Store circulars are weekly ads that the stores places out selected
items as their "loss leaders". These items are sold at a lower price
than what you would normally see on the
shelves
in their hopes of bringing in more consumers to purchase more products
while they're shopping. You will always see these in the supermarket no
matter where you go. However, to be a smart shopper and to know how not
to be jinxed out of your wallet, here is how to read a store circular
correctly.
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1
Create and maintain a price book. Store cycles occurs typically every 8 to 12 weeks. Depending
on the specific store itself, making a weekly list of the prices of the
products you purchase will allow you to guess and determine when its
prices will be the lowest and how much you will need of it until the
next sale.
-
2
Know that the true loss leaders are printed on the first and last pages of the ads.
These are the "eye openers" and "last chance" opportunities from the
store. Everything else in between is considered to be "fluff"; these
could be bargains (depending on the product cycle prices), a little lower than shelf price, or not worth getting.
-
3
Ignore the flashes and moving words.
Three huge marketing techniques that are often seen are big fonts, the
wording of the advertisement, and savings icons/images, such as dollar
signs. These are the ways that companies "manipulate" the mind to
interpret something big, but it's really not.
- "One Day Seafood Sale!" = You must go on that specific day to purchase it for that price.
- "Over ____ in Savings!" = This is the total amount of savings
throughout the entire ad, if you were to purchase every single item on
the ad.
- "Buy any 10 items/$25.00 worth in this list in one transaction and
get $5.00 off your next purchase" = You would need to achieve the
minimum total in one trip. The "next purchase" means that you would have
to complete another transaction or come back again in the future before
the deal expires in order to use it.
-
4
Do your math on any combined deal.
A lot of the times, you will run into a circular deal where it says
"10/$10" or "Buy One Get One Free/50% Off". These marketing tools to
combine such deals are to draw attention to the eye and make you believe
that you can get more for a "better price".
- Divide any money amount by the quantity. For example, you see "Buy 2
for $5.00". With simple calculations, you will know that each item will
be $2.50. The only exception to this is if there is any fine print
stating "or $2.99 each", in which you will need to purchase the
multiplied sale amount to get the sale price.
- Watch out for any "Buy One Get One ____" deals. At rare times, the
store will provide a price on the circular, otherwise these deals
revolve around the regular shelf price. This is also another reason why
your price book comes in handy. Because you already have the shelf price
in your hands, you don't need to spend time in the store looking for it
(and eventually ending up purchasing last minute things while you're
there). You will be required to purchase at least one item of the deal
in order to get the multiplied item for the discounted price.
-
5
Create your shopping list around your price book and the store circular.
By buying only the loss leaders and the items at their lowest price
will guarantee you savings. When products are at extreme low or "rock
bottom" prices, that is the time to stockpile until the next sale.
-
6
Take advantage of store reward programs, mail in rebates, and coupons. These opportunities will give you additional savings along with the sale prices.
