When do supermarkets reduce their prices?
by David Allen on Jun 4,2011
If you have the time and the inclination, it is possible to get some serious bargains from supermarkets. However, do not make any mistakes here, these cathedrals dedicated to food and other products may seem to be here purely for customer’s pleasure! Yet these stores are money making machines that have been designed to make maximum profits and that means keeping loses and wastage low.
Nevertheless, for the canny consumer there are some serious bargains to be found in the fresh food department, if only they knew when the right time to be in the store is. Well following some research, it seems that these stores maybe be sophisticated in the way they are run, but they are also creatures of habit and there are certain patterns that the consumer can follow in the quest for great bargains.
The best way is tackle each supermarket chain separately
Morissons, are well known for being competitive on pricing, but according to a store insider, they claim that prices are reduced in the bakery department on items with one day’s life left such as doughnuts, baguettes and rolls at about 5pm by about 25%.
In the meat department at Somerfield, produce with the following days date on will get 25% off, while produce carrying the current date will be getting a nice 50% off around midday and then a massive 75% off in the evening after 6pm.
In Asda’s Bakery department, products with a one day life span, such as fresh white bread, will be reduced during the mid-afternoon and then again at 5pm, but if there is still produce on the shelves a couple hours later then it is reduced very low to clear.
Sainsbury’s will begin to reduce products expiring that day by lunchtime but for the best bargains in this store it would seem that around 6pm is the golden hour.
Tesco Superstores and Express stores run a standard format on products that have to be sold that day, which works like this; 25% at 8am, 50% at 4pm and a massive 75% at 8pm simple but seemingly very effective.
Finally, we have the Co-op supermarkets they will start reducing produce with the following days date at around 8pm normally with 25% off and if the stock remains unsold then the next reduction will be between 3pm and 5pm where shoppers can bag prices with from 50% to 75% off. However, the best time to venture into a Co-op store is between 7pm and 8pm, when in theory all stock with that days date on will go down to 10p!
As you can see there are bargains to be found in modern supermarket, but these stores are finely tuned to avoid waste, so don’t expect to be getting the same bargains week after week, treat them as a nice bonus!
Any savvy supermarket tips? We’d love to hear from you!
David Allen
Contributor
