting these receipt scanning barriers.