The Great British Budget Menu

[Bazile]

In last night's episode one of the people said that what would help was a dedicated aisle for budget ranges and special offers .

She was complaining that these offers were all over the supermarket and she as a busy mum did not have time to go looking all over the stores .

The woman representing a supermarket , ( with a straight face ) replied that it was an issue that they would take on board .

Like hell , they will - as we all know / may know , supermarkets place products in certain positions in order for the customer to spend a lot of time in the store and during that time customers will usually buy more goods than they originally intended .

Did you see that bit , did you smile , when you heard that conversation ?

[mccfluff]

wasn't that on last week?

and yes i did think, like hell will they make it easy for shoppers to get in buy what they need and get out quick. But that's their job to maximize profit and you do that by making people walk around the store, there's a very good reason the bread is the furthest away

its why the consumer needs to shop smart

[Mamyalynne]

Of course they won't change it around, it is pure lip service for the cameras - I am afraid that busy Mum or not you have to seek the bargains out yourself.

[AB Editor]

"there's a very good reason the bread is the furthest away"

Or the coffee/tea - that's usually the furthest away.

[mccfluff]

that just cos your a caffeine addict

[woofgang]

To be fair, for me that wouldn't make it easier at all. I prefer to have the offers placed with similar items, it makes it easier to compare prices and also for me that would mean checking the offer aisle and then going to the aisle where the product usually was if there was no offer.

[bednobs]

flipping hell, i don't get what the woman's gripe was really - the value stuff is just next to the ordinary stuff. it doesn't take much extra time to look along the washing up liquid shelf and think i'll have that cheaper on (which she wouldnt be able to do if it was in a completely seperate aisle)

[ummmm]

If your budget is that tight you'll never buy things you never intended to.

[missnemesis]

I think she probably just wanted everything 'value' in the one aisle so that she would only have to use that aisle and not walk for miles up and down the others. Which would only work if the 'value' aisle carried one of everything she needed of course.

[mccfluff]

but supermarkets are there to make a profit, its not in their interest to put all the value brand products in one aisle

[factor-fiction]

The market or Aldi and Lidl are good for value prices. I do find the offers are often stacked up by the entrance or at the end of aisles in Tesco/Morrisons. Safeway used to be good for that- I just walked down the central aisle, picked up the offers, and ignored the rest of the store (apart from the till).

The offers are often not what they seem now though. I was in store recently and a pack of 4 cans of Heinz beans was 'on offer' at £2.25. But you could also buy 2 cans for £1. Coleslaw and potato salad were 85p a carton , or two for £2!

[Tilly2]

You have to keep your wits about you when shopping....and take a calculator.

[missnemesis]

I don't have an issue with the value stuff being dotted all around the shop, I just wish they would decide where they were putting their items and LEAVE THEM THERE!

[Bazile]

mccfluff

//but supermarkets are there to make a profit, its not in their interest to put all the value brand products in one aisle //

Quite right - however ( it's the first time last night i saw bits of the programme ) i thought the reason why they had representative from the supermarkets on the programme was because it is supposed to be a programme which helps people on a low budget to get good food products at bargain / lower prices .

The supermarkets aim is to make people spend as much time in the store as possible ( who blames them ) and therefore spend more money than intended .

If this is a programme to assist people on low / tight budgets - why bother appearing on the programme ?

[Bazile]

misnemesis

//I don't have an issue with the value stuff being dotted all around the shop, I just wish they would decide where they were putting their items and LEAVE THEM THERE! //

That is another marketing ploy that the supermarkets use to get you to spend more money .
99.9 % of the time when you go shopping , you know exactly what you want to purchase .

You therefore go straight to the particular aisles where you know the products are , that you wish to purchase . You then proceed to the till and pay for the goods and exit the store .
You therefore do not buy any extra products than you intended to , in the first place .

The supermarkets knows this - so in order to get you to spend more time in the store , they regularily move some products around the store ; in order that you have to spend more time locating them .
While you are looking for the products you went in there for - you are walking past and noticing other products .

What happens ? - you are likely to buy a few other products

[ELVIS68]

Well the amount of sugar that woman has in her tea, 3 spoonfuls per cup...20 cups of tea a day she'll be sucking her food through a straw soon when her teeth rot away