Will and I wandered into Grocery Outlet before the holiday season. I was looking for cheap wrapping paper, and boy did I find it! At $1 a roll, I must have saved $10.
I noticed that their price tags listed how much items cost elsewhere. For instance, the maple syrup below purportedly sells for $9.99 everywhere else. Here at Grocery Outlet, it’s only $6.99. What a steal!
This seems like a good idea, and I was on board. But we found it hilarious when we found the following peanut butter that sells for $1.99 at Grocery Outlet and, um, elsewhere too.
At this point I turned to Will and pointed out that their computer program could have easily been programmed to leave off the “Elsewhere…$1.99” if the prices were the same. It’s two extra lines of code! But I suppose the higher ups at Grocery Outlet assumed that their prices are always lower, so why bother to test?
We wandered down the booze aisle to see if there was a good price on champagne and laughed uproariously when we found:
Prosecco Brut for $19.99! Seems like a good deal–it comes in a box, after all. It’s gotta be good. But why would we buy it when the tag points out that we can get it elsewhere for $14.99???
Yes, they need to reprogram their label maker. And yes, they need to test. If the elsewhere price is less than or equal to the Grocery Outlet price, leave it off!!
Maybe they’re just earnest, humble, and overflowing with integrity. Which makes me want to shop there … Marketing scheme gone awryght!
hahahaha good point!