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136 sats \ 9 replies \ @Undisciplined 13h \ on: Do you see this in your country? Grocery stores price items to confuse shoppers econ
I had always assumed this was just ineptitude, but I definitely agree that it's annoying.
Why do you think they want customers to have difficulty making comparisons between products?
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I think they need to balance things out, and appeal to all customers - the price conscious ones, and the ones that just grab and go.
For the price conscious shoppers, they do the math, and figure out what to buy.
For the grab and go customers - well, they pay the "stupid" tax. Or maybe those customers benefit, because they're not spending extra time in the store with their calculator out.
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maybe those customers benefit, because they're not spending extra time in the store with their calculator out
I think that's it, exactly. There are customers who would choose the lower unit price, but for whom doing the calculation is not worth the effort, so they default to the higher unit price smaller size.
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I think it's probably a price discrimination story. There are people who are willing to pay a higher unit price, presumably for the smaller size, but are less willing to do so when they can see the unit price difference.
Apparently this is a thing they're willing to pay fines over.
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I don't think it's ineptitude. It's gotta be more complicated to switch up the unit pricing all the time, instead of always sticking with a per pound pricing, for instance.
I'm assuming it's to steer/push you towards buying something that's more profitable, for the store.
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You certainly might be right, I just don't get why they'd do that. The store is free to adjust their prices to the point where they're indifferent to which choice you make.
I'd be interested to here an explanation for it.
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I just did some research - it turns out that Walmart has been fined for this before:
The allegations state that Walmart violated New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act (CFA) and Unit Pricing Disclosure Act (UPDA) by inaccurately displaying unit prices for various grocery products. The UPDA mandates grocery retailers to present prices using standardized units such as per quart, per pound, or per 100 sheets, enabling consumers to compare prices of differently sized or packaged items easily.
During inspections in early 2023, OWM identified over 2,000 instances where incorrect units of measurement were used at Walmart stores, often varying within the same product category, complicating price comparisons for shoppers. Previous inspections in 2021 and 2022 had already resulted in $226,950 in fines for similar violations.
Just to be clear - I'm not saying the government SHOULD be monitoring this. Apparently displaying the unit pricing is mandatory, but making it easy to understand is not as mandatory (at least in some states).
Interesting that Walmart has been fined about this issue, and still continues to do the exact same thing. I guess they're constantly making judgements on issues like these, as to whether they pay more in fines, or make more with these (semi-deceptive) practices.
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Good enough for me.
Yeah, they must have realized that they can move some products at higher margins, as long as consumers can't do the unit comparison.
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