[quote=arraya]If one is a wise shopper Costco can come in handy for saving a few bucks especially for families and that is what people should be concerned with. Also, they very well could take them based on a bottom line decision with the deteriorating job market anyway. Tsk tsk people…
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I’d challenge anyone to compare apples to apples their food bill from their normal grocery store to their bill the spend on food at costco…I’m willing to bet most people end either
1)End up spending more money on food from costco than from grocery stores, and end up consuming more than they need to
or
2)End up spending more money on food from costco than from grocery stores, and end up throwing away half of the stuff that perishes.
or
3)End up spending more money on food from costco than from grocery stores, because they don’t routinely clip coupons, and use manufacturer coupons and then double the coupon savings with a grocery store coupon, or rotate their eating habits around what is on sale versus what they want to eat.
I am guilty of this myself in the past. I can buy say, a double pack of turkey breast meat or the yogurt special that comes in genormous 18-24 pack.. But mt family with either end up eating twice as much OR end up throwing half of it away. Costco, when it comes to food, to me, is a lot like the super-sizing concept.
Boxed stuff at costco bought on bulk is not cheaper than stuff bought on sale say at Vons, at the unit price level. Two boxes of cereal with a buy one get one free deal at vons + a manufacturer coupon is still cheaper than the bulk cereal you can buy at costco containing the equivalent of two boxes, for example.
But who’s counting anyway, right?
The irony to all this economic downturn is that for me, fundamentally it hasn’t changed our shopping habits. Because we were cheap during good economic times.
Costco’s business model is great when you think about it…All those free food and demos. It’s not just about getting you to buy that item they are demoing…The longer they keep you in the store, the more likelihood you’ll spend a hell of a lot more…
It’s a brilliant business model.
1)Joe and Jane and little Billy go to costco
2)Joe and Jane and Billy demo food
3)Joe and Jane thinks sample X is good, so buys sample X.
4)Billy gets thirsty from eating sample Y, so Joe and Jane goes to the outside food court and buys a pizza and soda for little Billy
5)Joe and Jane and Billy finish shopping, but Billy wets his pants
6)Joe an Jane remembers to buy diapers at costco
7)While Jane or Joe is changing billy, either Joe goes check out the TV section, or Jane goes check out the clothing section.
8)Jane and Joe walk back with other things they found in the store.
9) During checkout, cashier checks how much Jane and Joe spent at costco over the past year and checks their membership status.
10) Cashier states that if they upgraded their membership to premium, they’d save a lot more money for next year, due to the premium rebate.
11) Jane and Joe think, well gosh that does sound good, so they upgrade their membership.
12) Jane and Joe, in the interest of getting their membership’s worth, end up coming back to costco more often.
Sound familiar to folks? It’s a brilliant business strategy. Costco’s going to do just fine in this recession…
