How Do Supermarkets Decide What Products to Discount?

• 

  Hybroid on 12/08/2021 - 19:13

  +7

  Most branded product discounts are done by the manufacturer/marketer/distributor and not Coles/WW themselves. You will see their reps with visitor badges patrolling the stores, taking pictures of their products or even stocking shelves themselves as well as doing surveys to monitor how many people engage/look at/pickup their products etc.

  They'll be an agreed rota or period with the supermarket with commercial arrangements put in place.

  That's why Coles brand products rarely go on sale, they're meant to be best value price already.

  There are certainly some common themes of discounts e.g.

  • Coca-Cola is always on offer in a cycle, 24 pack for a week, then it's the 10 pack fridge boxes then full price, then 24 pack again etc.

  • Mountain Dew 1.25L bottles are discounted to $1.20 for a week, then go on 2 for $2.50 for a week then full price then back to $1.20 a week etc.

  • Old El Paso rotate product lines on sale every few weeks. Some items this week, some next week, others after that.

  • L'oreal anti-perspirant every few weeks goes down to 2 for $5.

  etc….

  (Estimated numbers above as an example, can't remember them offhand)

  • 

    GG57 on 13/08/2021 - 11:43

    +1

    Some of that work by the product reps is mandated by Coles / Woolies.
    If not always then sometimes Coles / Woolies will dictate to the supplier that their items will be discounted; that discount is passed back to the supplier.

    • 

      Hybroid on 13/08/2021 - 11:48

      I don't know enough to dispute that, but that doesn't compute for me. Somehow I can't see Coles mandating Colgate or Barilla should discount their products by 50% next week. Maybe that is the case, I don't know.

      • 

        GG57 on 13/08/2021 - 11:49

        -1

        You may not believe it, but as you say "I don't know"

      • 

        brad1-8tsi on 13/08/2021 - 13:18

        +3

        Mandating a discount is exactly what Colesworth does. They even have control of the promotions budget.

        The power that those two companies have over suppliers is immense. Colesworth can break you if you are a small supplier.

• 

  iNeed2Pee on 12/08/2021 - 19:14

  +5

  Discount junk food heavily, coca cola, chocolate, a few toiletry products.

  Everything you need as a necessity such as Milk, Bread etc will always stay at its normal price because you will buy it regardless.

• 

  localhost on 12/08/2021 - 19:15

  Usually price is triple or more than manufacturer's price. On pattern they do discounts, for example: they have 4 different shampoos - 1,2,3 and 4.
  Week 1 - 1 is 1/2 price
  Week 2 - 2 is 30% off
  Week 3 - 3 is half price
  Week 4 - 4 is 30% off

  etc. So every week they have shampoo on sale/discount.

  I am checking regularly for fabric conditioner when it's on half price ($4,5 instead of $9) and saw something similar.

• 

  elgrande on 12/08/2021 - 19:18

  +5

  Each category in a supermarket has its own category manager / buyer. They are responsible for managing promotions in their category. They will need to balance between sales and profit, so will look to supliers to fund partly, or sometimes in full, promotions. This can be funded through a series of rebates, co-op monies and promotional funding. They are typically measured against performance in the same week last year, so will often try and cycle promotions accordingly.

• 

  SF3 on 12/08/2021 - 20:11

  +1

  last night while sipping on a glass of discounted Shiraz (as you do) and this question suddenly popped into my mind.

  random questions and solving the world's problem, usually happens in the shower for me.

• 

  djones145 on 12/08/2021 - 20:42

  +4

  Murphy's law
  I'm out of toilet paper, it wont be on discount this week
  I buy it
  bam it's on sale

  • 

    RockyRaccoon on 12/08/2021 - 21:04

    +1

    Sounds more like jones' law

    Why stock up when its cheap when you can pay fullprice when you run out.

• 

  brad1-8tsi on 13/08/2021 - 13:14

  +1

  The account managers for for the supplier/buyer plan the promotions months ahead.
  A lot of the discount is provided by the supplier and there isn't a lot of profit pain for the supermarket.

  source: GF worked in the industry for 25 yrs as a supplier to Colesworth.

• 

  Bargain434 on 14/08/2021 - 20:54

  +1

  You could go to price hipster website and have a look at previous prices of products, it gives an idea of how often they come on sale.

• 

  capslock janitor on 23/08/2021 - 10:20

  +1

  For "fruits/veggies/milk/bread" I thought it's when it's close to "Expiry" dates - which is sometimes store-specific sales.

  Example I saw a bag of sweet potato online for $2.50 at my store (but wasn't marked as special), but when I set to another store was full price $4.90.

  So I went in to buy it - was one day from "Best Before" date.
  Annoying thing is the workers didn't change the price-tag instore and I asked a dumb member he said "Oh iT mUsT bE oNLine spEciaL, we can't match it instore, so order it online" WTF until I went to checkout lady, it showed up with lower price.

  Lesson: tell the floorstaff to SCAN it if possible, don't take their word.