FYI - RCSS changing price match policy

[torontogal12]

Surprised to read all these good reviews of Walmart. None of the Walmarts around here have allowed out of city price matching. And they stopped price matching the Chinese grocery stores ages ago

[bhlombardy]

Just to clarify these points. Stores don't lose money through price matching. The banner has agreements with their suppliers, guaranteeing lowest prices, and the difference between regular price and price paid by price matchers is recovered from the manufacturer/supplier. So Coke, Kraft, Pepsi Co. pay for the price matching, not the store.

That's not always necessarily the case. The model you suggest IS very common in some industries, and it is with some brands (eg, high ticket items such as electronics). But it is very much industry and brand-dependent.

I sold Sony products along side Intel products. Sony would price-guarantee, and Intel would not.

For example, If you are an official Sony dealer your commitment with Sony is that your wholesale cost SHOULD be the same for you as it is any other retailer for the same item. This is regardless if you're "Joe's TV Hut... only stocking 4 of a model of television, or you're Best Buy stocking 400 of the same model. This is done to benefit Sony so that they have a larger distribution channel among retailers... making what is allegedly a fair playing ground for every one of their dealers. Thus Sony will protect your investment as a dealer to ensure that Best Buy (for example) doesnt try to run you out of business by underselling you on product at a price you can't touch, on a line of products that typically have a low profit margin to begin with (eg TV's). So Sony offers this price-protection guarantee to you as a dealer... ensuring that if you sell a product, that you are guaranteed a certain profit margin (usually about 5%) -- and you can thus hand that off to your customers as well.

But I can assure you that other brands I carried in my store didnt necessarily offer the same price protection.

And more-so this is not so much the case low ticket/high volume products... which typically have a MUCH higher profit margin. (say close to an average of about 50%).

Some brands may, indeed, have price-matching agreements with stores, but it's not necessarily the case across the board. It's quite dependent on the brand.

And as you took my quote out of context... let me re-itterate with additional specifics...

Periodically, stores are offered (at the corporate level) incentives by the vendors to showcase their products. If they don't accept the offer, they don't get the incentive... and thus no discount. But they are ALL offered it at the same time... fair practice requires this.

The volume incentive terms may be that the stores be required to purchase a large quantity to get the discount... and/or that they showcase said brand/item at the front of their store entrance ways, or on the front page of their flyer, etc -- or that they buy certain PoP (point of promotion) display kits. In addition, if your store participates you must promote said product within a certain period of time. (Heinz, for example, may want you to promote their sauces during the ramp up to BBQ season)

Regardless of the method, if your company (eg RCSS) doesnt participate (and they do have that right to refuse) then they don't get the incentive. And the vendor has no reason nor obligation to re-imburse for price matching after the fact.

So, in that case the brands actually may NOT pay for the price matching. They offered your banner the incentive... they refused to participate... then why should they later be committed to price matching? Some brands MIGHT offer price matching, but they are likely the same brands that don't offer volume incentive offers.

In any case, being a competitor to a store that may HAVE participated in said incentives, you (or your parent company) may opt to price match. You do this for the sole purpose of keeping a customer coming to your store. You take the loss-leader on that item in order to keep a customer happy, and in in the hopes to make up for the loss on the rest of their grocery orders. However, you don't want to lose it ALL, so you limit the price matching to a certain quantity... one that comes out as fair to the average consumer... which in the case is limiting the quantity, and the geographic range that you will match.

That being said... to more accurately depict my quote: The local store DOES actually take a hit (albeit small) -- and when you (as a manager) report your local store's profit performance back to corporate, it DOES have an affect on your bottom-line.

I have, in my past, managed retail stores (from a one-of location, to a national banner store), and I can assuredly attest to how the overall profit margin affected mine and my staffs' quarterly and annual bonuses... including those directly affected by corporate policies that I had no control over, one of which included price-matching. And while price matching DOES indeed take it's toll on the single store's bottom-line, limiting it to geography and quantity, as this thread has outlined would be one way reduce that hit on the locally managed store.

[Frugalbigmama]

No issues price matching at my RCSS on Sunday. PM'd 12 tubes of toothpaste from IDA/Pharmasave flyer.

[scouponer]

My store has added sdm, valu-mart, independent and giant tiger. Very happy about that. Now just need to add rexall, Canadian tire and Chinese grocery stores and all will be well! Oh and drop the limit of 4. Lol. Which would take us back to where we started

[maple7]

Received a notice at my Superstore today saying they are pricematching only their top ten competitors starting June 1. Top ten included Giant Tiger but not Shoppers.