Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
The Great Flapjack Scandal at Sainsburys
The local Sainsbury is so full of BOGOFs (buy one get one free) and other, often specious, "OFFERS" that one could be forgiven for thinking you could come out of the store with more money than you went in with.
So much of their merchandising – AKA confusion marketing – seems aimed at disguising higher prices and frustrating price comparisons.
The best example of this I've seen is their flapjacks, near the far corner of the store. These used to be priced at £1 for six slices, in a plastic tray.
The company has managed to hold the price at £1 but, there's a big but: the contents are dramatically reduced. Where once there were six slices, now there are only three.
In effect, the price is nearly doubled.
In order to help disguise the extent of the value reduction, the three, slightly larger slices are now separated in a redesigned tray that features two ridges that space out the slices more widely. Less contents, more packaging, same price. Does this amount to deceit?
More generally, weights & measures (that aid price comparisons) on most products are as hard to find as ever, often in tiny print and/or are deeply hidden.
Tags for Forum Posts: Sainsburys, comparison, confusion, flapjacks, marketing, price
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Abi on
-
Clive - it's been mislabeled then! All I was reporting was what that deal was supposed to be - it seems someone in the store has misunderstood the instructions they were given. It does happen...
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
-
Update on the bread business: Sainsbury has ended the anomaly in their double-deal as between thick and medium.
They've now given the two kinds of loaves (differing only in the number of slices!) equal treatment. By increasing the price of the 2x medium cut from £2.30 to £2.50.
Thus, both medium and thick slices are now ££2.50, representing a small saving (10p) on the individual price.
That'll teach 'em to grizzle!
Footnote: Today Lidl's at Finsbury Park opened an Instore Bakery (sandwiched into the far right corner).
-
Permalink Reply by George Pinnell on
-
Surely this is a marketing mistake by Sainsbury's? People buying the thick sliced loaves will no doubt buy more loaves as they have fewer slices to the loaf. So, perhaps they do not need to encourage these consumers so much, as they are more likely to buy to loaves anyway!
-
-
Stop press! My 'insider' at Sainsbury's HQ is looking into this now...
She's going to check up on this specific case in more detail, but immediately said that it looked like a promotion being set up wrongly as slice thickness wouldn't normally make a difference. Apparently what CAN make a difference with loaves of bread is whether they are brown or white, as white is normally cheaper and this affects products within the same range and could still be a factor when they are discounted.
Fascinating stuff this!
-
Permalink Reply by Christopher Fowler on
-
White is cheaper because more white bread is sold than brown (by the way, brown bread is just white flour died brown - if your don't believe me, check it and see), or wholemeal (which actually is made with whole flour, more or less), so economies of scale mean that supermarkets and manufacturers can charge lower prices. And branded products, such as, in the case of bread, Hovis, have to cover the huge costs of advertising and marketing, which non-branded (eg supermarket own-brand products) don't. Why do you think Coke is more expensive than Pepsi? Compare the amount of advertising they do, and you'll see why.
-
-
George, Sainsbury's isn't the only supermarket that makes marketing mistakes. My attention has been drawn to Tesco's recent shame:
Plucky pensioner costs Tesco £300,000 in victory from beyond the grave
Tesco's fine of £300,000 might sound a lot of money. From a strictly business point of view, the deceit was worth it, given that the fine was a mere 13% of the profits made by their deception.
There may be a lively debate within Tesco, arguing the great cash value of misleading promotions, versus the less calculable damage to their reputation.
-
-
interesting interview with Terry Leahy on Desert Island Discs now (R4) that might interest some of the subscribers to this thread.
-
-
I'm pleased to record that Sainsbury's has – possibly recently – done something for its poorer customers and reduced packaging: 'basic' instant coffee is now available in 100 gram sachets at a price of 47p per 100 grams.
Buying in this minimal-packaging form appears to be significantly less expensive than when bought in a glass jar form. Though the glass jar contents are sold by net weight, this means less waste, especially considering the cost of transporting the glass jar(s).
Now all the need to do, is to scrap their data gathering scheme known as Nectar card and reduce prices overall and it would be even more poor-person friendly.
-
-
UPDATE: I didn't notice the increase in price at some point to 50p (for a sachet of Basic instant coffee). After all, that's only a 6.4% increase. However, within the past few weeks, I did notice the jump from 50p to 55p: a neat 10% increase in price. Taken together, that's a 17% increase over 12 months.
-
-
Raw material prices here - you do the maths.
Blame drought in Brazil, or something - no; not the drought of goals.
Hope you checked out the flapjack price and quantity too while you were at it. ;-)
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- …
- 8
- 9
- 10
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
