By Stephen Rhodes
I am standing in a cashout line at my local grocery store and the woman ahead of me is flashing her iPhone at the cashier. I ask her what she is doing and she says she has sourced a dozen or so products at other stores selling for less money. The cashier is checking the price on the iPhone so she can apply a discount.
No way.
The customer uses an app called Flipp, (no I don’t have shares) which carries a couple of dozen weekly flyers of grocery stores, hardware, electronics, general merchandising etc.
Two things struck me. All flyers are on my handheld device, not in a pile at my feet. And comparison price shopping is easy, and real-time convenient at the grocery store. The app is easy to use. Find a product, clip it and it’s saved.
I don’t think I had ever looked at a paper flyer until this year when I realized how out of touch I was with food prices – like the price per pound of meat. So now when I look for boneless/skinless chicken at $3.99/pound I do it on my iPhone app.
There is a belief in the food industry that most customers will not drive by one food store to get to another.
Price matching is just good customer service and it makes it easier to stay loyal to your favourite grocery store.
stephenrhodes
jeffpad
Stephen Rhodes
The Marketing PAD 