product pricing
 

Went to our local Meijers this morning for a couple things. A large store...similar to a Walmart.
They normally have a shelf tag for item prices.
I couldn't find a shelf sticker for an item and a worker just happened to be there.

He said..."Starting very soon, there will no longer be shelf price stickers or item stickers"
"All customer pricing will have to be done with one's smartphone by scanning the code bar or QR"

I'm not very excited about that..
Probably save the store big money.

And for the people that don't have smartphones??


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I'm sure the bean counters did a study.
It's like my local tool supply place. I think people are embarrassed to ask the price.

Ya goofy Midwesterner! It's Meijer... but we add the "s". Lowes and Menards knew this and just added the "s" for us. Other stores like Kroegers should have done the same :)

As for what they're doing, I can't see that going over well. If I can't look below or above the item and see the price, I won't shop there.

Walmart already has scanners that you can use to price check an item. I'd guess Meijer will do the same.

^^^ Hey...I still call it Meijer Thrifty Acres! (their original name)

There is no Meijers around here and I have no idea what they sell.

I assume one will need a app from Meijers to look up prices. So they will know what you are looking at and what you bought. They save the cost of pricing each item as the barcode is the price. Assuming the barcode is entered right. I have been to big box stores and grocery stores and had the fun of an item not ringing up as the bar code is not in the computer. Then they ask me if I know what the price is.

The funny thing is, I didn't realize until recently that adding a "s" to a name like Gordon Food Service was a Midwesterner thing. My wife saw something on facebook about it and I didn't even realize I did it. I call it "Gordons...." And yes I call Meijer "Meijers"

^^^ With a QR code...no app needed.

The pricing thing must have been in the works for a while. I have noticed more and more items that have no sticker on them or on the shelf.
Yes..they have had the 'item lookup' stands scattered around the store, but that's not very handy if you are interested in a piece of furniture.

Last week, I was curious about a price...asked an older lady worker. She said she would have to find a scanner to price it. I said ok..I would wait.
She obviously took as long as she could to prove it wasn't handy for her. I think she took her break before returning.

Here we have "Scanner Price Accuracy Code". So if the price on the shelf is more when scanned at the cash, you get $10 off (or free if it is less than $10)
I guess you get around that if they don't have prices on the shelf.

Maybe when people start leaving items laying on the floor by the price check kiosk, they'll put the prices back on the shelves. People are inherently lazy for the most part. So when they walk a few aisles down and find out the item costs more than they thought it would, that item will end up anywhere but back on the shelf it came from.

A lot of places are investing in electronic shelf labels. They can all be updated instantly via wifi from the central HQ.

Groceries lose a lot of money hiring people to switch tags and on lost/under sales due to mis-pricing.

That said - the side benefit to the grocery is they will likely want you to use their app, and so they will know EXACTLY what you're shopping for now, whether you buy it or not.

This ^^^ Kohls has the LCD displayed prices and they can change them daily or even more, although I don't see this happening while the store is open. But, they can have "morning sales" and things like that. It's becoming more of a slot machine scenario.

We have a chain of stores in SoCal called Smart and Final that have no membership or discount cards. They seem to be keeping the the right inventory for the local demographics. They are partly set up to sell wholesale with lots of restaurant intended items right down to janitorial. Price labels are actually prominent enough to read.

The thing is I don't see any price breaks for a whole lug of tomatoes whether you're planning to make a boat load of spaghetti sauce at home or you're a restaurant.

I won't be tracked like that...you just know you will get adds for the same item later that day, with a lower price from some other algorithm.

I don't generally carry my phone, and won't start for this !

I read the plan for all the grocery store's "loyalty cards" is to track purchases, so they will eventually be able to price individual items based on the shopper's history.

Buy peanut butter every week? That person is charged more than one who buys peanut butter only when on sale.
Yup. Same item, different prices.

This "tech" is all fine and dandy for those that are capable. It wont go over well with the daily busloads of shoppers from the local senior citizen communities..

They get real ornery when things get complicated!


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I grew up in 1980s SW Michigan and "Meijer" will never sound right without the "Thrifty Acres". Otherwise it's Meijers, darnit!

They were so dominant that I never saw a Walmart until I went to college in colorado in 1993.

On scanning with your phone - imagine the data analytics that can be done with details of what got scanned and not purchased vs. purchased. What sort of person does what sort of comparison shopping. It's like the discount/membership cards taken to a whole new level. Now they can almost read your thoughts, or at least learn even more about your shopping patterns and processes.

I'm going back into my cave now...

How bad do you need that sweet sweet peanut butter when the Skippy DTs kick in?

Dynamic pricing will "help" when there's a shortage. Now rather than a fight over the last jar, it'll be a bidding war.

Gonna have to do my shopping with a burner phone!

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