Is 5$ the new 0.99$ - Marketing Article

[lekate]

http://blog.yourmoney.ca/2012/04/is-...99-cents-.html

I found this very interesting, and on the FB page I stumbled on this it seemed the people didn't read it. In anycase, I'm sure most of you are aware of why prices end in .99$ (or in WM's case, .97$). It's all just a nice illusory trick to make you think it's lower than it is (to overcome is to round up, don't ever look at 2.99$ as anything other than 3$, etc).

The article itself is about promoting deals as 2/5$, 3/5$, etc. Sometimes it's /10$, but the point remains, that the retailers are enticing you to buy more (maybe you could use all of it, maybe you just wanted the one) to increase sales. Research (she doesn't link to any) apparently shows that people are more and more drawn to clean whole numbers (I find the price tags more aesthetically pleasing, yes I'm a little weird). So by doing sales like this they can promote a whole number, vs. some fractured number and increase the amount that you're buying regardless of how many you need/would use.

I think in a sense, it's also easier to trick customers into thinking it's a better deal. Two for five is easy math, but 3/5 isn't, if the sale is 3/5$ and the price of the item is reg. 1.70-1.99$ it's not a huge savings (the deal here is 1.66$ - max. savings of 33 cents). I understand any savings is good, but if you're buying it thinking it's a better deal than that then it's not good (I always break down the price before I head to the checkout). And this doesn't just occur in the grocery store, most clothing stores do 'sales' like this, actually most of their sales are based off of buying something else at full price (no thanks).

Something to remember - unless the sale tag says otherwise, it's safe to assume you only need to buy 1 item to get the sale price. I know Metro does the multiples sales all the time, but unless the sign says 2/5$ or 1 for x.xx$ then you're good to go. Loblaws also does multiples sales, and from what I remember working there it was mostly non-food and non-haba items that you had to buy the multiples to get the deals. My store I currently work at does do multiple sales, but most customers do buy those items in multiples so they aren't really tricking anyone, maybe the few customers who would have purchased 4 were purchasing 5 to get the sale....


So I was wondering how everyone on here thought about it? There's so many ways in which marketers trick us, sometimes it's unreal.

I generally go shopping with a realistic mind set - who are we kidding, these stores are out to make a profit, don't buy things unless you need it! Simple!

[walkonby]

oh lekate they have us over a barrel most times. If I am a bit tired and really do not have my specific list of what I came to get, then I can get enticed by a sign offering a great buy! I hum and haw, I try to focus and think...do I have a coupon for that? Silly right, when I did not even need it when I came in the store.
It is all I can do to walk away. Sometimes I talk out loud as I do it too, speaking to the specific product, lol!
Most times now I am able to resist because I have been made very aware of the tricks that are played on us consumers, but every now and then spray cleaners look very appealing!

[Ciel]

Shoppers Drug Mart flyers clearly (but in tiny font) state what the 1 item price will be if you don't buy the multiple items. I have noticed that the 6pk pop bottles have gone from 2/$5 to 2/$5.50 in the last month-one 6-pk is usually listed at a price of $2.99 on the 2-day sale days. I wait for the $2.50 price/6pk which does come and go in various stores.

Grocery stores can have brand name soda in 2L bottles for $1 each one week then go to $1.25 or $1.50 the following week or 2 weeks later. Fortino's, Walmart-I'm calling you out on that pricing strategy. Regular prices for soda seems to have leapt from $2.17 per 2L to $2.79 per 2L.

[bernard66]

Thank you for sharing.

[abbasgirl]

I'm not entirely sure that I haven't ever been led astray by this tactic.
I know I've bought just one some of the time, but other times I feel like I don't have a complete set if I don't buy the suggested amount.
It's like what they do with toy sets, where they sell several sets with different themes, but you have to buy them all separately. Then they put brightly coloured pictures of the complete set in each package so that kids will keep hounding their parents for more. I'll always be a sucker for that one!

[blueeyetea]

Interesting article. I think by law (in Ontario anyway), any shopper can buy one item at the reduced price is there's a sale of 2m items per $5 unless the store makes it perfectly clear that you can't like they do at Shopper's Drugmart. I often don't buy the prescribed quantity unless it's something I need and use often.

But yeah, it's just another strategy that stores have to entice shoppers to part with their hard-earned money. The more inventory they move, the cheaper they can buy the products.