Retail Tactics
Our shopping happens usually only on a few days of the month. One of the places we frequent is a small store called Spinach in Mulund East since its close to my Mom’s place.We also frequent Mulund (E) to buy veggies & fruits since they are much fresher than anywhere close to our place. Spinach is where we buy other groceries since they accept Sodexho.
At Spinach 2 weeks back, I picked up chicken salami (from Prabhat Poultry) as there was an offer going on (6 bucks off on every packet, which is like 15%).
When we stopped by yesterday the offer was still on and I picked 2 packets this time but I casually glanced at the billing screen while the guy was billing the items. Turns out the 6 bucks was not being deducted. When I questioned him, I was told that the offer is not valid. I was like huh? You have a huge signboard which talks about the 6 bucks off. If the offer has expired, you should not have that board! He sheepishly agreed to do so.
What I have realised and I think we need to be more careful these days, especially in large self service stores, that if there is something you buy because of an ongoing offer, you better cross check it during check out. I am sure atleast 50% people don’t bother. Even I don’t bother sometimes. And that’s the margin that the retailer pockets because you fell for the discount trap!
So next time you pick a deal, make sure you check the bill.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
AKA shopper-lifting (internet jargon)
Another recent coinage based on the same word is the uncountable noun shopper-lifting, used humorously to refer to the situation of a store’s electronic scanner inadvertently giving a product a higher price than the one listed on the shelves, and therefore cheating the shopper (as opposed to the shop) out of money