Saturday Concepts: Retailers dirty little secrets

It should come to no surprise that retailers have studied our shopping habits and our habits in order to extract as much money from us as possible,   Knowing their tricks, you can make the best of their strategies .

• 70 percent of our purchases at the grocery store are impulse buys. Its 80 percent in England. 
• Impulse buys means that we are nit logical about our decisions,   This could speak trouble. 
• 50 percent of any given cart is usually liquids and snacks.  Cutting these off your grocery list can save a lot.   If you just have to have the pop and chips, set aside a different ‘entertainment’ budget so it’s really visable  as to how much you are spending,   
• The verbiage  10 for 10 in an ad, is to entice you to buy 10.  Unless it specifically states buy 10, you don’t have to buy 10.   
• It is no accident that the snack attack and bakery items bombard you as you walk in the door.   Its a good idea to not go to the store hungry or uptight.   Your resistance is down and you will spend more.
• Stock to your list. Make a list, or at least know what categories you are shopping for.  Of you shop to replentish stock, take a quick inventory so you have a good idea that you need dairy, and produce, and quite possibly a rotation protein.   Do keep a list of staples that you are noting are dwindling. Watch for a RBP on those things.   
• Don’t impulse buy, but do take advantage of an unadvertised special if the price is at your buy price or below if you can readily use it.   One time I walked onto QFC and Local chicken was .50 a pound because they needed to be cooked that day or the next.  I bought three and went home and cooked them.  It was then that I researched and found the easiest way to cook a chicken.   
• Offering basket coupons is another way to get you into a store. Pay attention to the minimum amount that you need to spend.  The closer to that minimum amount you come to, the more percent off you are saving,   Be sure to include the coupons you may have on items so you don’t come up short.   Only buy things that are at or close to your buy price.   Its not a bargain if you buy things that they have already marked up the 20 percent they are giving you for instance.  
• Manufacturers pay slotting fees to get to display their merchandise in preferable places.  Notably the end caps and middle shelves.  Some chains get upwards of a million dollars for the pro ledge,   You have to know that the companies are going to still make a profit and that cost is going to be reflected in your purchase price.   Look up and down.   Consider the store brand. Those brands are mostly name brands that manufacture for  the stores.   The cost is remarkably different.  Mild green chillies at Winco for Winco brand are .66.  The name brand is 1.28.  
• Knowing where things are on the store helps.   You can, for instance, pass a lot of hamburger buns at Winco until you get to the bread isle and find the cheapest Winco brand buns.   We are talking 1/2 price.   
• If a store is offering hot  dogs on sale cheap especially on a holiday weekend, you can bet the buns will be full or an inflated price.   This is why you shop at two stores.   
• Shopping  at two stores gives you the best selection of produce and with some ad watching, the  best prices on any particular item on your must have list.  That being said, being flexible can save a lot of money.   
•   Certain stores are have a reputation for the best price on certain things.  Fred Meyers has a huge bag of English muffins for 3/5 all the time.   It used to be by the eggs, but now that they remodeled, I will have to hunt it up again. 
• Going with a clear view in your mind of what you are specifically looking for is you best hedge against falling for the impulse buys.