Supermarkets discussion

Hadders · 30 Mar 2024

It's easy to reduce loose bakery items that only carry 'day of production' shelf life in the scanning system at a set time. All you have to do is display a notice near the products when discounted proces apply.

I don't see how you can do this with pre-packed foods where multiple dates could be on display. These will always need to be checked and reduced manually. Technology does exist to assist with this with inventory management systems prompting when the date code of a product needs to be checked and suggesting the level of reduction required.

Inventory management systems now calculate and produce reduction reports so no need for manual forms to work out the value of reductions and disposals at the end of each week!

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takno · 30 Mar 2024

GusB said:
I can certainly understand the need for a barrier; I often wished that I had a force field that zapped anyone who came near me when I was carrying out price reductions!

Back then (almost 30 years now - eek!) it was still a fairly manual process. We had to cover the barcode with a red label (it told the till that the item was reduced) and manually write out the "from" and "to" prices on a separate label. Once the item got to the checkout, the red label was scanned, the reduced price was entered by the cashier and then the red barcode was removed and the item scanned again (telling the till what it was). It was a major pain in the backside all round.

On top of that, all items that were reduced had to be manually recorded on an FC - freshness control - form (of which there were four types, depending on the perishability of the goods). Inevitably you'd get customers coming up to you with something that was dated for that day and asking if it'd be reduced. Much as I'd liked to have said "sorry, I haven't done that bit yet - you'll have to wait", it was in my best interests to get it reduced and sold; however, it meant a trip to relevant section to get the price and then a trip to the office to pick up the form that I wasn't carrying with me at the time... I really should have insisted on payment by the mile, rather than the hour!

I have to say that if Tesco have introduced a system that automates this process, it's a big bonus for the staff that would normally have to do it manually.

To be fair the yellow stickering process at Tesco now is to locate all the items going out of date, pull them off the shelf, scan one and enter the number into a handheld printer, which prints out barcodes to stick on the front with the price calculated and integrated into the barcode. The only complexity is having to remember to stick a bit of sticker across the actual barcode so you don't get the wrong one scanning at the till.

Generally they just do it out on the shop floor at my local one, and aren't hugely bothered if you grab them off the trolley while they're working, although they occasionally get a bit flustered if they've done the new barcodes but not covered the old ones first.

Sainsburys are similar except that it prints out a reduction sticker for the front and a separate barcode to stick over the old barcode. On the face of it this is better, but unfortunately the replacement barcode isn't very tall, and so often really needs to be placed sideways over the old barcode in order to block it.

Aldi seem to do it by just adding a big 50% off or whatever sticker to the front of the product. That's incidentally what all the convenience store chains in Norway do as well. No idea if this can be entered into the self checkouts or not, but the till operators are fairly good at spotting them and applying the discount. No idea what the process is for recording the waste and sticking the stickers on, but I suspect it's not easier overall than just shelling out for the label printers.

JamesT · 31 Mar 2024

Hadders said:
It's easy to reduce loose bakery items that only carry 'day of production' shelf life in the scanning system at a set time. All you have to do is display a notice near the products when discounted proces apply.

I don't see how you can do this with pre-packed foods where multiple dates could be on display. These will always need to be checked and reduced manually. Technology does exist to assist with this with inventory management systems prompting when the date code of a product needs to be checked and suggesting the level of reduction required.

Inventory management systems now calculate and produce reduction reports so no need for manual forms to work out the value of reductions and disposals at the end of each week!

The usual barcode encoding used on groceries is too short, but there are other formats with sufficient bits that you could include both the product ID and an expiry date.
You would probably still want to put a sticker on to make the reduced items more obvious, but you wouldn’t need different barcodes as the system could recognise an item expiring tomorrow/today and apply the appropriate discount.
Though technically possible and commercially viable are not always the same thing…

lookapigeon · 31 Mar 2024

py_megapixel said:
An extremely random thought I've had.

I've been into a few Tesco stores recently where the fresh bakery items are discounted after 17:00, presumably as a waste reduction measure. Today I wanted to purchase such an item at 16:56 so I waited four minutes for the discount to become available.

This made me think of the London Underground fare system - specifically the fact that they advertise that the morning peak ends at 09:30, but actually start charging off-peak fares a few minutes before that. Does Tesco do something similar - i.e. make the timed bakery discount actually start a few minutes earlier than advertised to avoid customer dissatisfaction? In other words, was it actually necessary for me to wait those 4 minutes or could I have received the discount slightly earlier?

I remember seeing this in our local Tesco express and they achieved this by having a sheet of preprinted yellow reduced labels and the checkout operator scanning the appropriate one.

There was also a notice next to the baked goods that went up after the appropriate time to advise they were reduced, however, the only caveat was that you had to line up at the counter. If you went via the self-service it would charge you full price.

In Waitrose they've got a good system whereby they change the price of the loose baked goods after a certain time on the computer, and it is clever enough to change the price on the handheld self scanners - say the reductions were entered in to be effective from 18:00 and you scanned in a loose croissant before then, the price would update automatically from the full to the reduced price. For this one I think they're quite exact with the times and any scans before show the full price. But the pricebook is obviously live and they can deploy the updates at will.

SteveM70 · 31 Mar 2024

Hadders said:
I don't see how you can do this with pre-packed foods where multiple dates could be on display. These will always need to be checked and reduced manually. Technology does exist to assist with this with inventory management systems prompting when the date code of a product needs to be checked and suggesting the level of reduction required.

JamesT said:
The usual barcode encoding used on groceries is too short, but there are other formats with sufficient bits that you could include both the product ID and an expiry date

Correct. There’s an extension to an EAN13 barcode to include the best before date, we used it at Makro for cases but not for selling units

philthetube · 31 Mar 2024

My local coop used to clear the shelves of all items to be discounted and label them in the back then bring them back instore.

jon81uk · 31 Mar 2024

When I worked at a large London department store we used to switch up the timings of the reductions to cut down on the people who just came and then hung around to see if they would get even cheaper.

blueberry11 · 8 Apr 2024

I remember the times where Tesco Metro existed. That brand was defunct from ~ 2022 with them being rebranded to Tesco Express or Tesco Superstore. Therefore, it feels weird seeing a Tesco Express store being much bigger than usual, as for this example at Canterbury which makes it feel like it should be a Superstore (you can rewind back to 2018 and before to see what I mean).

Does that also mean that Express branded stores are more expensive than Superstore/Extra branded ones effectively making some ex-Metro stores more expensive and why the brand was discontinued?

sprunt · 9 Apr 2024

I'd be surprised if they weren't charging Express prices rather than Superstore prices when they were Metros.

takno · 9 Apr 2024

sprunt said:
I'd be surprised if they weren't charging Express prices rather than Superstore prices when they were Metros.

The Metros in Edinburgh were closer to the superstore prices. A large proportion of the variation between stores comes down to whether they stock expensive brands or the cheaper own-brand stuff though, rather than any huge differences in prices. I've seen Expresses in less-rich areas which were much cheaper than my local one.

I'd have thought that former Metros will likely end up being a very similar price as Expresses to what they were as Metros - if it was a matter of differential pricing they would have just changed the differentials in Metros to match Expresses and kept the brand. It's probably more a matter of Metro not being particularly recognised by customers, and not worth the expense of retaining all the branding in three formats.

blueberry11 · 9 Apr 2024

takno said:
The Metros in Edinburgh were closer to the superstore prices. A large proportion of the variation between stores comes down to whether they stock expensive brands or the cheaper own-brand stuff though, rather than any huge differences in prices. I've seen Expresses in less-rich areas which were much cheaper than my local one.

I'd have thought that former Metros will likely end up being a very similar price as Expresses to what they were as Metros - if it was a matter of differential pricing they would have just changed the differentials in Metros to match Expresses and kept the brand. It's probably more a matter of Metro not being particularly recognised by customers, and not worth the expense of retaining all the branding in three formats.

Still sad to see them go, because Express stores can be more expensive than the other brands and calling it 'Express' when it is quite large feels wrong. I am also sure that Express stores are mainly for small scale shopping (like buying a meal deal or some snacks), Superstore/Extra are mainly for large scale shopping (buying something that lasts for a week) and Metros are in between. Metros are mainly located in city centres, hence the name (a shortening of metropolitan) and I think that food shopping is normally done at Superstores/Extras.

I think it is also the case that Express stores are normally not subject to the Sunday Trading Act 1994, where stores over 3000 sq ft (280 sq m) have to open for six hours on Sundays, but given that some Express stores were ex-Metros, it seems no longer the case. That is also another reason to be kept in my opinion.

Busaholic · 9 Apr 2024

blueberry11 said:
I think it is also the case that Express stores are normally not subject to the Sunday Trading Act 1994, where stores over 3000 sq ft (280 sq m) have to open for six hours on Sundays, but given that some Express stores were ex-Metros, it seems no longer the case. That is also another reason to be kept in my opinion.

Sorry to be pedantic, but it's more that they are restricted to six hours trading within certain hours if they choose to open at all, which they're under no obligation to. :smile:

Typhoon · 9 Apr 2024

blueberry11 said:
I remember the times where Tesco Metro existed. That brand was defunct from ~ 2022 with them being rebranded to Tesco Express or Tesco Superstore. Therefore, it feels weird seeing a Tesco Express store being much bigger than usual, as for this example at Canterbury which makes it feel like it should be a Superstore (you can rewind back to 2018 and before to see what I mean).

Does that also mean that Express branded stores are more expensive than Superstore/Extra branded ones effectively making some ex-Metro stores more expensive and why the brand was discontinued?

They would probably justify that Canterbury store as it was never a 'big shop' store. A significant number of its customers were students (often mob-handed) when I used it fairly regularly (Canterbury Christ Church University is 10 - 15 minutes walk away, although there is another Tesco even closer). They stocked items that a student might need - kettles and saucepans for instance, A4 writing pads, as well I believe. When I went in post-covid, there seemed to be fewer of the lower priced alternatives, a fair amount of space had been given over to Tesco Mobile, two staff, no customers. Not been in since. I suggest the company has taken advantage of having students on the doorstep. (It is also near the bus station - direct service to University of Kent.)

There is an even larger Express in Gravesend

londonbridge · 11 Apr 2024

something I’ve often wondered, why do people say “no thanks, you’re alright”, or “ no, you’re fine when the cashier asks if they have a store loyalty card or whether they want a bag or the receipt? What does the customer’s perception of the cashier have to do with whether or not they need a carrier bag??

Meanwhile on the subject of Tesco Metros, the old one in The Bridges in Sunderland still sitting empty neatly two years after it closed, surprised no one has taken the unit, although I don’t know how long they may have had left on the lease.

Typhoon · 11 Apr 2024

londonbridge said:
something I’ve often wondered, why do people say “no thanks, you’re alright”, or “ no, you’re fine when the cashier asks if they have a store loyalty card or whether they want a bag or the receipt? What does the customer’s perception of the cashier have to do with whether or not they need a carrier bag??

It is just a phrase. I've heard "I'm" instead of "you're", which makes more sense. And is probably better than my pointing to much used 'single use' bags I have placed at the end of the chute. Staff will be on auto-pilot, they probably ask these questions without thinking, the chance that they pick up on the actual words are minimal.

londonbridge · 11 Apr 2024

Yes but, you know, it’s just, you know, irritating, you know what I mean????…..

It’s the same as the one I’ve mentioned before, I can’t abide people in convienience stores who hover right behind the person being served and then plonk their stuff on the counter the second the cashier finishes scanning the last item. As well as invading their space, there’s usually a sign saying “wait here until a till becomes free” If someone is being served then the till is obviously NOT free so the person behind them shouldn’t be anywhere near the till. You wouldn’t dream of walking upto the post office counter and plonking your parcel down whilst the person in front was being served, so why do it in a grocery store? Whatever happened to manners and respecting people’s privacy?

jon81uk · 11 Apr 2024

londonbridge said:
something I’ve often wondered, why do people say “no thanks, you’re alright”, or “ no, you’re fine when the cashier asks if they have a store loyalty card or whether they want a bag or the receipt? What does the customer’s perception of the cashier have to do with whether or not they need a carrier bag??

Meanwhile on the subject of Tesco Metros, the old one in The Bridges in Sunderland still sitting empty neatly two years after it closed, surprised no one has taken the unit, although I don’t know how long they may have had left on the lease.

I've so rarely used staffed checkouts I don't recall the last time I was ever offered a bag. Almost always have my own ready, or scan as I go round anyway.

takno · 11 Apr 2024

londonbridge said:
something I’ve often wondered, why do people say “no thanks, you’re alright”, or “ no, you’re fine when the cashier asks if they have a store loyalty card or whether they want a bag or the receipt? What does the customer’s perception of the cashier have to do with whether or not they need a carrier bag??

Meanwhile on the subject of Tesco Metros, the old one in The Bridges in Sunderland still sitting empty neatly two years after it closed, surprised no one has taken the unit, although I don’t know how long they may have had left on the lease.

It's just rather standard British jargon. Most of the conversation you have when performing transactions in shops makes very little sense in any language. It's just a series of standard phrases describing parts of the transaction, or niceties which are completely standard in the society, most of which have been shortened down or randomly corrupted. You aren't supposed to understand or engage with either the question or the answer at any very conscious level - you just need to grok that "this is the bag question, and I understand that in this country the bag will not be free or I already have my own, so I will give a standard non-commital or negative answer. It's one of the reasons why it can be one of the most difficult things to do in a foreign language.

In terms of the origins of the phrase, I'd guess it's basically that you're being asked if you would like the person to put themselves out a little by providing a service, and you're saying something along the lines of "you're fine, you don't need to put yourself out just to furnish me with your bags". For other things the conversation might go on further, with the assistant declaring that "it's really no trouble at all, and they've got some under the counter for exactly this kind of situation", whereupon the shopper the shopper would respond "well, if you insist".

Frankly as the person behind in the queue who's struggling to hold my heavy basket while all this nonsense goes on, I'm just glad nobody actually plays out the full conversation

DynamicSpirit · 12 Apr 2024

takno said:
In terms of the origins of the phrase, I'd guess it's basically that you're being asked if you would like the person to put themselves out a little by providing a service, and you're saying something along the lines of "you're fine, you don't need to put yourself out just to furnish me with your bags". For other things the conversation might go on further, with the assistant declaring that "it's really no trouble at all, and they've got some under the counter for exactly this kind of situation", whereupon the shopper the shopper would respond "well, if you insist".

As a little aside to this, a while back a Chinese friend asked me to explain the related phrases It's fine and It's OK, because she was confused about whether they meant, yes or no. While trying to explain I realised the source of her confusion: The phrases can mean either, depending on the context. It's fine invariably means no if it's a response to a question along the lines of Can I do X for you?, but it's more likely to mean yes if it's a response to a question along the lines of Can you do X for me?

Bald Rick · 12 Apr 2024

DynamicSpirit said:
As a little aside to this, a while back a Chinese friend asked me to explain the related phrases It's fine and It's OK, because she was confused about whether they meant, yes or no. While trying to explain I realised the source of her confusion: The phrases can mean either, depending on the context. It's fine invariably means no if it's a response to a question along the lines of Can I do X for you?, but it's more likely to mean yes if it's a response to a question along the lines of Can you do X for me?

Or if the wife is sat on the sofa with a face on, and you ask ‘are you alright?’ and she says ‘fine’ in a slightly abrupt but forceful manner, you know that she is exactly the opposite of ‘fine’, but won’t be telling you. (“If you don’t know, there’s no point telling you.”)

Time to withdraw to the potting shed.

Busaholic · 12 Apr 2024

Bald Rick said:
Or if the wife is sat on the sofa with a face on, and you ask ‘are you alright?’ and she says ‘fine’ in a slightly abrupt but forceful manner, you know that she is exactly the opposite of ‘fine’, but won’t be telling you. (“If you don’t know, there’s no point telling you.”)

Time to withdraw to the potting shed.

Alternatively, 'what do you think?' Having said that, as a widower after 52 years of marriage, I'd do anything to have that situation back.

Bald Rick · 12 Apr 2024

Busaholic said:
Having said that, as a widower after 52 years of marriage, I'd do anything to have that situation back.

Sorry to hear that

Busaholic said:
Alternatively, 'what do you think?'

My ancestor, Baldrick, had the perfect answer: “I think thinking is so important….”

david1212 · 20 Apr 2024

Aldi still had all 8 self-service checkouts open this week. I've yet to test or notice if the 20 item limit is still being imposed.

blueberry11 said:
I remember the times where Tesco Metro existed. That brand was defunct from ~ 2022 with them being rebranded to Tesco Express or Tesco Superstore. Therefore, it feels weird seeing a Tesco Express store being much bigger than usual, as for this example at Canterbury which makes it feel like it should be a Superstore (you can rewind back to 2018 and before to see what I mean).

Does that also mean that Express branded stores are more expensive than Superstore/Extra branded ones effectively making some ex-Metro stores more expensive and why the brand was discontinued?

I can only comment on one Metro store that became an Express. Pricing is a mix. Generally items stocked by smaller Express stores are priced as them. Other items are priced higher than Superstores. They stopped stocking the budget 'Ms Molly', 'Growers Harvest', 'Stockwell & Co' etc lines. Also some Tesco branded items so now only branded available e.g. McVities & Mr Kipling cakes. Those that live in town centres / can not get to a Superstore so no ( cheaper ) alternative than continuing buying the majority of their food from the store have suffered a significant cost increase on top of inflation.

WestCoast · 20 Apr 2024

david1212 said:
Aldi still had all 8 self-service checkouts open this week. I've yet to test or notice if the 20 item limit is still being imposed.

I can only comment on one Metro store that became an Express. Pricing is a mix. Generally items stocked by smaller Express stores are priced as them. Other items are priced higher than Superstores. They stopped stocking the budget 'Ms Molly', 'Growers Harvest', 'Stockwell & Co' etc lines. Also some Tesco branded items so now only branded available e.g. McVities & Mr Kipling cakes. Those that live in town centres / can not get to a Superstore so no ( cheaper ) alternative than continuing buying the majority of their food from the store have suffered a significant cost increase on top of inflation.

My local Tesco definitely became pricier when it went to an Express from a Metro. I can see from the app there’s a premium on lots of stuff, especially alcohol and other discretionary items. However, Lidl opened a store not too far away and it’s often busier than the Tesco at certain times of day which I guess tells you where some of the customers went.

david1212 · 20 Apr 2024

WestCoast said:
My local Tesco definitely became pricier when it went to an Express from a Metro. I can see from the app there’s a premium on lots of stuff, especially alcohol and other discretionary items. However, Lidl opened a store not too far away and it’s often busier than the Tesco at certain times of day which I guess tells you where some of the customers went.

Fortunately for Tesco but not the customers the only competition is M&S Food, a 'normal' Tesco Express size Co-op and Iceland.
While unlikely if Aldi opened that would hit Tesco hard as IMO they cater better for singles & couples against families than Lidl do.

Typhoon · 21 Apr 2024

Asda has returned to profit, figures out tomorrow will show.

The supermarket chain is set to report a small pre-tax surplus after losing £74million in 2022.

The news comes as one of the Issa brothers who backed Asda's debt-fuelled buy-out is about to sell his stake to private equity group TDR Capital.

That tactic worked well for Morrison's!! I fear Asda will head down the same road as the investors try to claw money back. I sometimes go in the nearest one to me, like many, it has been reducing the range of alternatives but I did find one of the managers very approachable and informative (he has helping out on the shop floor).

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/oth...1&cvid=f9ddd4a4980041639cbc0b1423e27c3b&ei=39

route101 · 21 Apr 2024

Speaking of Tesco, the one in Carlisle City Centre has closed. The B&M has also closed.

birchesgreen · 21 Apr 2024

I was in a Sainsburys today, a beggar was being escorted out by security. It was all amicable, the beggar i overheard say to the security guard, "No hard feelings, you have your job to do and i have mine."

Job?! :lol:

Trackman · 21 Apr 2024

birchesgreen said:
I was in a Sainsburys today, a beggar was being escorted out by security. It was all amicable, the beggar i overheard say to the security guard, "No hard feelings, you have your job to do and i have mine."

Job?!

To some of them it is! Some can make a lot of money too.

Mcr Warrior · 21 Apr 2024

route101 said:
Speaking of Tesco, the one in Carlisle City Centre has closed. The B&M has also closed.

The B&M in Carlisle city centre closed September 2023 and the Tesco in October 2023, so six months ago now.

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