29 June 2012

Guerrilla Shopping - Part 5: Making the Most of Grocery Wars

Grocery sales have been around as long as there have been grocers. But now supermarkets have upped the ante in the war to get you to spend your money in their store with extra discounts for loyal customers, special percentage off days and even allowing you, the customer to decide which products you’ll buy at the “special” prices.

It started with milk - down to $1 a litre (even less at Aldi), then bread, eggs and it is spreading. But who has the lowest prices on your grocery staples? And how do you find the lowest prices on your other grocery needs?

Well you can just wander out to your letterbox and pick up the junk mail! It's there for you to browse and use to your advantage. Or you can jump online and do the same thing, remembering to search for those super specials that are only available online.

To take advantage of the lower prices offered there are a few things you need to do:

Organize your shopping trips
Make a list and check your local flyers before leaving the house. Often times, we will just “run an errand” to our local supermarket and wind up spending $50.00 on very little. Be sure to check other local supermarkets also and do a compare and contrast. More and more we are seeing those flyers often hold a goldmine of in-store coupons and special offers. We all know that running out to pick something up equates to spending more than we should.

By taking a few minutes to compare local flyers, you can take advantage of special promotions and save money on things that you really need. Sometimes a store will offer you $5.00 off a purchase of $20.00 or more. Before you head out on Monday for milk and on Wednesday for shampoo, organize your shopping trips with flyers and your own shopping list in hand. You will save time and money.

Portable Flyers
Take your flyers along for a ride. Some retail chain stores and supermarkets will honour sale prices from another store. Inquire if they will honour those prices at the service desk. Do not be afraid to bring your flyers along when you venture out, you will need them to prove your claim for a lower price.  They are also a good back-up if you find the shelf price is different to the advertised price (and ask if your supermarket abides by the Supermarket Code of  Practice, it is voluntary, they are not required to).

This can mean the difference between saving or losing money once you are at the store.

Virtual Sales Flyers
Do not get stuck with the notion that flyers are only found in paper form. Special online only promotions, coupon codes, preferred customer incentives and even free shipping are all bonuses of shopping online. Since online retailers have a broader reach, they can offer steeper discounts, especially to first-time buyers.

When you shop somewhere once, the retailer will have your email address and the opportunity to help you save even more in the future.

Make sure that you are not buying something on sale just because it’s advertised as on sale. Sometimes buying something on sale that you really do not need will cost you more money down the road. By making lists and comparing online stores with local stores, you will be able to make the most out of your grocery flyers.

1 comment:

  1. This is always the way I do my shopping. We are an allergy plagued family and our shopping bill is much higher than most because of this fact. Simple things like gluten free bread and rice milk increase the cost of shopping astronomically compared with more standard shopping. So buying up big when on special helps. We also buy fruit, meat, veges etc by specials, only purchasing what is the special. Fortunately I live with 4 supermarkets, 3 butchers, 1 fruit and vege shop and 2 health food shops all within walking distance. I check out the flyers making sure who has the cheapest and do the rounds, gathering the specials from each. It means that we can afford to buy the other items that cannot be reduced by saving money on those that can.

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