Supermarkets and Grocery Chains

[Northern Boy]

I don`t know about Oz, the States or the European nations But what I`ve noticed the last month or so is that many chains are now selling things in bunch`s rather than individually . Bread 3 for $5.49 as well as many other things and one chain has dollars daze where certain things go on sale fro a buck. They have been doing this dollar daze for a while now but lately I`m seeing people starting to stock up on things like buying whole cases of soup brown beans and such. Today at Walmart 2 cases of bottled water 24 bottles per case for $5.00 at 9:30 this morning they had 2 skids full by the front door I picked up a couple of cases . At 6:00 pm I went back to get something else and the two skids were almost empty. When i see things like this its to me anyways , like quietly they are telling us to stock up with out really coming out and saying it

[elsinorelore]

Funny, Ive been having the exact same thoughts!!! A friend in the States just told me she bought up cases of soup on sale, and water, and etc..., I personally have noticed more things in "packs" on sale here as well,(which doesnt seem to be a normal thing here in Switzerland) it has me pondering the same things you mentioned!!! Are some of us just picking up on it, or are we paranoid??? hahaha I dont know!!!!!

[pineal-pilot-in merkabah]

yes lots of stuff in the uk for £1 , lots of buy 1 get 2 free ect.. food definatley coming down in price. this is to be expected as we are in a delfationary period. i noticed a 45kg sack of white rice was £42 last september now its $60.. less rice to go around as 1 billion people in poor countires rely on it for staple perhaps?

[Lorien]

I think the reason behind this is simply due to inventory issues. Do to the downturn in the economy consumers aren't purchasing as much. This causes overages in warehouses and in an effort to rid themselves of old stock and make room for the new they are trying to sell it off at low prices.

[Steve_A]

Hi Northern Boy,

What you describe is a tactic called 'selling up'. If you ever go to a burger joint and the assistant asks you if you would like extra fries, or a giant Coke etc. it is the same thing.

Supermarkets will be doing this to try and create more revenue in a shorter timespace. Selling a case of soup, although being cheaper will be more profitable for a supermarket because of the less time the products are kept on the shelves. Once the product has gone, they can replace it with other products and try and sell those as quickly as possible also. This creates a higher turnover (not profit) which keeps the cashflow up so the business can pay the constant operating costs, like wages, energy, rents etc.

In this time of economic crisis, this selling up, I imagine has become more evident as the need for this cash flow will be heightened as the consumer tightens their purse strings.

You are right to see this recently over the last few months, as the economic crisis seems to be getting hold.

I remember being in the UK last year when Woolworths (UK) went under and in an already depressed city just before Christmas EVERY shop had massive discounts to try and keep revenues up.

Great for the consumer in the short term, difficult for the shop owner.

Best regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by Northern Boy

I don`t know about Oz, the States or the European nations But what I`ve noticed the last month or so is that many chains are now selling things in bunch`s rather than individually . Bread 3 for $5.49 as well as many other things and one chain has dollars daze where certain things go on sale fro a buck. They have been doing this dollar daze for a while now but lately I`m seeing people starting to stock up on things like buying whole cases of soup brown beans and such. Today at Walmart 2 cases of bottled water 24 bottles per case for $5.00 at 9:30 this morning they had 2 skids full by the front door I picked up a couple of cases . At 6:00 pm I went back to get something else and the two skids were almost empty. When i see things like this its to me anyways , like quietly they are telling us to stock up with out really coming out and saying it

[Steve_A]

Hi pineal-pilot-in merkabah,

The Pound shops seem to be coming popular in the UK, especially running up to Christmas, although I have seen items that are useable all year round.

The products in these shops come from various sources, from RTA's where the cargo is insured and written off. Just as an accident damaged car, it gets sold off cheaply. Also marketing disasters, such as white Coca Cola that I saw in the UK some years ago and Cherry Coke. Also items that are reaching their sell by date.

The British market is a prime market, which means that only the best products are sold to the consumer at a premium price. For the majority of the Brits this has become the norm. Over here in Brazil, for example, they export mangos to Europe. Each mango has to be a certain size, weight, condition and needs to be polished. Over here mangos are almost free, but can be different sizes and weights and of course, are not polished, but in exchange for this lack of 'quality' are 95% cheaper.

Near to where my sister lives in the north of England there is a supermarket chain which sells 'mis-shapes', or products made in the UK that are not good enough to be sold in this prime market. I forget the name of this supermarket, but I was suprised to hear people say that it was embarrasing to shop there because the name of the supermarket appears on the plastic carrier bags. After all, what would the neighbours think?

You see what I mean when I say the prime market has become the 'norm' in the UK?

Best regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by pineal-pilot-in merkabah

yes lots of stuff in the uk for £1 , lots of buy 1 get 2 free ect.. food definatley coming down in price. this is to be expected as we are in a delfationary period. i noticed a 45kg sack of white rice was £42 last september now its $60.. less rice to go around as 1 billion people in poor countires rely on it for staple perhaps?

[burgundia]

no unusual changes in Poland in that matter....

[Dantheman62]

I think it's just healthy competition between stores, plus the fact that they're trying to get you to come in and buy something, like Steve says, "selling up".

[gscraig]

What Steve stated is dead on. In addition to that, there is also a growing demand for organic products through consumer awareness. This is also causing certain products to become less marketable due to their contents (ingredients). Therefore adding shelf life to these products and ultimately creating bulk and bargain offers to remove them. Grocery stores are making room for this demand and in some areas are now competing against the "all natural" store chains.

[avyaktam]

Here in the Netherlands another price war between chains started yesterday.