Supermarkets discussion

[RuddA]

What is needed is what is absolutely normal in Japan - small trolleys which hold a standard basket (and optionally a second basket underneath).

Very handy!

(Image shows such a trolley)

View attachment 164802

I have used something similar in Poland, very useful.

 

[Harpo]

Interesting that they've clearly identified £4 as a ceiling price, but still wanted to increase by more for Clubcard users (who I assume are the majority of their business). Either way, it's quite an ambitious price for some desperately un-noteworthy sandwiches

Agreed about the bland over-chilled sandwiches. For me any meal-deal is a distress purchase driven by hunger and usually by limited time too, such as getting a train.

Another Tesco trick is to cluster their own-brand (and presumably high margin) snacks around meal deal sandwiches and hide branded snacks, such as cereal bars, in a distant aisle that forces you to hunt around, especially if it isn't your local Tesco.

 

[takno]

Agreed about the bland over-chilled sandwiches. For me any meal-deal is a distress purchase driven by hunger and usually by limited time too, such as getting a train.

Another Tesco trick is to cluster their own-brand (and presumably high margin) snacks around meal deal sandwiches and hide branded snacks, such as cereal bars, in a distant aisle that forces you to hunt around, especially if it isn't your local Tesco.

I'm not sure the branded snacks are lower margin tbh, otherwise they just wouldn't include them in the deal at all. The snacks element of Tesco meal deals is probably the best bit, although I do think a veg samosa ought to be a snack and not a main

 

[Peter Sarf]

Has anyone else noticed how Tesco's 'small' trollies get bigger and bigger? They started off little larger than a basket; what gives their game away is when they don't replace all the smaller ones at a shop, so the newer ones won't nestle into the older ones. I have noticed at least three generations.
Presumably it's marketing psychology to make customers guilty about only buying enough to hardly cover the base of the trolley, and buy more stuff. That doesn't worry me though!

I know trolleys got bigger for the out of town supermarkets where a whole car boot has to be filled.

I also wonder if supermarkets tend towards bigger trolleys to cater for people shopping less often BUT for more items (again a car comes in handy for this).

Personally I am usually on foot to the supermarket BUT I love to have a trolley to lean on !.

I have long felt, and may previously have mentioned, that the wheeled baskets that you pull along behind you are deliberately intended to make you buy more. It is much easier to drop a couple of extra items in a basket that is on the ground without thinking than it is to put them in one hanging on your arm. In the latter case you notice the extra weight and the increasing pile of shopping, making it more likely that you will change your mind and put the item(s) back, something that is easier with the basket at arm’s length, rather than down on the ground.

I still think that is a possible reason. Possibly the down fall of this idea is evidenced by the amount of stuff dumped at the checkout (as opposed to what you say - I have made bold !). Evidenced in my Morrisons where you can see how bad it is when there are nearly a dozen trolleys full of stock waiting to be put back by staff. But it is the supermarket model - you help yourself thus "buying" more.

Until thefts exceed the perceived gain in sales the supermarket model will prevail.

Indeed, I still think there might be a gap in the market for this budget. Conscious option though, it would make life so much more straightforward for those either with a less substantial budget. Or indeed those claiming expenses where every last tarnished penny is audited, questioned and scrutinised within an inch of its life

Over my working life I have watched every line of business turn more budget conscious. Usually a sign it is time to move on to a growing industry/business where they just want you to get things done not just mull over whether to do it or not (for example estimates never leading to any productive work).

Smaller trolleys are like gold dust in Festival Park Stoke Morrisons. You never have to return them there's usually someone waiting at the car to take it off your hands. Of course, it might also be that they're scattered in the most distant trolley parks, since collecting them seems to be a thing of the past.

Trolleys round my area find themselves congregating in the street. Funny how people have to take another trolley home with them rather than taking the one back they last stole.

Surely those on a tight budget wouldn't be buying meal deals anyway? It's much cheaper to buy a loaf of bread, a filling or two, multipack of crisps and cans of drink.

I usually ignore the meal deal. I usually have water with me in a refilled water bottle left over from the missus who prefers water not fresh from the tap. Then I hunt down a sandwich in Boots (cheapest place). Also have long life snacks (usually mixed nuts and raisins (50p/200g in Morrisons).

Last week the Granddaughter and Myself went out Monday and Friday with a loaf of bread turned into sandwiches. Back in July we toured the Welsh Valleys etc with a loaf of sliced bread, cheese singles and sliced ham - made them as we went along - FRESH. Each trip that was for the cost of a meal deal but for over 8 sandwiches !.

It is all about convenience vs cost.

I did the same with Boots, except that it's never going to be worth me sorting out an advantage card, so I've not even gone in a branch since.

I had a Boots advantage card somewhere. Don't seem to carry it now despite my irregular visits to Boots.

Agreed about the bland over-chilled sandwiches. For me any meal-deal is a distress purchase driven by hunger and usually by limited time too, such as getting a train.

Another Tesco trick is to cluster their own-brand (and presumably high margin) snacks around meal deal sandwiches and hide branded snacks, such as cereal bars, in a distant aisle that forces you to hunt around, especially if it isn't your local Tesco.

I just cannot be bothered to faff around figuring out supermarket meal deals. If I am desperate I will look for a Boots and buy one lone sandwich.

 

[takno]

I just cannot be bothered to faff around figuring out supermarket meal deals. If I am desperate I will look for a Boots and buy one lone sandwich.

I was the same until I realised how good some of the snacks had got in Tesco and Waitrose. That and the ability to get protein shakes as the drink tipped it over to worthwhile for me. It quickly stops being worthwhile as the price ramps up though, since I rarely especially need all 3 items at once.

 

[GusB]

What is needed is what is absolutely normal in Japan - small trolleys which hold a standard basket (and optionally a second basket underneath).

We actually had a few of those in one of the Safeway stores that I worked in. There weren't many of them - I think there were only about three or four - and I suspect it was a hangover from the retailer that previously owned the shop. However, they were popular, especially with older people; the only problem was that there weren't enough of them. There was a similar situation with the smaller, shallow trolleys; we only had a handful, but the ones that we had were in high demand. These days it's perfectly normal to have a variety in trolley sizes but at the time it was either big trolleys or baskets with the only variations being those that were adapted to carry babies and small children.

At the time supermarkets were bending over backwards to advertise their "parent-and-child" friendliness, often to the detriment of those with disabilities. When the store I worked in was re-fitted, the disabled spaces in the car park were moved and the parent-and-child spaces replaced them; if I had a pound for every gripe I heard...

 

[jon0844]

I didn't claim or even imply that there was a connection. Try somebody else.

Supermarkets didn't sack people with the introduction of self-checkouts. They simply didn't refill the vacancies or replace people who left*.

A Morrisons I visited in Norfolk had reduced the manned checkouts to six (I think) and they weren't all open anyway, and they appeared to have just one person covering a huge number of self-checkouts (it's quite possible some staff were elsewhere or on a break). The poor lady was running around all over the place to attend to people needing help or having problems.

(* source: multiple staff who quite openly say this is the case and often talk of how they're struggling. Perhaps they shouldn't be telling members of the public this, but they do. Maybe they're all lying as part of a big conspiracy, but I take it that they'd actually quite like some more staff but it isn't going to happen).

 

[Peter Sarf]

I was the same until I realised how good some of the snacks had got in Tesco and Waitrose. That and the ability to get protein shakes as the drink tipped it over to worthwhile for me. It quickly stops being worthwhile as the price ramps up though, since I rarely especially need all 3 items at once.

For me it is the crisps - I don't do crisps unless I am desperate. A protein drink is tempting although I used to go for a small carton of milk but thats in the past now that I have to watch cholesterol - well maybe one every now an then won't hurt !.

We actually had a few of those in one of the Safeway stores that I worked in. There weren't many of them - I think there were only about three or four - and I suspect it was a hangover from the retailer that previously owned the shop. However, they were popular, especially with older people; the only problem was that there weren't enough of them. There was a similar situation with the smaller, shallow trolleys; we only had a handful, but the ones that we had were in high demand. These days it's perfectly normal to have a variety in trolley sizes but at the time it was either big trolleys or baskets with the only variations being those that were adapted to carry babies and small children.

At the time supermarkets were bending over backwards to advertise their "parent-and-child" friendliness, often to the detriment of those with disabilities. When the store I worked in was re-fitted, the disabled spaces in the car park were moved and the parent-and-child spaces replaced them; if I had a pound for every gripe I heard...

I like the shallower trolleys. Room to spread things out compared to a basket so I don't need the depth and I do find my back objects to reaching down too deep.

Supermarkets didn't sack people with the introduction of self-checkouts. They simply didn't refill the vacancies or replace people who left*.

A Morrisons I visited in Norfolk had reduced the manned checkouts to six (I think) and they weren't all open anyway, and they appeared to have just one person covering a huge number of self-checkouts (it's quite possible some staff were elsewhere or on a break). The poor lady was running around all over the place to attend to people needing help or having problems.

(* source: multiple staff who quite openly say this is the case and often talk of how they're struggling. Perhaps they shouldn't be telling members of the public this, but they do. Maybe they're all lying as part of a big conspiracy, but I take it that they'd actually quite like some more staff but it isn't going to happen).

Yes, I am getting comments from staff who really should not say anything. The fact they do suggests to me how bad the staff feel it is.

Furthermore I can see in my local Morrisons that things are fraying. Presentation. Stock in cages all day instead of on the shelf - some of it chilled/frozen. A while back a pallet of eggs with the cling film wrap holding the stack together had been undone by customers as the shelves were nearly empty. Of course customers broke open the cardboard bulk boxes to get at individual dozen/half-dozen boxes and not always at the top. By the time I got there there were burst bulk boxes and broken eggs all over the floor. So a massive clean up of a hazard required resulting from an easier job not done.

 

[Tetchytyke]

No doubt Morrisons/Co-Op/Boots* will soon be following suit

Boots is now £3.60 (Advantage Card)/£3.90, but they are better sandwiches than Tesco.

The Co-Op is £3.50 (membership)/£4 but have a much wider choice of snacks. A Ginsters pasty is treated as a snack in the Co-Op deal.

Sadly this does involve eating a Ginsters pasty, something which I will only ever do when I'm trying to wind up my Cornish wife.

 

[Gloster]

In my local Tesco Express I noticed that many of the salad tomatoes were in packs of four, instead of six, although both were marked as 360g. I wonder if they were finding that many of the six-packs were well over 360g., but had to be sold as six because four would be underweight: slightly larger tomatoes reduce the amount of freebie that they give away. Perfectly legal, but most people buy tomatoes by number.

 

[Peter Sarf]

In my local Tesco Express I noticed that many of the salad tomatoes were in packs of four, instead of six, although both were marked as 360g. I wonder if they were finding that many of the six-packs were well over 360g., but had to be sold as six because four would be underweight: slightly larger tomatoes reduce the amount of freebie that they give away. Perfectly legal, but most people buy tomatoes by number.

I have sometimes weighed the pre-packed vegetables and am surprised by how much the weight varies. Thinking about it logically it is bound to vary. I got interested when I realised the "e" next to the weight means estimated !. Next visit and I could vaguely feel a difference between packs so went hunting for scales.

 

[Bald Rick]

For me it is the crisps - I don't do crisps unless I am desperate. A protein drink is tempting although I used to go for a small carton of milk but thats in the past now that I have to watch cholesterol - well maybe one every now an then won't hurt !.

Well you dont have to have crisps, it is a snack of any tyoe in the deal which often include fruit, chocolate , flapjack etc. Sainsburys have started including ice creams in their meal deal, including Magnums. (That wont do the cholesterol any good either of course, but in my view much nicer than a bag of Salt and Vinegar).

 

[Peter Sarf]

Well you dont have to have crisps, it is a snack of any tyoe in the deal which often include fruit, chocolate , flapjack etc.

I know but somehow the crisps are in your face and the other snacks seem to be less obvious. The cynic in me wants to make sure the supermarket is not just tricking me with more expensive items. I dicoverd this when a mate went for a meal deal and I noticed the total price was wrong !. I just cannot be bothered when I think I only need a bit to eat and want it fast (if I can find Boots).

Sainsburys have started including ice creams in their meal deal, including Magnums. (That wont do the cholesterol any good either of course, but in my view much nicer than a bag of Salt and Vinegar).

Ooooh, tempting !. Probably a summer thing.
Should be fine for occasional doses surely !.
And the chocolate coating would protect me ?.

 

[takno]

Well you dont have to have crisps, it is a snack of any tyoe in the deal which often include fruit, chocolate , flapjack etc. Sainsburys have started including ice creams in their meal deal, including Magnums. (That wont do the cholesterol any good either of course, but in my view much nicer than a bag of Salt and Vinegar).

It was the mini pork pies that got interested. I imagine that doesn't do a lot for dietary cholesterol levels either, but I refuse to check. Crisps are pretty miserable, and when meal deals were just that they weren't worth the trouble.

 

[Harpo]

Perfectly legal, but most people buy tomatoes by number.

The movement of fruit and veg from sale by weight to sale by quantity is another sleight of hand that prevents meaningful price comparison.

I’d assume the supermarkets have a tight size/weight spec with wholesalers to avoid being cheated? Pity that they don’t want to extend that ability to customers.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The movement of fruit and veg from sale by weight to sale by quantity is another sleight of hand that prevents meaningful price comparison.

I’d assume the supermarkets have a tight size/weight spec with wholesalers to avoid being cheated? Pity that they don’t want to extend that ability to customers.

Its definitely a cost saving exercise for the supermarkets.

Anything that isn't bought by the unit and sold by the unit is inherently more complicated. There's also more stock loss in stores with loose items

 

[dgl]

Interestingly these price changes make the Coop meal deal with their loyalty card one of the cheapest (£3.50). Plus you can get a Ginsters slice, sausage roll or Cornish Pasty as the snack!

 

[Merle Haggard]

Its definitely a cost saving exercise for the supermarkets.

Anything that isn't bought by the unit and sold by the unit is inherently more complicated. There's also more stock loss in stores with loose items

The Tesco self service till almost always sets off an alarm when I scan bananas; once had them re-weighed by the (slightly aggressive) assistant.
If I was going to risk the opprobrium of a shop-lifting accusation then something more valuable than just over a quid's worth of fruit might be my target.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The Tesco self service till almost always sets off an alarm when I scan bananas; once had them re-weighed by the (slightly aggressive) assistant.
If I was going to risk the opprobrium of a shop-lifting accusation then something more valuable than just over a quid's worth of fruit might be my target.

Stock loss isn’t just theft (although there’s a lot of high value stuff weighed and carrots selected)

There’s also more damage to loose items etc

 

[Calthrop]

A Ginsters pasty is treated as a snack in the Co-Op deal.

Sadly this does involve eating a Ginsters pasty, something which I will only ever do when I'm trying to wind up my Cornish wife.

Would be interested to know what causes you to be anti-Ginsters pasties. I totally eschew this firm's pasties; after experiencing -- this was quite some years ago -- that there seemed to be a considerable amount of gristle in every Ginsters pasty which I encountered. After a few "doses" of this experience, I have ever since, personally boycotted any food item made by Ginsters; maybe their non-pasty items are perfectly lovely -- if so, then too bad !

 

[takno]

The Tesco self service till almost always sets off an alarm when I scan bananas; once had them re-weighed by the (slightly aggressive) assistant.
If I was going to risk the opprobrium of a shop-lifting accusation then something more valuable than just over a quid's worth of fruit might be my target.

I assume that the trick is to weigh the bananas along with a highish value item, get a sticker for the combined weight, and then put them all on the scale at the same time. The alarm probably only triggers if you have a fairly big bunch.

Would be interested to know what causes you to be anti-Ginsters pasties. I totally eschew this firm's pasties; after experiencing -- this was quite some years ago -- that there seemed to be a considerable amount of gristle in every Ginsters pasty which I encountered. After a few "doses" of this experience, I have ever since, personally boycotted any food item made by Ginsters; maybe their non-pasty items are perfectly lovely -- if so, then too bad !

Ginsters are broadly speaking tat wildly-overpriced tat. It was a matter of some irritation to many people in Cornwall that they went to all the trouble of getting place-of-origin protection for cornish pasties, and Ginsters still counted because they have a factory half a mile into cornwall. Ironically as a result you're generally better off buying a non-cornish pasty.

I actually quite like Ginsters stuff apart from the pasties and as part of the Poundland meal-deal the price isn't bad. I struggle to say anything nicer than that though, because I could have bought a car with what I spent buying them over the years, usually in the 24-hour garage on the way home from a night out.

 

[RuddA]

Furthermore I can see in my local Morrisons that things are fraying. Presentation. Stock in cages all day instead of on the shelf - some of it chilled/frozen. A while back a pallet of eggs with the cling film wrap holding the stack together had been undone by customers as the shelves were nearly empty. Of course customers broke open the cardboard bulk boxes to get at individual dozen/half-dozen boxes and not always at the top. By the time I got there there were burst bulk boxes and broken eggs all over the floor. So a massive clean up of a hazard required resulting from an easier job not done.

I visited my local Morrisons yesterday for the first time in at least a year as they had a special offer on Muller corners. Some of the yogurts were BB 31/08. When I finally found a member of staff who was coming from the stockroom, there wasn't anyone on the shop floor, they did at least go straight to the shelf to check.

 

[Merle Haggard]

I assume that the trick is to weigh the bananas along with a highish value item, get a sticker for the combined weight, and then put them all on the scale at the same time. The alarm probably only triggers if you have a fairly big bunch.

I can see that possibility, but I don't pre-weigh them (or anything loose) just place them loose and unbagged on the scales at the self scan.

Stock loss isn’t just theft (although there’s a lot of high value stuff weighed and carrots selected)

There’s also more damage to loose items etc

Thanks for the response.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Would be interested to know what causes you to be anti-Ginsters pasties. I totally eschew this firm's pasties; after experiencing -- this was quite some years ago -- that there seemed to be a considerable amount of gristle in every Ginsters pasty which I encountered.

They’re just full of gristle, as you say, and they somehow don’t manage to taste of anything.

As for winding Mrs Tyke up, she’s from near Callington.

 

[johntea]

Interestingly I tried buying a meal deal in Sainsburys the other week and picked up what I always generally go for as the 'snack', Nomadic Oats Chocolate & Natural Yogurt 169G

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/nomadic-oat-clusters---natural-yogurt--chocolate-169g

Only to find they no longer classify it as a 'snack' but as a 'main' so I didn't bother!

Went to Morrisons the other day who DO still classify it as a 'snack' and charge £3.50 rather than £3.75!

The mind boggles

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

How healthy are crisps these days?

 

[AM9]

How healthy are crisps these days?

No healthier than they've ever been.

 

[Hadders]

You don't have to be a Nectar card holder to get the £3.75 meal deal at Sainsbury's.

There's a rage of snacks to suit everyone - from unhealthy crisps and chocolate to healthier fruit
Same with drinks - still water through to coffee from the Costa machine.

 

[takno]

Interestingly I tried buying a meal deal in Sainsburys the other week and picked up what I always generally go for as the 'snack', Nomadic Oats Chocolate & Natural Yogurt 169G

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/nomadic-oat-clusters---natural-yogurt--chocolate-169g

Only to find they no longer classify it as a 'snack' but as a 'main' so I didn't bother!

Went to Morrisons the other day who DO still classify it as a 'snack' and charge £3.50 rather than £3.75!

The mind boggles

Sainsbury's moved the yoghurt into mains a few months ago. There was a bit of a to-do, but I suspect that most people who cared just switched shops or stopped buying meal deals.

 

[SuspectUsual]

No healthier than they've ever been.

Apart from the baked ones which are newish and less unhealthy