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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Billy - If you're not interested in the discussion, then you have the freedom to stop following it. That's what we often call "freedom of speech".
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Please list three "good" things Sainsburys has done in the last year.
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Permalink Reply by Tim on
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Even more superb than any meat might be thought to be at Sainsbury's, if shopping in Harringay that at Baldwins is doubly so (to put it mildly).
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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The have installed a CCTV camera covering the cycle park ( with, I note, big yellow warning signs ).
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Billy I agree with you about the economies of scale: this is one of the most basic truths in Economics which, as you say, most school kids will have picked up. But you may be slightly missing the point.
The more units you buy of something, the cheaper the unit price tends to be. This is true of small cheap items, or very big and expensive items. If you buy a longer print-run of a book or take options on a bigger number of jet airliners, the cheaper will be the price per unit.
All of us understand this, almost instinctively.
...
Why then, does Sainsburys sometimes turn on its head a basic tenet of economics? When buying multiple items – as compared with buying a one-off – Sainsburys sometimes charge either:
(a) the same price per item as for a single item – while simultaneously implying, by the surrounding dressing, that its some kind of special deal or offer, e.g. 2 for X – what is the point?
or
(b) [incredibly] an increased price per item (such as 2 for X, where 2X is more than double, X + X)
I still cannot fathom this phenomenon.It's either a mistake by Sainsburys, or this company holds their customers in contempt. The difficulty with the 'mistake' theory, is that this conduct has gone on for some time now and it now looks like a pattern.
All of this price-trickery is surrounded with placards shouting "GREAT OFFERS". At what point does aggressive marketing become fraudulent?
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Permalink Reply by 1p2elqvr6fe2z on
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Chris thanks for again replying. Its interesting what you say particularly about sale or return basis, which differs to food as it has a shelf life. This post is about the mentality of discounting in our 2 fields. My background is in what s called FMCG or fast moving consumable goods...so I appreciate the time you took to explain the publishing world, and may I stress that my view and parallels are drawn from my background.
It does strike me that the 2 have some similar equations, although very different worlds. I agree that the producer or the author has the final say on the price. The agent however does wield a considerable power in negotiating the product price and its position in its own market. The marketing pricinciple is the same in my view, whatever the goods,the stronger the branding or the author name, the easier it is to maintain the desired right shelf price, by that I mean one that gives the producer or author, the wholesaler who resells it, and the agent, a profit. Weaker brand names have a harder time, but if they want to maintain longevity, the final price is all important and its normal to use Bogofs or mutlideals.
Hence Clive s flapjack is not sold for half price, the ultimate perception of the higher price is maintained and greater numbers shoved out there so maximising cost of production and transport. I appreciate this may not be the same in the publishing industry. Discounting is seen to be the lowest form of marketing as its deemed to devalue the product in the eyes of the consumer and disturbs the profit chain, by that I mean the weaker party in the chain is more likely to suffer the loss of profit, ie not the supermkt or the likes of Amazon or other nationals distributing. Once a product is discounted, it is seen as worth less than before or of lower value by the consumer.
To fund Multi deals or Bogofs regularly in the flapjack world, and keep the price up, as Clive has seen the price is higher and the volumes lower, that's that way most agents/distributors fund things from their budgets. Supermarkets demand they are paid at full price for the one free, and negotiations take place from there.
Distribution also differs in our 2 worlds, and I agree with you that with publishing, Amazon exerts a dominant buying power so online sales take the fore, along with changing ways of bringing new or regular readers on board via Tablet access and promoting genres to their audience eg the success of the short story format. You know more about the evolution taking place here. The flapjack, falls under the FMCG heading, is limited in that respect, it cannot be digitalised (yes sold online via the supers) and is supermarket driven, like most food in the UK sadly. The supers have the greatest power with food and the most direct distribution into people's pantries, obviously different to the publishing world.
Best wishes
Lynne
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Permalink Reply by Sharon on
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I - more often than not - check the shelf label to find out more info and see how much it is per kg/100g/etc. That way you can more easily compare prices of similar products even if they're in different size containers. So you can see if that bit of beef on offer really *is* on offer by comparing the price per 100g with the rest of the meat on display.
Makes it so much easier for me as I'm dyslexic and dyspraxic, and trying to compare things of different sizes/weights is nigh on impossible for me. I've actually fled a store in tears before because it wound me up so much! I hate shopping for anything - god bless the internet *lol*
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I was reading an article on "Yahoo" called "How to beat the latest supermarket tricks" and when I clicked on a link to get further details it brought me here. Hol doing well.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Yes, that's the one. Thanks Hob, I mentioned it to Clive this morning, but hadn't had time to track it down.
(Notice how it's always the stories that members write that get the attention - so keep it up guys! Keep 'em coming!)
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To throw a comment in the general midst, it reminds me of the cottage cheese embargo in Israel. If anyone knows more about this pls share it, or similar, in any case having heard this from a distant source, go right ahead and correct me.
The story I heard was that in the midst of the recent economic crisis, a staple top selling food from a top dairy producer in Israel put their prices up excessively for cottage cheese (lovely it is too) or it was felt so. The word got out on line and consensus was general unhappiness at this rise for such an every day food (compare it to milk or bread in the Uk). The cheese at the new price sat on the shelf, and didn't sell at all at the new price, I believe it caught air time and media, and the producer had to buckle under pressure to go back to the old rate. The impression I got was that this was online mass campaign, with media, not misleading people though leading to literally a conscious embargo. Perhaps flapjack Sainsburys will also think twice now.
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I heard or read somewhere that the cost of BOGOFs is borne not by the supermarket but by the supplier/producer.
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