Am I wrong to be annoyed by this?

Forums › Off topic › Am I wrong to be annoyed by this?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

453 posts

Ultimate Geek

#329227 12-May-2010 09:47

Sounddude: They probably make/sell more 2L than 3L bottles of milk, reducing the cost of packaging etc and the savings are passed on to the consumer.

There can be good reasons, not all "OMG I am getting ripped off" reasons.

Completely agree with this statement.

Hazarding a guess the most popular size of milk sold is the 2L size (judging by the range at the supermarket). 1L is probably pretty close, and 3L is an also ran. In fact I can't really recall that many places that sell 3L.

If people are really looking for things to complain about then it should be things like a 600ml bottle of coke being the same price (at a dairy, more in a supermarket) as a 1.5L or even 2.25L. Or bottled water being more expensive!

IIRC the raw material cost of making a bottle of coke was about 5.5c, add the water and mix, takes the price to 6c, and add shipping takes it to 19c. Even allowing for the massive cost of plant and labour there is massive money to be made by them - thats why they can afford to advertise and sponsor so much.

Although it pains me to say it, I agree with Labours policy of taking GST off of food, but not just fruit and veg, the the other staples such as water, milk, bread, and meat. And then increase the GST on processed foods to 20%. This would probably hurt me as I love my coke and pie in the morning (breakfast of champions) but it might help making it easier to chose the right thing.

Pluralsight

Learn cloud, mobile, security, data and web technologies with Pluralsight (affiliate link).

sleemanj

1474 posts

Uber Geek

#329251 12-May-2010 11:02

sbiddle:
While it's a handy thing to have it's also a logistical nightmare to actually roll out and keep accurate and 100% accuracy is impossible to actually achieve.

Why? I mean, all the stock system needs to know to spit out labels is surely...
1. Retail price
2. Pack size
3. Base unit size
4. Barcode
can't be that hard to input that as the stock comes through the door.

That said, supermarket people don't always seem that good when it comes to math on labeling. Being a type 1 diabetic I have reason to pay very close attention to the carb content of foods I buy, it determines the amount of insulin I take for a given food.

Too often when buying supermarket produced stuff, particularly stuff produced in their bakeries, and interestingly sausages from the butcheries (own-brand ones) the carb contents are just totally crazy, things like the amount per 100grams is more than amount per serving with a serving size of 125g or something, just completely wrong on all counts.

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...

manta

249 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#329368 12-May-2010 13:58

sbiddle:

Progressive stores have all had this for a number of years, I'd take a stab and say it was rolled out around 2002. Foodstuffs stores (New World and Pak 'n Save) roll this out shortly. While it's a handy thing to have it's also a logistical nightmare to actually roll out and keep accurate and 100% accuracy is impossible to actually achieve.

Progressive foods supermarkets have unit pricing. Supervalue (the supermarket in question) does not. And yet Supervalue is owned by Progressive. And that really is my point. I don't have any gripe about what they charge, it's the lack of transparency when it comes to the pricing of different quantities of the same product.

stagnant16

202 posts

Master Geek

#329374 12-May-2010 14:08

manta:
Progressive foods supermarkets have unit pricing. Supervalue (the supermarket in question) does not. And yet Supervalue is owned by Progressive. And that really is my point. I don't have any gripe about what they charge, it's the lack of transparency when it comes to the pricing of different quantities of the same product.

How does one provide transparency?

Byrned

453 posts

Ultimate Geek

#329376 12-May-2010 14:15

I don't see how they could be more transparent - the items on the shelf have the price on them. It's not like you had to inquire about the price

Do we need to have car yards now displaying the cost of the car per kilowatt of power produced? Or McDonald's having to display cost per kilojoule? That one could actually work out in there favour! This cheeseburger is only 0.2c per kJ!

manta

249 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#329377 12-May-2010 14:21

stagnant16:
manta:
Progressive foods supermarkets have unit pricing. Supervalue (the supermarket in question) does not. And yet Supervalue is owned by Progressive. And that really is my point. I don't have any gripe about what they charge, it's the lack of transparency when it comes to the pricing of different quantities of the same product.

How does one provide transparency?

Quite simply by stating on the shelf label that for the 2L milk cost is $3.39 (= $1.70 / L) and for the 3L milk cost is $5.59 (=$1.86 / L).

stagnant16

202 posts

Master Geek

#329381 12-May-2010 14:38

manta:

Quite simply by stating on the shelf label that for the 2L milk cost is $3.39 (= $1.70 / L) and for the 3L milk cost is $5.59 (=$1.86 / L).

lol Have to disagree on that one!

kingjj

1728 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#329385 12-May-2010 14:46

stagnant16:
kingjj: I've always been annoyed by the 3 pack of Watties Baked Beans or Spaghetti are more expensive then 3 individual cans...

Thats because the single price is generally funded and shows a negative margin whilst the 3 pack is not!

There are to many variables in play when it comes to larger pack sizes and multiples these days!

anyway, I can assure you that most Supermarkets (can't speak for them all) have a target GP of around 10% to 15%,

I can assure you your totally wrong!!

My figures were extremely basic and don't take into account a lot of variables I'll admit, but I know these % are for the most part accurate as I work in the industry. I don't wish to debate them, I'll just say I know the gp and bottom line profit on everything I buy and a happy with the figures.

kingjj

1728 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#329390 12-May-2010 14:51

manta:
sbiddle:?

Progressive stores have all had this for a number of years, I'd take a stab and say it was rolled out around 2002. Foodstuffs stores (New World and Pak 'n Save) roll this out shortly. While it's a handy thing to have it's also a logistical nightmare to actually roll out and keep accurate and 100% accuracy is impossible to actually achieve.

Progressive foods supermarkets have unit pricing. ?Supervalue (the supermarket in question) does not. ?And yet Supervalue is owned by Progressive. ?And that really is my point. ?I don't have any gripe about what they charge, it's the lack of transparency when it comes to the pricing of different quantities of the same product.

Supervalue stores are franchised owner/operator where as Countdown etc are corporate operatored. I'm guessing this is the reason for different policies?

stagnant16

202 posts

Master Geek

#329391 12-May-2010 14:52

kingjj:
stagnant16:
kingjj: I've always been annoyed by the 3 pack of Watties Baked Beans or Spaghetti are more expensive then 3 individual cans...

Thats because the single price is generally funded and shows a negative margin whilst the 3 pack is not!

There are to many variables in play when it comes to larger pack sizes and multiples these days!

anyway, I can assure you that most Supermarkets (can't speak for them all) have a target GP of around 10% to 15%,

I can assure you your totally wrong!!

My figures were extremely basic and don't take into account a lot of variables I'll admit, but I know these % are for the most part accurate as I work in the industry. I don't wish to debate them, I'll just say I know the gp and bottom line profit on everything I buy and a happy with the figures.

I'm suprised your supermarket hasn't gone broke yet lol That's not even close!

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#329406 12-May-2010 15:16

stagnant16:
kingjj:
stagnant16:
kingjj: I've always been annoyed by the 3 pack of Watties Baked Beans or Spaghetti are more expensive then 3 individual cans...

Thats because the single price is generally funded and shows a negative margin whilst the 3 pack is not!

There are to many variables in play when it comes to larger pack sizes and multiples these days!

anyway, I can assure you that most Supermarkets (can't speak for them all) have a target GP of around 10% to 15%,

I can assure you your totally wrong!!

My figures were extremely basic and don't take into account a lot of variables I'll admit, but I know these % are for the most part accurate as I work in the industry. I don't wish to debate them, I'll just say I know the gp and bottom line profit on everything I buy and a happy with the figures.

I'm suprised your supermarket hasn't gone broke yet lol That's not even close!

I'd hate to ruin your day but they certainly aren't wrong. GP %'s for fresh food departments are well above this but overall if you are to look at grocery, liquor, chilled and frozen foods overall the overall average GP's are in the mid to high teens.

stagnant16

202 posts

Master Geek

#329415 12-May-2010 15:26

sbiddle:
stagnant16:
kingjj:
stagnant16:
kingjj: I've always been annoyed by the 3 pack of Watties Baked Beans or Spaghetti are more expensive then 3 individual cans...

Thats because the single price is generally funded and shows a negative margin whilst the 3 pack is not!

There are to many variables in play when it comes to larger pack sizes and multiples these days!

anyway, I can assure you that most Supermarkets (can't speak for them all) have a target GP of around 10% to 15%,

I can assure you your totally wrong!!

My figures were extremely basic and don't take into account a lot of variables I'll admit, but I know these % are for the most part accurate as I work in the industry. I don't wish to debate them, I'll just say I know the gp and bottom line profit on everything I buy and a happy with the figures.

I'm suprised your supermarket hasn't gone broke yet lol That's not even close!

I'd hate to ruin your day but they certainly aren't wrong. GP %'s for fresh food departments are well above this but overall if you are to look at grocery, liquor, chilled and frozen foods overall the overall average GP's are in the mid to high teens.

Don't worry you didn't :-) The initial post quoted "Supermarkets: not grocery. Any grocery department that finishes with a 15% would be average at that. Liquor & Chilled foods achieve higher then dry grocery.

Ragnor

8085 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#329438 12-May-2010 16:21

insane:

Yeah but now you're just being argumentative :p

My GF does grocery marketing for many brands at both Foodstuff and Progressive, there is a lot of mind bending going on and clearly from this thread they are winning.

I remember back at Uni listening to the lecturer of a 'Consumer Behaviour' paper, absolutely fascinating how they have you completely worked out, they probably know you better than you know yourself.

Always ;)

Yes the marketing and lobbying done by the dairy industry has a lot of people totally convinced that milk and cheese are non replacable superfoods, basic needs rather than the view I have which is that you don't need milk and cheese is a nice to have but if it's too expensive I simply won't buy it very often.

manta

249 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#329442 12-May-2010 16:26

stagnant16:
manta:

Quite simply by stating on the shelf label that for the 2L milk cost is $3.39 (= $1.70 / L) and for the 3L milk cost is $5.59 (=$1.86 / L).

lol Have to disagree on that one!

... why? Too much information for the shopper?

jaymz

1132 posts

Uber Geek

#329455 12-May-2010 16:45

Krisando:
Waters free, heck I even have it with my breakfast.

Same here! got sick of buying a 1L bottle and running out halfway through the week or buying a 2L and never getting through it (when I was living alone) so I switched to water and haven't looked back.
I get some strange looks though!

As a side note, I find it strange that people complain about flat fizzy drinks! Maybe its cause I am less fussy but i like coke whether is it fizzy or not. To me its cold, sweet, and refreshing either way!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4