I thought that it was pretty clear that if you're willing to buy only sale items, you can save a lot by shopping the regular grocery stores. Still, the Grocery Advantage will help you find the best deals:
The service, The Grocery Advantage, was launched in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in December after opening in Columbus a year ago. It has more than 2,000 subscribers.Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that you would need only those 125 items... Also, if you ever meet me in person, NEVER--EVER--say that price is only now becoming important, like this fool insists:"I've been couponing for several years now and thought I was pretty thorough on catching the deals," Beneker said. "But after viewing the Grocery Advantage reports, I realized I was missing a lot."
Subscribers such as Beneker pay $15 to use The Grocery Advantage Web site, where they find local reports listing sale items at area Kroger and Meijer stores. They use the reports to find the best savings and to identify which coupons will help them save the most by matching them with the sale items and coupon promotions.
The detailed report lists the retail cost of a product and its cost savings with markdowns and coupons.
Kroger and Meijer are the only stores the service analyzes because they have the best deals when combined with coupons, said Michael Berberick, who founded the service with his wife, Montelle LeVering.
Bigg's was not competitive, said Berberick. And although Wal-Mart supercenters are typically reported as having the lowest prices, Berberick says The Grocery Advantage system regularly beats its prices.
"Several weeks ago we analyzed our best deals and compared them with everyday low prices at the one Wal-Mart Supercenter already in Cincinnati (in Fort Wright)," Berberick said. "The 125 items would cost about $265 at Wal-Mart and only $65 at Kroger and Meijer.
"We have data that shows price comparisons including shopping at Wal-Mart with and without coupons vs. Kroger and Meijer. Most people do not realize how great the savings can be at Kroger and Meijer. These kind of savings are not available at Wal-Mart."
"It's a very interesting and timely service because price is becoming increasingly important to shoppers," said Jon Hauptman with Willard Bishop ConsultingSo when the average income was $1 an hour, people weren't concerned about prices???
Posted by Kevin on January, 2 2005 at 09:43 AM
