Tesco clubcard pricing differential...

[iphonedyou]

WelshChris said:

Tesco are a fraud on nearly every level.

Those of you who live in towns where you actually have a choice are the lucky ones. We have only Tesco (plus the usual Lidl and Aldi), but none of the other mainstream supermarket chains.

Our Tesco randomly stops selling various products - not niche products, but mainstream items that nearly everyone would buy. I'm rather partial to Lurpak butter - not the spreadable crap, but the proper stuff. Can I get it in our Tesco? - nope, they've stopped selling it for no apparent reason despite the fact that it's possibly the most popular butter.

It's a 30 mile drive for me to get to an alternative supermarket so I guess they feel they can do what they like.

Where's the fraud?

[yellowjack]

iphonedyou said:

CoolHands said:

I mean you’d have to be mad to continue going to tesco as a) their non club card prices are absolutely scandalous and b) who wants to be forced into using wky club cards? fk that

and now they’ve got all their core customers using club cards and not being able to understand prices (as constantly changed), surprise surprise they altering the value of the club card points!

Mugs

Or it's close by, pleasant enough as it goes and they're pretty price insensitive.

Like this mug.

This 'ere "mug" uses Tesco. Yes, I understand pricing. Even when it's constantly changing. I don't simply buy something there because it's a 'Clubcard Price'. I have a reasonable grasp of reality and can compare prices with a little mental maths to take account of any (supposed) reductions. I also understand that those "wky clubcards" are used for data harvesting. But if you think you're going to protect your data to any great extent by not using one? I'd give up any idea of going "off grid" if you own any kind of card/device with a chip in it. I'm not particularly bothered about the points/rewards either. adjusting the returns has been going on since their introduction, and "partner offers" have always been more generous than any "cash value" they have as a form of payment in-store.

Why do I use Tesco? Well the main reason is that I have a fully stocked 'Extra' store less than a half mile walk away. even if I "go the long way" to get some fresh air it's a 1.6 mile walk there and back. The Clubcard thing? It's a tiny little tag on my front door key, so unless I've left the house unlocked I'm bound to have it with me. It's convenient, has plenty of choice, and saves me the bother of fighting my way out of a single entry point 1980s housing estate to drive to another supermarket, then fighting my way home again. Sometimes, when it's at it's busiest, I've walked past the store on my way to a riverside walk/bike ride and I swear I could walk home in less time than it takes people to park or escape the car park after they've shopped. And the convenience of being close means I never have to queue for the car park and I can shop at less busy times.

I'd be a "mug" to shop anywhere else for basic essentials, quite frankly. And my wife puts in an order for delivery from another supermarket for things she prefers from there, every couple of weeks, and on a Saturday morning I often make a trip to a local market town where I can pop into a butchers, a bakers, and a branch of Waitrose for any luxuries I feel I want/need. If I'm in a penny-pinching mood I can take a 4 mile round trip walk down to a couple of neighbouring shopping parks where I can choose between Poundland, Aldi, B&M, Sainsburys, M&S and Asda, but then I'd have to be saving significant sums of money on the things that I need to walk right past Tesco to get there.

[GT03ROB]

WelshChris said:

Tesco are a fraud on nearly every level.

Those of you who live in towns where you actually have a choice are the lucky ones. We have only Tesco (plus the usual Lidl and Aldi), but none of the other mainstream supermarket chains.

Our Tesco randomly stops selling various products - not niche products, but mainstream items that nearly everyone would buy. I'm rather partial to Lurpak butter - not the spreadable crap, but the proper stuff. Can I get it in our Tesco? - nope, they've stopped selling it for no apparent reason despite the fact that it's possibly the most popular butter.

It's a 30 mile drive for me to get to an alternative supermarket so I guess they feel they can do what they like.

Really not sure ho this constitutes a fraud.

They can do what they like..... its their shop to stock how they feel best meets their needs, not yours.

[Al Gorithum]

GT03ROB said:

WelshChris said:

Tesco are a fraud on nearly every level.

Those of you who live in towns where you actually have a choice are the lucky ones. We have only Tesco (plus the usual Lidl and Aldi), but none of the other mainstream supermarket chains.

Our Tesco randomly stops selling various products - not niche products, but mainstream items that nearly everyone would buy. I'm rather partial to Lurpak butter - not the spreadable crap, but the proper stuff. Can I get it in our Tesco? - nope, they've stopped selling it for no apparent reason despite the fact that it's possibly the most popular butter.

It's a 30 mile drive for me to get to an alternative supermarket so I guess they feel they can do what they like.

Really not sure ho this constitutes a fraud.

They can do what they like..... its their shop to stock how they feel best meets their needs, not yours.

They also stop buying from firms who price gouge. They have a good understanding of the costs of their suppliers, so know what's reasonable and what isn't.

[yellowjack]

iphonedyou said:

WelshChris said:

Tesco are a fraud on nearly every level.

Those of you who live in towns where you actually have a choice are the lucky ones. We have only Tesco (plus the usual Lidl and Aldi), but none of the other mainstream supermarket chains.

Our Tesco randomly stops selling various products - not niche products, but mainstream items that nearly everyone would buy. I'm rather partial to Lurpak butter - not the spreadable crap, but the proper stuff. Can I get it in our Tesco? - nope, they've stopped selling it for no apparent reason despite the fact that it's possibly the most popular butter.

It's a 30 mile drive for me to get to an alternative supermarket so I guess they feel they can do what they like.

Where's the fraud?

I suspect he's fully aware that it's not a real "fraud". But Tesco do have form for ditching product lines. They'll make a big fuss, for instance, if they are the cheapest shop for a particular branded product. My recent disappointing experience was for a hot salsa dip, for instance. They made a big deal out of selling the Doritos branded version cheaper than other shops, but they had previously sold their "own brand" version for about half the price. They have simply stopped stocking their own brand jars in my local store, so even though they did actually cut the price of the branded version, it was effectively a price hike for me over what I used to buy. Now I've simply stopped buying the product at all, unless I spot it at a big reduction, either at Tesco or any of it's competitors. But I haven't got time in my life to keep on top of where's cheapest for what, nor am I inclined to shop at umpty twelve different supermarkets each week to get the lowest price on everything I buy. And I'm typical in that regard, the shops know it, and they build their pricing policy around making sure they are either cheaper "as standard" than a rival, or they have regular "reduced prices" that make it so, so that no matter where you shop you should be getting some of your items at least as cheap as you'll get them anywhere else. It's Retail Psychology 101, ffs, and we'd be silly to think that we could outwit teams of professional price fixers and actually "win at shopping" against any of the big players...

[FiF]

yellowjack said:

iphonedyou said:

WelshChris said:

Tesco are a fraud on nearly every level.

Those of you who live in towns where you actually have a choice are the lucky ones. We have only Tesco (plus the usual Lidl and Aldi), but none of the other mainstream supermarket chains.

Our Tesco randomly stops selling various products - not niche products, but mainstream items that nearly everyone would buy. I'm rather partial to Lurpak butter - not the spreadable crap, but the proper stuff. Can I get it in our Tesco? - nope, they've stopped selling it for no apparent reason despite the fact that it's possibly the most popular butter.

It's a 30 mile drive for me to get to an alternative supermarket so I guess they feel they can do what they like.

Where's the fraud?

I suspect he's fully aware that it's not a real "fraud". But Tesco do have form for ditching product lines. They'll make a big fuss, for instance, if they are the cheapest shop for a particular branded product. My recent disappointing experience was for a hot salsa dip, for instance. They made a big deal out of selling the Doritos branded version cheaper than other shops, but they had previously sold their "own brand" version for about half the price. They have simply stopped stocking their own brand jars in my local store, so even though they did actually cut the price of the branded version, it was effectively a price hike for me over what I used to buy. Now I've simply stopped buying the product at all, unless I spot it at a big reduction, either at Tesco or any of it's competitors. But I haven't got time in my life to keep on top of where's cheapest for what, nor am I inclined to shop at umpty twelve different supermarkets each week to get the lowest price on everything I buy. And I'm typical in that regard, the shops know it, and they build their pricing policy around making sure they are either cheaper "as standard" than a rival, or they have regular "reduced prices" that make it so, so that no matter where you shop you should be getting some of your items at least as cheap as you'll get them anywhere else. It's Retail Psychology 101, ffs, and we'd be silly to think that we could outwit teams of professional price fixers and actually "win at shopping" against any of the big players...

Agreed, I haven't the time to fart about figuring out what's cheapest where. The only pandering to shopping at multiple outlets is if one place sells a particular product that we prefer above the other offerings. Then seeing as going there then other things will be purchased without knowing if it's a bit more expensive. Clearly there are some places with a bit of a rep on here for being expensive, eg Co-Op, though the best bargain recently was from them, so, essentially, :shrug:.

As for fraud, LoL.

[gregs656]

GT03ROB said:

Really not sure ho this constitutes a fraud.

They can do what they like..... its their shop to stock how they feel best meets their needs, not yours.

They exist to make money. If they could sell Lurpak at that store for a profit, they would be doing it. Maybe with price increases it was just sitting on the shelves for too long.

[RayDonovan]

gregs656 said:

GT03ROB said:

Really not sure ho this constitutes a fraud.

They can do what they like..... its their shop to stock how they feel best meets their needs, not yours.

They exist to make money. If they could sell Lurpak at that store for a profit, they would be doing it. Maybe with price increases it was just sitting on the shelves for too long.

All Grocery stores are pretty forensic when it comes to where and why a store will stock a certain line. Regional variations in product mix are huge and given his user name, I wouldn't be surprised if his local Tesco are stocking more local lines in dairy and have removed the slower selling block butters.

Certain lines have to make way for NPD, especially in that category which has seen an influx of plant-based lines and exceptionally high inflation that gives them a tough decision what to stock and remove. Block, non-spreadable butter is a slow seller nowadays..

[CoolHands]

gregs656 said:

They exist to make money. If they could sell Lurpak at that store for a profit, they would be doing it. Maybe with price increases it was just sitting on the shelves for too long.

More likely the manufacturer wouldn’t cave in to providing tesco with all their own costs & profit information and allow tesco to dictate their buying price.

[RayDonovan]

As a supplier, you're on a slippery slope if you start to give the customer your raw material and other input costs to verify a cost price increase..

[Bright Halo]

I apologise if already mentioned in the thread.
Just filled up at Tesco and there was a note on the pump which basically stated as of a certain date 1point will be given for every 2litres of fuel rather than 1point per every £2 of fuel.
So now at current diesel pump prices by me 1point per £3:30 instead of 1point per £2.

The reward is being eroded.

[captain.scarlet]

Bright Halo said:

I apologise if already mentioned in the thread.
Just filled up at Tesco and there was a note on the pump which basically stated as of a certain date 1point will be given for every 2litres of fuel rather than 1point per every £2 of fuel.
So now at current diesel pump prices by me 1point per £3:30 instead of 1point per £2.

The reward is being eroded.

I gave up with the Clubcard long ago. The little booklet they'd post with coupons to save 20p off the instore bakery croissants or 50p of a packet of Alpen just weren't appealing!

I guess if you're reliant on a Tesco because that's all you have nearby then you'll want to make the most of it.

Nowadays the discrimination and punishment put me off setting foot in a Tesco supermarket altogether. One price for you, another (far lower) for those with a Clubcard.

[r44flyer]

We have a tesco credit card, have had for ages. We rarely shop in tesco but we buy everything on the credit card. It meant the points added up to a decent reward when converted but now this is being eroded as well so we'll be looking for something better asap. Pity.

They're looking to profit from loyalty of course, which is the aim of every similar scheme I know. I'd like to think it was only an indication of how tight the margins are but you know it just means less for the supplier.

[The spinner of plates]

r44flyer said:

We have a tesco credit card, have had for ages. We rarely shop in tesco but we buy everything on the credit card. It meant the points added up to a decent reward when converted but now this is being eroded as well so we'll be looking for something better asap. Pity.

They're looking to profit from loyalty of course, which is the aim of every similar scheme I know. I'd like to think it was only an indication of how tight the margins are but you know it just means less for the supplier.

At a macro level the suppliers generally make more margin than retailers. For a player like Tesco, it’s a volume game.

Last time I looked I think their net profit margin was about 1.5%. Sainburys better but less than 2%.

Big suppliers won’t have that scale, but will be around 5-15%.

[Rufus Stone]

captain.scarlet said:

I gave up with the Clubcard long ago. The little booklet they'd post with coupons to save 20p off the instore bakery croissants or 50p of a packet of Alpen just weren't appealing!

I guess if you're reliant on a Tesco because that's all you have nearby then you'll want to make the most of it.

Nowadays the discrimination and punishment put me off setting foot in a Tesco supermarket altogether. One price for you, another (far lower) for those with a Clubcard.

I considered it discrimination too, so stopped shopping there for food.

They don't do it with fuel so I continue to buy that.

[CocoUK]

Bright Halo said:

I apologise if already mentioned in the thread.
Just filled up at Tesco and there was a note on the pump which basically stated as of a certain date 1point will be given for every 2litres of fuel rather than 1point per every £2 of fuel.
So now at current diesel pump prices by me 1point per £3:30 instead of 1point per £2.

The reward is being eroded.

Also apologise if already mentioned - but it gets worse...

'We’re changing our Reward Partner scheme
From 14 June, you can exchange your Tesco Clubcard vouchers for 2x their value. You'll still get 3x the value until then. To give you more time to use your codes we’ve extended the validity period for all codes ordered until 13 June, from 6 months to 12 months. Exclusions apply. Find out more'


So at the pumps you earn less points for your spend - and - when you cash in your points for vouchers you get less bang for buck.

[FiF]

I'm sorry but I really don't get this 'It's discrimination." whinging.

It's like any other commercial transaction, it's down to you whether to accept the terms or not. If those terms are acceptable, carry on, if not then don't. Full stop, rule off.

[ZedLeg]

It’s absolutely not discrimination.

No different to getting freebies for signing up for go compare or whatever.

[CoolHands]

It is discriminating because if you have a card it’s cheaper. Originally when you just got points it made no difference to your bill, now it does and they’ve ramped up the difference to ridiculous levels. For staple products ie food I don’t think that is on. Yes it might be legal. If Sainsbury’s are now doing similar then in some areas there will be a lack of choice and that is bad for consumers whatever way you look at it. Why should anyone be effectively forced (through geographic and other factors) to give up personal data or face higher prices?

[InitialDave]

Sainsburys do indeed do something similar with "Nectar prices".

No, it is not discrimination. The cards are free and you are not restricted from having one.

The data farming that goes on? Well, good luck avoiding that in the modern world.