Surge Pricing. (1 Viewer)

wingy

Well-Known Member
Just seen a peice on Sky.
Talking about Supermarkets potentially introducing some form of this.
Basically changing pricing of products at peak times, like buying your sandwich at lunchtime or an Ice cream during a heatwave.
Just mental like all the other examples of it that pervade our daily lives.
 

RegTheDonk

Well-Known Member
Depends on how much people will stand for it. There's plenty of supermarkets around, they'd either all have to do it or risk customers boycotting those that do. I'd akin it to Sky trying to do England games on pay per view a few years back, there was a real back lash so they didn't bother.
 

NorthernWisdom

Well-Known Member
It's not that odd though is it? To a degree they do that with sandwiches anyway - go in the end of the day and you get the cheap ones that haven't sold... and I've discovered the merits of getting my bread for 9p when I go home from work at the end of t'day.
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
That's the market economy for you. In theory it should mean better profits and lower prices, but I bet the latter gets forgotten.
 

Captain Dart

Well-Known Member
People would change their shopping habits to avoid being surcharged. The tactic would be self defeating.
 

NorthernWisdom

Well-Known Member
People would change their shopping habits to avoid being surcharged. The tactic would be self defeating.
Stockpiling ice cream in the winter?

(The current tactic of course is to raise prices on unseasonal goods during the months nobody wants them, so you can have a 'sale' when the right season comes in, and people think they're getting a bargain)
 

RegTheDonk

Well-Known Member
Take your point NW - yes, I get that once the foods old, the donuts a bit hard, meat on the turn etc. Just think its cashing in a bit, its obviously targetting folks who, for whatever reason, have to buy at a specific time.
Morrisons already do it, they just charged me £1 for a 440ml bottle of flavoured milk which normally costs 55p.
Has it gone up because it now costs that Dutch, whatever the time of day etc. Or is it specifically a quid at lunch time?
 

SIR ERNIE

Well-Known Member
Stockpiling ice cream in the winter?

(The current tactic of course is to raise prices on unseasonal goods during the months nobody wants them, so you can have a 'sale' when the right season comes in, and people think they're getting a bargain)


It's been happening for years, I can give you on first hand example that illustrates how they operate.

I had 50k electrical items produced in China for one of the big four supermarkets. They agreed to take the range as a Christmas line. At £9.99 it would be a great stocking filler gift and I knew they would fly. I would sell to them at £4.10/unit.

The buyer insisted that they must be able to take delivery of about 5k mid August so that they could put them on the shelves in small quantities at £19.99. They knew they wouldn't sell many at that price but it didn't matter. It's called 'price establishing'.

Then in October when the stores started to merchandise for Christmas they were able to flash the displays ' half price offer £9.99' right up to Christmas.
 

dutchman

Well-Known Member
Has it gone up because it now costs that Dutch, whatever the time of day etc. Or is it specifically a quid at lunch time?
It went up as soon as the heatwave started, no way has there been a 95% increase in production costs. It was overpriced even at 55p.

If you're not familiar with Morrisons, they have history of 'trying it on' with prices, trusting that no-one remembers what something cost previously.
 

fernandopartridge

Well-Known Member
Like Ernie says, supermarkets already do all kinds of tricks making the consumer perceive that they've got a bargain. Wine is one where it happens commonly. Don't ever think you're getting a bargain if you say a bottle of wine in Tesco at 5 quid reduced from 11, it's bollocks.
People are gradually seeing through it all now with the certainty of low prices from the Aldi and Lidls of this world.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
 

dutchman

Well-Known Member
Like Ernie says, supermarkets already do all kinds of tricks making the consumer perceive that they've got a bargain.

Morrisons deliberately leave out-of-date price stickers in the shelves so people think they're getting an item at the reduced price it was earlier when it's long since gone back up. They'll also stack items on a shelf which was previously occupied by a lower priced brand and not change the price sticker. I've seen it so many times there's no way it can be a mistake or an oversight.
 

I_Saw_Shaw_Score

Well-Known Member
Anybody remember when chicagos had the random price changes to make you run to the bar?

That used to be brilliant!

Popular stuff would drop a couple of quid and there would be a mad dash to the bar.

Only prob was people would order loads and the price on that drink would go up before they could pay and people were leaving the drinks and walking away!

Wednesday nights I think go there then Lava Ignite for cheap night.
 

Sky Blue Kid

Well-Known Member
In Asda the price rotates every couple of months, 1kg tub of Clover £2-90....... 2 x 500g £2-00.... next time 2kg tub is £2-00... and 500g tub is £1-50. People don't realise they're having the mickey taken out of them.
 

dutchman

Well-Known Member
In Asda the price rotates every couple of months, 1kg tub of Clover £2-90....... 2 x 500g £2-00.... next time 2kg tub is £2-00... and 500g tub is £1-50. People don't realise they're having the mickey taken out of them.
Yeah, Morrison's do that as well. I once stopped a young mother from buying frozen fish by explaining that it'll probably be half the price next time she visits.
 

Nick

Administrator
That used to be brilliant!

Popular stuff would drop a couple of quid and there would be a mad dash to the bar.

Only prob was people would order loads and the price on that drink would go up before they could pay and people were leaving the drinks and walking away!

Wednesday nights I think go there then Lava Ignite for cheap night.

It was decent, they had all of the TV screens around and then it would flash up and you ha to leg it.

Although if you weren't fussy you could be there banging down Pernod and Black for a quid or something as nobody else wanted it.

Now it's just Wetherspoons so it's cheap anyway but not as fun :(
 

Gazolba

Well-Known Member
I always buy my umbrellas when it's not raining.
 

Gazolba

Well-Known Member
Don't just watch price, watch weight and quantity.
Often, you pay the same price but the weight/quantity is less. The most egregious example is breakfast cereal.
 

wingy

Well-Known Member
This has been quite prevalent across the board in supermarkets over the last couple of years.
 

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