Strategies of Supermarket Selling

Strategies of Supermarket Selling

Went to the supermarket yesterday, in the rain, because I managed to loan a car for my shopping for essentials.

I started off with buying spaghetti sauce. There are large bottles and small bottles. I ended up with two medium sized bottles. Why? So I don't have to store any excesses. I'll just use the whole darn bottle and if I have a little leftover, I'll feed the dustbin with it. No point keeping, because knowing my cooking frequency, the leftover will go mouldy before I get to use it. Unless I deep freeze the leftover. But I really don't want to go there - I've got too many deep frozen stuff already.

Then I bought washing powder and Dynamo washing liquid. First I saw the medium sized 3l bottles that went for $7.27. And then I saw the 2l bottles going for $5.30. A quick calculation says the 3l bottle is a better buy. As I exited the aisle to the next one, I saw 5l bottles of Dynamo going at $9.95! Incredible. And it claims to kill bacteria as well. So, it's a better buy. I put the 3l bottle where I took the 5l one. Ok, I'm an idiot, but hey! That's how those supermarket fellows get to keep a job!

Wanted to buy 2 kg of rice, but as I eyed the sticky rice from Australia which you could use for sushi, I decided to buy it instead. It exceeded my initial buy and weighed in at 2.5 kg.

Goodness! End of the trip, I was absolutely positively dying of overload. The washing powders came in at 11.5 kg, the Dynamo is a good 6 kg (hey! Dynamo is denser than water, ok!), 2.5 kg rice, 900 g Vanish powder, canned food, spaghetti sauce... All because the larger the pack, the less I pay per unit.

I must qualify that I have stopped buying large packs because of economy of scale, but because these are items that I use to the last molecule, I'm not averse to buying large. I know that I've started paying more for smaller packs of food but in the long run, I save because I don't have to throw away the spoilt portions. I buy stuff enough for a meal and stuff everything down for that meal. Ok, I'm joking here! But I try to stop the buying urge.

The other reason for such sprees is simple. When you have the cash, stock up. You never know when cash is going to run low in tandem with supplies. Reminds me of this joke: A Japanese salesman was asked to give the supplies to a customer when he arrived. He hid himself in a wardrobe and when the customer arrived, he sprang out and shouted "Supplies!" Ok, seriously, I am a squirrel in nature. I stock up when my economy is good. When it's bad, I can still survive.

I have yet to buy the canned abalones for Chinese New Year. Any donors?