Shop Smarter At The Grocery Store

By MAD21

My friends and family have recently been complaining about the local grocery stores. I'm kind of glad to hear how they feel, because I have been very frustrated as well.

It seems that several of the stores have forgotten who pays their bills. Therefore, have forgotten who they need to keep happy. Since last summer, I have found myself having to go to three, sometimes four, different locations to get all of the groceries my family needs/wants. This is either because the stores have decided to mainly sell their store's brand and only a few other name-brand items (which, of course, are not the ones I want) or because they are charging too much for certain items. Now, I'm all for competition. Sales are great. But come on. Who is watching this industry to make sure they are not taking advantage of their customers?

The more I looked into this, the more I found that really, nothing is an accident when it comes to the supermarket industry. They base so much of their business on how to get people to buy more and spend more, that somehow they have forgotten that they are also providing a service. They want to make us think we are getting a great deal, but if a person were to really look into it, they aren't getting a deal at all. How many of us have heard of a store increasing the price of something and then putting it 'on sale?' With all the things we have to keep track of in life, it would be nice to not have to worry about getting sucked into one of these deals.

Last week, Lifehacker posted an article about an interview that the CBS The Early Show did with Consumer Reports' Tod Marks. "Keep Your Grocery Bill Low By Avoiding These Marketing Tricks." In it, they list a few things you can do to keep from paying so much for the items you buy. CBS posted their own article from that same interview that talks even more about how to protect your pocketbook at the store in the article titled, "How Supermarkets Lure You To Buy More."

I encourage you to go check them out. Pun intended :o)  I hope it makes you more aware of things the next time you run out to the store to buy something.