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
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Permalink Reply by linka on
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I've got one of those! The double-sized pack is 40p more expensive than the single x 2. Great maths there.
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Permalink Reply by Rachella on
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The was a programme on Dispatches last night that accused Poundland of doing the same thing. I'm actually surprised that comsumers would be taken in by these cheap merchandising tricks.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Yes I saw that too. Deceptive packaging, deceitful quantities and dishonest marketing must pay, otherwise supermarkets wouldn't do it (though I haven't noticed Lidl stooping to these tactics). So some consumers must be taken in by it. I don't think trading standards legislation is strong enough.
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Gillian, surely this one has to be a mistake on the part of Sainsburys?
It is hard to believe that anyone would fail to notice that 3 for £4 is far more expensive than 3 x 75p?
If it is not a mistake, it shows the depths of Sainsbury cynicism:
If it is not a mistake, the conclusion must be that Sainsburys is confident that some shoppers are so gulled into thinking that DEALS and OFFERS are beneficial, that a red label can cause a customer buying in 'bulk', to pay 78% more.
Should the red labels not signify danger: Royal Rip-off?
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Permalink Reply by Col on
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I'm not normally one to jump to the defense of Sainsbo's, but this is actually part of a mix and match offer they often have on with Discovery - it also includes their jar of seasoning and sauce (normally 1.80 or something like that) - so this isn't quite as bad as it looks!
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Permalink Reply by Christopher Fowler on
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Supermarkets are not usually this blatantly dishonest, but they are when it comes to Bogof offers, etc. You'll find that one week they are selling the product at one pound; the next week, the price for one is magically two pounds, but it is "buy one get one free". They also rely on the fact that most people are so bad at simple mental arithmetic that they cannot compare prices of different size containers of similar products. And they deliberately print the "price per 100g" in the smallest lettering they can get away with. And they confuse even that by mixing up "price per 100g" with "price per litre" and "price per Kg". They're all crooks, out to gouge the consumer. Stick to shopping in local businesses along Green Lanes, and put up two fingers to the supermarkets!
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Permalink Reply by 3dabemynv2wyk on
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I have to say that when I'm juggling one hand on the baby buggy, shopping basket on one arm, trying to check my list while grabbing the groceries before my child goes into supermarket meldtown mode I don't usually manage the mental arithmetic to work out if the special offers represent genuine savings, so yes: a lot of the time, i'd just assume the red meant "on special" and grab it and get out... my bad but also pretty sneaky of the stupidmarkets
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Claire, Satan'sBusy just loves you! You're one of the busy shoppers at whom this chicanery is aimed.
Some of these DEALS and OFFERS probably do represent a genuine discount on an earlier price. But my impression is that most of them represent either no saving, or thinly-disguised price increases.
I no longer buy the flapjacks in my example. Sainsbury's flapjacks are doubtless still as tasty as before, but engaging in this kind of price-gouging is not helpful to consumers in the middle of a recession.
IMO the general level of consumer protection is weak. Legislation has long favoured producers over consumers. I'm not sure that some of these tactics (BOGOF etc) would be lawful in German supermarkets.
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Clive - I'm sure you're right. Most of the protections that consumers have are under EU law. That's why so many big companies would like us to leave the EU. And, even with the EU laws, look what the energy companies have got away with in the last five years, gouging us all with ever-higher prices.
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Permalink Reply by Sharon on
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I'm similar, but I have difficulties because I'm dyslexia and have a lot of difficuty with addition/multiplication and I hate shopping so much I just want to get in and out as quickly as possible. That said I never enter a store without a shopping list as that way only leads to tears before bedtime...
I am also very grateful to the kind lady in said Sainsburys who saw me pick up a tin of £1.99 coconut milk, tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the otehr side of the aisle saying "You know you can get a tin for 99p in the Carribbean section rather than the thai one?" Same product, half the price!
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Soon it will be : Buy two, pay for three
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