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 Christopher Fowler on
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Probably not too cynical, Clive. Supermarkets and other retailers, advertisers and sellers have been using psychology to sell products since at least the 1950s. In the early sixties I remember reading a number of books by Vance Packard (I think they were in Penguin) that looked at this, the best-known of which was called - if memory serves - The Hidden Persuaders. They were very interesting to read then, though I'm not sure how well his analysis would hold up fifty years later. And, though I think I still have those books, I don't know where in the house they are!
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Permalink Reply by sophia c on
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I have got the book! in French though... It was recommended by my Philosophy teacher in the second half of the eighties so was still a classic nearly 30 years on.
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Permalink Reply by 0ryuuqflwit4k on
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This is the interesting point. Not that long ago, the big supermarkets helped to kill the smaller local shops by having the buying power to keep prices "low", or so we were led to believe. We were told at the time that we don't need to shop locally anymore, particularly since you could get everything under one roof. So we all went along to these big stores and filled our boots, and indirectly killed off many local stores. Then, after the dust had settled, some marketing bod had the idea - "I know, lets take the stores to local community", and hence the rise of the "local" stores. Funny that, it seems like there is a place for local shops after all!
For the benefit of having these local stores, you are charged more than the superstores because they have higher margins. BUT, the products that they sell in these is still sourced at the same price, they don't have a different logistics set up for locals etc. Rip off all round...
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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Many vegetables are much cheaper in shops on GL than in Sainsbury's - I never buy lemons, peppers, aubergines, garlic or ginger in the supermarket, amongst other things. Or soft fruit.
I think sometimes local shops seem more expensive to me because I pay in cash, in dribs and drabs, whereas in the big supermarkets I stick it all on the credit card.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Hi Hugh
I think food prices, especially in a recession and in supermarkets, are of national interest. I hope your server can hold up to the hits!
It's not just Sainsbury's, but their shabby tactics are simply closest to hand. It seems that their head office decided on a particular cynical policy to respond to the recession:
I wonder if the object has been to create the appearance and impression of a discount store, overflowing with DEALS, OFFERS & BOGOFs (viz. tens of square metres of garish signs) ...
... but largely without the corresponding bargains and cheaper prices.
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Billy I'm pleased that you can count. So can most of us, but not all of us have the time to compare prices within and without the store. The confusion-marketing of Sainsbury's (but certainly not limited to them) makes it less easy to compare. Some shoppers are really busy.
You're not the only person to question the nutritional value of flapjacks. I always liked them, but with the near-doubling in price, plus the high calorie content mean that I no longer buy them, and certainly not from Sainsbury.
I'm afraid that Sainsbury's huge price increase for flapjacks, plus the kind of peculiar pricing examples listed here by others, mean that I have lost trust and confidence in Sainsbury generally.
I've now voted with my feet. Lidl's is my default supermarket. Their store dressing is not greatly better than Sainsbury's, but they do not engage in the utter nonsense pricing and the other nonsense (e.g. Nectar cards) in which Sainsbury engage.
It is no accident that Lidl is a German company.
Anyone that believes in free and fair competition should seek a level playing field where the unit price of a particular item is readily compared with the unit price elsewhere.
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Clive, flapjacks are quite easy to make yourself, using oats, butter, sugar and golden syrup. Much cheaper than buying and much nicer.
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Maddy, I do note your advice.
- A concerned local resident has sent me a Delia Smith flapjack-recipe;
- From Iceland, an occasional local-resident has observed that Sainsbury's big price flap-jack hi-jack is doing Londoners a favour, because it reduces demand for something with very high calorie content.
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Permalink Reply by Ann Kozlowski-Hunt on
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My advice to you Clive is always go shopping on a full stomach, that way you miss the urge for a sudden sugar rush.
However, always leave enough time in these type of supermarkets to check your bill. Then, make your way towards the customer services to get a refund on the various things they get wrong at the check out.
Then check again; when I was last in Sainsbury, the customer service employee was not able to understand their offer and so I had to show them on my mobile phone's calculator, how much money I was due back.
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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I was invited by Clive to comment..
It is also no accident that no British supermarket chains are to be seen in Germany. Regulation and unwillgness of customers to fall for the tricks and schemes, make it unprofitable for them to trade in Germany, PLUS it is not possible to use credit cards to buy groceries !! The only one that ever tried - M&S, gave up after a year or so because Germans just won't buy ready-made meals. Their stock-in trade.
My nearest Tesco is 80.47km or 50 miles away, 100 metres across the border in Poland at Frankfurt/Oder.
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