I mentioned somewhere of late that our Supermarkets are gone mad to get us to shop with their store,..5 Big Supermarkets reducing prices and giving special offers,..the one i shop in gives a scan with a card provided to credit you with 1 Cent for every 1 Euro you spend and every three months they send you a voucher with your credit,..in my case i spend on average 100 Euro/$135.90 per week so i get a return of 15 Euro/$20.38 every three months,..now in addition to this they sent us 4 vouchers as follows. Spend 40 Euro/$54.36 and they reduce your bill by 6 Euro/$8.15. Spend 60 Euro/$81.54 and your bill is reduced by 8 Euro/$10.87. Spend 80 Euro/$108.72 and its reduced by 10 Euro/$13.59. Spend 100 Euro/$135.90 and its reduced by 20 Euro/$27.18 I used all of mine bar the last one,..keeping it for the luxury items before Christmas.
The worse the economy the more vouchers (coupons) the stores are willing to hand out and the better the prices are in general. And the earlier the holiday sales begin.
Well, this only makes me think how cheap food (and stuff) really is and how much money these supermarkets are making... But, it's better than nothing!
Vouchers can be handy but I'd rather they lowered their food prices by 10% for everyone. There are some families on minimum wage that would benefit more if they did.
Groceries have one of the lowest profit margins of all retailers. When you consider the relatively high proportion of employees to customers; the loss rate (spoiled produce, dented cans, and outright theft); and the advertising that is vital to groceries, I'm surprised they stay in business. Oh, and I forgot to mention all those gardeners out there growing their own fruits and veggies--the nerve! I use coupons whenever I can, and comparison shop. My husband says it's my version of "hunting"--I try to bag the best with the least expenditure! Right now I have a Christmas ham in my sights . . . .
Now is the time to be shopping for food, especially "fresh" produce. I'm not sure I'm as sensitive to it since I'm only shopping for myself. I have my two favorite stores I go to, and I am noticing some competition between them right now, especially on some seasonal foods (such as cranberries).
