Supermarkets discussion

[Peter Sarf]

Sainsbury's seem to have fixed their reduced item barcode problem. I didn't have any issues earlier this week.
I did notice one item where the reduced barcode had been stuck on without covering the normal one - presumably someone who just forgot that the problem was fixed?

They only need to cover one end of the old barcode (so some bars/stripes are hidden) to disable it but some staff do not completely cover at least one of the bars/stripes. In Morrisons they are good at putting the new bar code over the cooking/heating instructions !.

Probably because the label printer is always knackered - I have rarely seen one working properly that hasn't been broke by shoppers or staff and is jammed.

It also does beg the question of how hard is it for people to just WAIT for the label to come out and once it has stopped printing, remove it, it won't get jammed then. But most people try and pull it off as it is printing, thus meaning the machine gets jammed.

For about 18 months in Morrisons there was one reduced price printer that would print a barcode with the middle section missing !. The amount of time wasted at the tills must have easily exceeded the cost of a replacement printer. I was not complaining because if I chose correctly the checkout operator would just scan something cheaper instead !.

 

[Trackman]

For about 18 months in Morrisons there was one reduced price printer that would print a barcode with the middle section missing !. The amount of time wasted at the tills must have easily exceeded the cost of a replacement printer. I was not complaining because if I chose correctly the checkout operator would just scan something cheaper instead !.

Was the number missing too?
I've seen them type it in when it doesn't scan.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Was the number missing too?
I've seen them type it in when it doesn't scan.

In the Tesco self-serve. the customer (me!) is expected to type in the (very long) number when the bar-code it doesn't scan...

 

[Baxenden Bank]

In the Tesco self-serve. the customer (me!) is expected to type in the (very long) number when the bar-code it doesn't scan...

At least they break up the number into blocks of (4?) digits now. It used to be one continuous number which was not so great if you didn't take your specs with you!

 

[Merle Haggard]

At least they break up the number into blocks of (4?) digits now. It used to be one continuous number which was not so great if you didn't take your specs with you!

Yes, I remember that too! And sometimes I am quite sure there were more digits on the label than the field size on the screen...

 

[Hadders]

When an item is reduced the reduced to clear barcode should be placed over the original product barcode, preventing it from being scanned. Worth point out as well that the barcode must not cover product ingredients or the use by/best before date.

On some items this is tricky to achieve.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Yes, I remember that too! And sometimes I am quite sure there were more digits on the label than the field size on the screen...

Technically you could configure the system so you didn't need the last digit, as that's a mathematically derived check digit, which the system could do for itself. But more likely it was a config error

 

[takno]

Technically you could configure the system so you didn't need the last digit, as that's a mathematically derived check digit, which the system could do for itself. But more likely it was a config error

The input box is designed for inputting normal length barcodes. If you type a longer barcode in it just scrolls across as you would expect. You can certainly always type in the full number

 

[Harpo]

This used to be the time of year when Sainsburys tempted me with week-by-week cash discount vouchers for a minimum spend. This year, I can’t contain my indifference.

My seasonal offers include a motley collection of bonus points for random products such as that yuletide favourite, the tuna and sweetcorn sandwich.

In addition 525 bonus points are on offer for spending £30 - but only on laundry products! If I spend £60 in a single shop, triple points are on offer, so a massive 120 extra points worth 60p or 1%!

I’m guessing they think me innumerate as well as illegitimate?

 

[lookapigeon]

For about 18 months in Morrisons there was one reduced price printer that would print a barcode with the middle section missing !. The amount of time wasted at the tills must have easily exceeded the cost of a replacement printer. I was not complaining because if I chose correctly the checkout operator would just scan something cheaper instead !.

I guess it's the not my job theory, as in it's not my job to talk to IT/Ops to fix the technical problem, don't get paid enough to care, problem doesn't get sorted. I do notice this in quite a few places, the thermal printers of all sorts (labels, receipts etc) produce crap quality print because of poor maintainance.

 

[dgl]

A bit of time (about 20 seconds) with a cotton bud on the thermal print head usually cures any printing issue, it's something you sometimes have to do if you have a Brother (or similar) labeller.

 

[jon81uk]

This used to be the time of year when Sainsburys tempted me with week-by-week cash discount vouchers for a minimum spend. This year, I can’t contain my indifference.

My seasonal offers include a motley collection of bonus points for random products such as that yuletide favourite, the tuna and sweetcorn sandwich.

In addition 525 bonus points are on offer for spending £30 - but only on laundry products! If I spend £60 in a single shop, triple points are on offer, so a massive 120 extra points worth 60p or 1%!

I’m guessing they think me innumerate as well as illegitimate?

In the Nectar app I've got a wide variety of bonus point offers on things I often buy many of them 20-40 points, plus 5x points when I spend £40 (which is therefore at least an additional 80p, but unlikely to happen as I often walk to Sainsbury's). Then there is count up to Christmas where I have 600 bonus points if I gain 600 points (including via the bonus points).
I did well in the fruit and veg challenge recently getting the maximum possible amounts of bonus points.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Of course, 600 Nectar points sounds a lot, but they're effectively only worth £3. Every little helps, I suppose, or is that what the competition at Tesco like to say?!

 

[SuspectUsual]

Of course, 600 Nectar points sounds a lot, but they're effectively only worth £3. Every little helps, I suppose, or is that what the competition at Tesco like to say?!

£3 is 3,000 in Morrisons points

They are currently running a series of monthly promotions via their app where you can pick 10 groups of products from a list of about 20 and earn a lot of bonus More points. If you look at the points earned and spend threshold it equates to about 19% cashback assuming you’re a regular Morrisons customer

 

[jon81uk]

Of course, 600 Nectar points sounds a lot, but they're effectively only worth £3. Every little helps, I suppose, or is that what the competition at Tesco like to say?!

Yep and I'm not really going out of my way to spend more at Sainsbury's (I might buy an item that I often use and has bonus points this week, even if I don't need it immediately though) so its just "free money" in a sense if I manage to make the target.

 

[takno]

Of course, 600 Nectar points sounds a lot, but they're effectively only worth £3. Every little helps, I suppose, or is that what the competition at Tesco like to say?!

Every little does help at Tesco, where I can use partner offers and the points are therefore worth 4x as much. Nectar is about as much fun as clipping low-value coupons from a booklet, but with added maths.

 

[jon81uk]

Every little does help at Tesco, where I can use partner offers and the points are therefore worth 4x as much

Not any more, its only double.

 

[takno]

Not any more, its only double.

I was also accounting for the fact that Tesco points are worth twice as much to start with

 

[davehsug]

£3 is 3,000 in Morrisons points

They are currently running a series of monthly promotions via their app where you can pick 10 groups of products from a list of about 20 and earn a lot of bonus More points. If you look at the points earned and spend threshold it equates to about 19% cashback assuming you’re a regular Morrisons customer

They've changed the products quite a bit in the last couple of months and upped the thresholds generally, but it's still something for nothing if they're products you buy, or can switch to painlessly. With things like the seasonal bonuses and the above, we've got around £220 now to spend over Christmas, though I doubt we'll get anything like as much next year.

 

[SuspectUsual]

They've changed the products quite a bit in the last couple of months and upped the thresholds generally, but it's still something for nothing if they're products you buy, or can switch to painlessly. With things like the seasonal bonuses and the above, we've got around £220 now to spend over Christmas, though I doubt we'll get anything like as much next year.

I also save everything I earn to get a free(ish) Xmas for food and wine.

I have the time to be picky and Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda within easy reach. Across the three of them I’ve saved up about £160 this year without buying anything I’ll never use (although I do have a small mountain of cleaning stuff in the cupboard!)

 

[jon0844]

When an item is reduced the reduced to clear barcode should be placed over the original product barcode, preventing it from being scanned. Worth point out as well that the barcode must not cover product ingredients or the use by/best before date.

On some items this is tricky to achieve.

The supermarkets can surely require product designs to allow for such attachments, or else they won't stock said items? Many supermarkets seem to use the same labelling setup for reduced items, so it should be quite easy and really help the staff applying the discounts who are constantly under increasing time pressures.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The supermarkets can surely require product designs to allow for such attachments, or else they won't stock said items? Many supermarkets seem to use the same labelling setup for reduced items, so it should be quite easy and really help the staff applying the discounts who are constantly under increasing time pressures.

A lot of work has gone into packaging design over the last few years.

One of the main bits has been trying to standardise the positioning of the barcode so that it increases the efficiency of scanning at the till - for example most customers put stuff "the right way up" on the conveyor belt so a barcode on the bottom can be scanned on a flatbed scanner without reorientating it; Aldi and Lidl are very strong on this (and it helps for them that a bigger proportion of what they sell is own brand, so they have greater control).

Ultimately though for smaller products clearly space on the packaging is at a premium, and sometimes the people doing RTC focus a bit too much on covering the barcode and not quite enough on what else they're covering up next to it.

But there won't ever be a space left for a markdown label - after all, in a perfect world there wouldn't ever be any

 

[jon0844]

I like that Aldi and others often have barcodes on multiple sides, and you can certainly incorporate it within the overall design with some skill.

 

[JamesT]

I don't know if it's just my local Lidl store being dumb, but they don't seem to put the discount stickers over the existing barcode. So if you're not careful on the self-service you end up scanning the item at full price.

 

[Hadders]

The supermarkets can surely require product designs to allow for such attachments, or else they won't stock said items? Many supermarkets seem to use the same labelling setup for reduced items, so it should be quite easy and really help the staff applying the discounts who are constantly under increasing time pressures.

Smaller items are a particular issue. You can't cover the ingredients or date code and there's often a not a lot of space. And with any process involving humans they don't always get it right.

 

[1D54]

I don't know if it's just my local Lidl store being dumb, but they don't seem to put the discount stickers over the existing barcode. So if you're not careful on the self-service you end up scanning the item at full price.

I'd point that one out to management, it could be a simple error on the part of the staff member or something more sinister that of course management is well aware of!

 

[Buzby]

Lidl’s & Aldi have a predilection of printing a wrap-round barcode on the package. A great idea - but it cannot be obliterated by a single sticker. Miss this at checkout and you pay the full price.

 

[takno]

Lidl’s & Aldi have a predilection of printing a wrap-round barcode on the package. A great idea - but it cannot be obliterated by a single sticker. Miss this at checkout and you pay the full price.

Aldi don't do discount barcodes round my way at all. They just stick a big 30% or 50% off sticker on it and you have to take it through the manual till. In general though it's not too difficult to cover up the wrap-around barcodes - you just need a longish thin sticker like they do in Sainsburys, and to put it vertically over the barcode, like they don't in Sainsburys

 

[Peter Sarf]

Aldi don't do discount barcodes round my way at all. They just stick a big 30% or 50% off sticker on it and you have to take it through the manual till. In general though it's not too difficult to cover up the wrap-around barcodes - you just need a longish thin sticker like they do in Sainsburys, and to put it vertically over the barcode, like they don't in Sainsburys

You only need to obliterate on end of the barcode label. That is to say covering one or two of the bars makes the barcode unreadable I believe.

 

[Hadders]

A long t

Aldi don't do discount barcodes round my way at all. They just stick a big 30% or 50% off sticker on it and you have to take it through the manual till. In general though it's not too difficult to cover up the wrap-around barcodes - you just need a longish thin sticker like they do in Sainsburys, and to put it vertically over the barcode, like they don't in Sainsburys

If the item has a wrap around barcode a long thin sticker wouldn’t be long enough to go completely round the item.