Panorama - on now

Are consumers really "confused"? I can't help but feel this is a case of people thinking they're fighting for a cause which is largely imagined.

I only shop at Waitrose for my home groceries, and occasionally pick up some things for lunch at the Sainsbury's near my work. I don't even notice what's on special in-store - do people really care that much? I buy what I want, not what's on special. Am I wrong to assume this is how most people shop?

I realise this won't necessarily be the case if you're don't have much money, but that's not the majority.

I do despise Tesco though, and won't set foot in one. Their fresh produce is terrible.
 
In my case I know what I want when I go shopping and am very rarely swayed by promotions on things I do not need, but I will browse the different brands of certain products that I do want to get the best deal as I'm not bothered about sticking with a particular brand when it comes to some items,
thats when the misleading offers annoy me, the unit price of items is always written in the smallest type they can and is often not accurate on short term offers.
I have even had to kneel down on the shop floor to read a price label on the bottom shelf to make my comparisons, why should I have to do that?
 
onona said:
Are consumers really "confused"? I can't help but feel this is a case of people thinking they're fighting for a cause which is largely imagined.

I only shop at Waitrose for my home groceries, and occasionally pick up some things for lunch at the Sainsbury's near my work. I don't even notice what's on special in-store - do people really care that much? I buy what I want, not what's on special. Am I wrong to assume this is how most people shop?

I realise this won't necessarily be the case if you're don't have much money, but that's not the majority.

I do despise Tesco though, and won't set foot in one. Their fresh produce is terrible.
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With all due respect..... I think you may be wrong to assume.

These places thrive on the need, (and sometimes greed), of ordinary people. From the low-income family to the something for nothing brigade, there are always people looking to save money.
Blatant misleading advertising is rife in these places and often it is those who can least afford it who are being conned.

Yes, before you say it, maybe they aren't always the sharpest knives in the box as it's obvious if you look at the labels. Nevertheless it should be outlawed and examples should be made.

I had the misfortune to be caught out in one of these places a couple of weeks ago - I looked at the point of sale material and not at the individual shelf stickers. I got shafted for 40p - not a lot you may say, however, after numerous telephone conversations with 'Customer Services', and my ranting at them.....nothing will change - and the next person will be treated the same. Into their multi-million pound profit pots. Incidentally they didn't bother their arses locally to respond to my complaint.

40p to me isn't a lot - but to a low income family.............. it's the principal.

I don't have to look for the bargains - I am lucky, but the wife shops in Aldi because the prices are the prices and the quality is better. We used to shop in Netto - because, at one time, that was all we could afford.
Again, not everyone can afford to 'pick up some things for lunch'

And yes, this is one of my soapboxes:bang:
 
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well I did pick up a litre of bells in Sainsburys today at £16... (though I am sure it was £13 last week).... and then walked past the 2 for £20 offer... hmm.. 2 x 70cl bottles of bells for £20, so that's £14.28 per litre

Bar stewards.

I did leave the 1 L bottle in the middle, hoping, others would pick up on it....
 
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Lynton said:
well I did pick up a litre of bells in Sainsburys today at £16... (though I am sure it was £13 last week).... and then waked past the 2 for £20 offer... hmm.. 2 x 70cl bottles of bells for £20, so that's £14.28 per litre

Bar stewards.

I did leave the 1 L bottle in the middle, hoping, others would pick up on it....
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Thats still pretty expensive for patio cleaner.......
 
Lynton said:
well I did pick up a litre of bells in Sainsburys today at £16... (though I am sure it was £13 last week).... and then waked past the 2 for £20 offer... hmm.. 2 x 70cl bottles of bells for £20, so that's £14.28 per litre

Bar stewards.

I did leave the 1 L bottle in the middle, hoping, others would pick up on it....
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Happens all the time.

Tesco recently had milk on offer - 3 x 4pints for £3 - ran for quite a while. Then they had it in offer at 23p off - at £1.35 for 4 pints:shrug:

These places screw the supplier........and then screw the customer.

Felt sorry for the Customer Service person who took both barrels during my recent rantings:dummy:
 
I do shop at Tescos as its down the road and great for general stuff as they do have some good deals on, but will shop the majority of time at Waitrose. Fresh produce puts Tesco to shame, as well as the meat & fish.
 
cyclamens said:
40p to me isn't a lot - but to a low income family.............. it's the principal.
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40p to you and how many others per day? some individual supermarket branches will rake in literally millions of pounds per day at this time of year, how much of that is overcharging?
 
I don't think they rake in millions per day. They may well top a million or two per week on a busier store

I'm going to watch this show later. I'm a sucker for promotions.
However, I like to think I'm a bit of a savvy shopper....I *never* rely on POS for price (the big "SALE" or "DEAL" or "PRICE" signs, and *always* check the shelf edge label before buying.

I also often check the SEL for the amount per l/100g etc. So if it was £1 1k, it would be 10p per 100g. If they had an offer on, say, two 500g bags for £1.20, it would be 12p per 100g ;)
 
Marcel said:
I also often check the SEL for the amount per l/100g etc. So if it was £1 1k, it would be 10p per 100g. If they had an offer on, say, two 500g bags for £1.20, it would be 12p per 100g ;)
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This is the first thing I check. Every time, regardless of sale notices.
 
i loathe Sainsburys

example 1...built a huge store [despite locals petitions] in my market town Strathaven
greed greed as it certainly devastated the local butchers and baker who were well established here. Sainsburys couldn't care less

example 2...again in Strathaven.....petrol is 5p/litre dearer than Hamilton town
conclusion - screw people where no competition

example 3...found a small pet shop for bird seed
Peanuts = £1.65. Sainsburys here £3.25

did i say i loathe Sainsburys..?
 
I dont get the tesco/sainsburys haters. No-one is forcing people to use these stores. If the local butchers/bakers etc... is any good it will do fine regardless. I do find Tesco convenient even though I much prefer Waitrose - they are open 24/7 (or the express ones very late) and if they charge a rip off price for something well, if someone is stupid enough to buy it then thats down to them.

I do see double standards - there have been threads about high st camera shops going as they cant compete with online, and many people here will buy online to save money, yet then get sad when a butchers may go?

I have nothing against Tesco, they are a great source of flexible part time jobs for people, and they are obviously giving people what they want has they have been a huge retail success.
 
cambsno said:
............... If the local butchers/bakers etc... is any good it will do fine regardless.....No it WONT. as unfortunately mothers with their schoolkids in the 4x4 will go to Sainsburys as it's convenient

I do see double standards - there have been threads about high st camera shops going as they cant compete with online, and many people here will buy online to save money, yet then get sad when a butchers may go?

you got the wrong way round..:D people save money on the internet - true but here we have BIG CONVENIENCE stores forcing out small businesses
.
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feel strongly about Sainsburys moving into a Market Town, with generally HIGHER prices and no cares about the community...can you tell..:lol:

that's enough before I rant too much............:exit:
 
money....the root of all evil. The supermarkets exist to make money. Full stop. Yes, they provide a service, but the prime reason for them existing is to make money.

The local councils etc obviously know this too, but still allow them to open stores in small towns and take trade away from local businesses.

So who's to blame?
 
Yardbent said:
the Petition signers all vowed they would boycott Sainsburys

I doubt if they are............:thumbsdown:
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Exactly. In much the same way all the 'Disgruntled of Tunbrige Wells' types who come out of the woodwork for voxpops when a feature is on the news about the demise of the High Street can likely be seen the next day with two handfulls of Tesco bags.
 
I only really use Asda, it's about a mile from where I live and I pass it on the way home from work.

I always do their price comparison check online where they give you money back if they're not 10% cheaper than Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Waitrose. I nearly always get a voucher for money off my next shop..... I reckon I spend between £200-£300 per month in Asda and get £10 or so back in vouchers, not a massive amount but better than nowt ;)

Always check the special offers out but only if it's something I was going to buy or usually use.

Coke for instance...... we tend to get through a fair amount and I only like diet or coke zero. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy cans, other times they do bottles at 3 for £3, you just have to have your wits about you :lol:
 
What annoys me is the use of prepackaged amounts that do not state the price per Kg or whatever on the label so it makes it harder to compare to loose stuff. It should be compulsory to state the price per Kg average so you can compare. I suspect supermarkets don't like doing this as often it is double the cost.
 
I drive past a tesco ( 1/2mile) and an Asda (4miles) to get to a Morrisons (5miles)
Better fresh baked bread and Fresh produce. Nor can you smell the fish counter.

Prices much the same overall (as they have to be) but prefer the Morrison offerings.
 
Well I love tesco. Great selection of all goods and although their fresh selection is rubbish it's always about how you shop. I have a look at offers and if one suits then buy it. If not then don't complain, other people will buy.

I do agree though that prices should be easily comparable, but at the end of the day you go in, buy what you want assuming price is ok and move on.
 
My local Morrisons seem to be ignoring the special offers listed on the corporate website. Latest price hike is canned tomatoes: 33 pence up to 38 pence. Only 5 pence, but over 15%.
 
Comparing supermarkets is fine if you have a choice, but we don't. There's a small Tesco about 3 miles away and that's it. The closest town with Morrisons is 20 miles from here, and the nearest Sainsbury and Waitrose are 50 - 90 miles, depending where you want to go. A lot of the travel is on country roads too.

Unfortunately there's no internet shopping/home delivery service here either, which is a pain. We both dislike shopping and this would be ideal, but there's not enough demand for it, apparently.
 
Marcel said:
I don't think they rake in millions per day. They may well top a million or two per week on a busier store

I'm going to watch this show later. I'm a sucker for promotions.
However, I like to think I'm a bit of a savvy shopper....I *never* rely on POS for price (the big "SALE" or "DEAL" or "PRICE" signs, and *always* check the shelf edge label before buying.

I also often check the SEL for the amount per l/100g etc. So if it was £1 1k, it would be 10p per 100g. If they had an offer on, say, two 500g bags for £1.20, it would be 12p per 100g ;)
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Hmm... I remember that Tesco in Cheshunt was the first store to average £1m per day. And that was over 25 years ago.
 
May I just chime in here after spending 6 years working in retail in different stores at various levels of responsibility I can safely say that 99% of shoppers are on auto pilot and the big 4 know it and extort it beyond belief.

I wont say who I work for but Ill give you some examples, people believe buying loose bananas are cheaper and fresher than bagged. We sell 2x much loose bananas that pre packed they all come from the same plantation and the loose are priced more per KG than pre packed so there not fresher neither are they cheaper.

Loose apples are 2x much expensive than pre-packed per KG you just see that 85p per kg and think wow cheap until you get to the tills at which point you don't notice.

Where ever there is a big piece of advertising on the shelf it will clear in an hour regardless of if the whole shelf is the same item and the same promotion the product just above the advertisement will sell, this is most fun on the spirits isle where there is a neat line of vodka missing when the whole shelf is vodka and all on offer.


Supermarkets all know how to get money out of you you come in with a trolley and switch off sub consciously I wont say its the supermarkets fault Ill say its the shoppers for allowing in to happen, its not greed its market share if there were 4 sainsburys and one tesco most people would go to sainsburys same if was the other way around.


My advice buy local its fresher/cheaper and everyone wins, you've just been brought up to think big supermarkets are cheaper when there actually not unless your actually awake when your shopping.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Hmm... I remember that Tesco in Cheshunt was the first store to average £1m per day. And that was over 25 years ago.
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Probably 'cos thats where their HO is located.........everyone who lived there either worked for them or was related to someone who did. Can almost hear them thar banjos:lol:

Wonder if they were all forced to shop there:bat:
 
daza said:
May I just chime in here after spending 6 years working in retail in different stores at various levels of responsibility I can safely say that 99% of shoppers are on auto pilot and the big 4 know it and extort it beyond belief..................

My advice buy local its fresher/cheaper and everyone wins, you've just been brought up to think big supermarkets are cheaper when there actually not unless your actually awake when your shopping.
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I believe most supermarkets employ/consult psychologists and behavioural experts, to advise them on the best ways to maximise customer spend in stores. A lot of the tricks are well known. Put milk and bread at the back so customers who just 'pop in' have to walk past tempting displays, put the goods you are pushing at eye level and/or at the end of the aisles, install red lighting over meat displays to make it look more attractive and so on. The pricing games are just more sophisticated versions of the "Only £19.99" tickets that have been around since I was a kid, or longer. It doesn't bother me. We only buy what we actually want/need, and check unit prices.

Local isn't always better or cheaper. The butchers in our high street do offer far better value, but the greengrocers is a waste of time. It was a family business, until the last owner retired and sold out to someone else because his sons didn't want to take over. The new owner hasn't a clue. Poor quality and overpriced.
 
daza said:
My advice buy local its fresher/cheaper and everyone wins.
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Local is shut when I go shopping (outside normal working hours). I'd rather slit my wrists than go into a town centre on a Saturday with its attendant parking bedlam and hordes of people.

Supermarket weekday evenings around 7pm is quiet and I can get everything I need in ten minutes :thumbs:
 
Garry Edwards said:
Hmm... I remember that Tesco in Cheshunt was the first store to average £1m per day. And that was over 25 years ago.
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Just had a look on the Tesco Performance Centre
http://www.tescoplc.com/information-hub/performance-centre/

Compared the number of stores in 2009-2010 (I used 5000)
With the group sales (I used 62849)
That equates to an average of 12.56m per year, which is the figure I'd have thought more reasonable.

Unless I've got my sums wrong somewhere?
 
I am a Waitrose enthusiast, although decreasingly so. I am willing to pay a bit more for a better quality product from a more ethical shop. Unfortunately they are getting more and more into their "Esentials" range (cheaper stuff) at the expense of their nice things. It's a sad comment that there isn't room for even one higher quality shop.

Tesco is a dark force and I avoid them if I can (I am currently in the middle of a six month boycott due to the rudeness of their in store staff followed by the rudeness of their customer disservices). The reason I say they are and Sainsbury is not is simple. If I put my post code into Sainbury's storefinder I get two results. Tesco's gives me ten. They are attempting world domination and if they get it, that will be the end of the offers and low prices.

The truth is that what we really want is to get all our stuff from the supermarket and not pay a bean, and what the supermarket wants is for us to walk in, give them all our money and leave empty handed.

Obviously neither of those is going to happen and we end up with a game where they try to get us to buy what they want to sell us. Sometimes this is beneficial to both parties. The knack is to be able to spot these things and not get sidetracked into buying things we do not want or quantities we cannot use. Simples.
 
I watched it last night on iplayer. To be honest all I got from it was a bunch of people moaning about prices of things. It doesn't take a genius to work out which red onions are cheapest. If maths is really not your strong point then take a pocket calculator, and if you don't do that then your obviously not bothered.

Offers are basically to entice you to buy the product that you wouldn't normally buy, if you wouldn't normally buy it and you don't really want it then don't bother. All of the "price drop" and "wow" deals are basically a con and always have been and everyone should really know that and only makes the people on auto pilot buy them.

People that don't plan their shop will always pay more and always have done, this is nothing new.


I noticed that in the film they moaned about tesco going back to 1 point per £. It was my understanding that the 2 points per £ was for a limited time only which it was, so why moan about it?
 
I went to Asda to buy a bottle of bleach.... Two weeks ago it was 67p a bottle but tonight it was £1 a bottle or two for £1.50 on special offer....... Total price scamming :shrug:

Thought sod this and went to Aldi same size bottle 55p ;)
 
Marcel said:
Why is a price increase a scam?
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Of course it isn't a scam, but what I think comes close to a scam is the massive price increases followed by a smaller reduction...

An example from Tesco. 'Mussel Meat', was 80p, then increased to £1. Fair enough. Then another increase, to £1.39.
Followed by the price being 'cut' to £1.25.

Ignoring the 25% increase from 80p to £1 (maybe the laws of supply and demand) there was then a further increase of 39%, followed by are reduction that they hail as a price cut when, in reality, it's a 25% increase:'(
 
Garry Edwards said:
Of course it isn't a scam, but what I think comes close to a scam is the massive price increases followed by a smaller reduction...

An example from Tesco. 'Mussel Meat', was 80p, then increased to £1. Fair enough. Then another increase, to £1.39.
Followed by the price being 'cut' to £1.25.

Ignoring the 25% increase from 80p to £1 (maybe the laws of supply and demand) there was then a further increase of 39%, followed by are reduction that they hail as a price cut when, in reality, it's a 25% increase:'(
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That is the way they do it.
Misleading at best. People tend to remember only the last price.
 
All very odd.

Life is very simple

You need something

You go into a shop - see a price, if you are prepared to pay it, buy the product. If you are not : don't

Life really is that simple.

If you are daft enough to look at "previous price" or "reduction" when making up your mind whether to buy something then you really ought not to be allowed out on your own.
 
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