Learning to Shop Differently
From Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert.
In 2008 shoppers used more coupons, bought more store brands, and started using shopping lists again. I have little doubt that these “learnings” will stay with many of these shoppers through their lifetimes — the same way our grandparents who lived through the depression held on to many of the values learned through that experience. At the same time, shoppers have become smarter – they are reading more labels and asking more questions.
With higher costs and lower available capital, many retailers will be struggling to keep their operations at an acceptable level (acceptable to both their shoppers and themselves). At the same time, many stores are in need of new technology at the front end in order to comply with the new extended bar code, as well as preparing for RFID compatibility.
Within a year anI Phone or a G Phone will probably be able to read the RFID tags on any product and give you a total product description on your screen, including whether the product was produced in some sweat shop in Vietnam. If we shop more carefully and less often, leveraged capitalism stops functioning. Car dealers are realizing that the world of people changing cars every three years is over.
The historic collapse of the new-car market dragged on in December, raising questions of whether the auto industry will ever again have sales levels that it took for granted just a few years ago.
The world is changing quickly. The consumer spending his way out of this slump is not in the cards. People have learned very quickly to drive less, eat smarter, spend less. The Interregnum deepens.
I’m still as frugal as ever…don’t need and don’t have a cell phone….don’t buy from Walmart…dig a nice salad bar….have clothes that are gifts…and I’m fucking wealthy!!! Drive a new Audi ’cause I get a tax break …. diversified portfolio…What?? Me Worry….not.
I’m still as frugal as ever…don’t need and don’t have a cell phone….don’t buy from Walmart…dig a nice salad bar….have clothes that are gifts…and I’m fucking wealthy!!! Drive a new Audi ’cause I get a tax break …. diversified portfolio…What?? Me Worry….not.
The G-Phone can already read barcodes. Adding the ability to read RFID’s is trivial.
The G-Phone can already read barcodes. Adding the ability to read RFID’s is trivial.
“Use it up; wear it out; make due; or do without.”
Where I grew up…New England…old money drove old cars; wore old suits ’til they wore out; took care of the sloop every winter so it would be right in the summer; lived in the old family house; sat at the same table their ancestors used; enjoyed old Scotch; and worked more than 40 hours a week. They also read books; sent their kids to prep schools; pruned the hedge once a month; went to the antique fire engine muster on the 4th of July; and yet they helped vote in the Kennedys. Tradition meets innovation. “Down bucket; up for air!” And if you shoot a duck, eat it.
“Use it up; wear it out; make due; or do without.”
Where I grew up…New England…old money drove old cars; wore old suits ’til they wore out; took care of the sloop every winter so it would be right in the summer; lived in the old family house; sat at the same table their ancestors used; enjoyed old Scotch; and worked more than 40 hours a week. They also read books; sent their kids to prep schools; pruned the hedge once a month; went to the antique fire engine muster on the 4th of July; and yet they helped vote in the Kennedys. Tradition meets innovation. “Down bucket; up for air!” And if you shoot a duck, eat it.
Turner you scumbag….I like the cut of your jib!
Turner you scumbag….I like the cut of your jib!
Did they also walk uphill both ways to school through neck high snow?
Did they also walk uphill both ways to school through neck high snow?
We walked to school in the snow…after we shoveled dad’s driveway. And yes, I once snow-shoed my way to school. OK, that was just for fun, but more than a few did ski to school cross country style. Old money New Englanders were not flash, gotta have the latest gadget types. They liked knowing that they had money in the bank. They were financially conservative in the right way. They bought quality goods that were likely to last because that would result in a good return on investment whether it was a suit of clothes or a set of golf clubs.
We walked to school in the snow…after we shoveled dad’s driveway. And yes, I once snow-shoed my way to school. OK, that was just for fun, but more than a few did ski to school cross country style. Old money New Englanders were not flash, gotta have the latest gadget types. They liked knowing that they had money in the bank. They were financially conservative in the right way. They bought quality goods that were likely to last because that would result in a good return on investment whether it was a suit of clothes or a set of golf clubs.
I don’t use coupons because the net savings are just too low; it takes an awful lot of work to clip, store, organize and use coupons. I don’t use a printed shopping list either, but I buy pretty much the same things every week. I’m not much of an impulse shopper. The obnoxious stores like to shuffle their shelves every now and then, and that’s annoying, but forcing me to run my eyes over 2000 brands of junk cereal does not sway me from Cheerios for me and Corn Chex for my wife.
If we could cut back on a food bill–and we have–it’s eating in restaurants. All of my coupon savings for a week wouldn’t even dent a single meal at even a moderately-priced restaurant. If we go out for dinner twice in a week, the combined bills will probably exceed my weekly grocery bill.
As far as RFID, I guess I’m getting old and curmudgeonly enough that it sounds like a lot of nonsense to me, not to mention more opportunities for the Strangeloves to track us everywhere we go. So I can run my cellphone past a can of something and it will tell me the contents. I wonder, will it tell me about the melamine too?
If you can’t trust the greedy sociopaths who process the food and make the labels, not to mention those who “work to get Big Government off the honest businessman’s back” so that unrestricted imports of poisoned Chinese products can slip by American inspection systems, all of that high-tech stuff is useless. My concern is that, in the future, we’ll be more inclined to say, “But my latest-generation super-high-tech cellphone/MP3 player said that it’s good! Lol!”
I don’t use coupons because the net savings are just too low; it takes an awful lot of work to clip, store, organize and use coupons. I don’t use a printed shopping list either, but I buy pretty much the same things every week. I’m not much of an impulse shopper. The obnoxious stores like to shuffle their shelves every now and then, and that’s annoying, but forcing me to run my eyes over 2000 brands of junk cereal does not sway me from Cheerios for me and Corn Chex for my wife.
If we could cut back on a food bill–and we have–it’s eating in restaurants. All of my coupon savings for a week wouldn’t even dent a single meal at even a moderately-priced restaurant. If we go out for dinner twice in a week, the combined bills will probably exceed my weekly grocery bill.
As far as RFID, I guess I’m getting old and curmudgeonly enough that it sounds like a lot of nonsense to me, not to mention more opportunities for the Strangeloves to track us everywhere we go. So I can run my cellphone past a can of something and it will tell me the contents. I wonder, will it tell me about the melamine too?
If you can’t trust the greedy sociopaths who process the food and make the labels, not to mention those who “work to get Big Government off the honest businessman’s back” so that unrestricted imports of poisoned Chinese products can slip by American inspection systems, all of that high-tech stuff is useless. My concern is that, in the future, we’ll be more inclined to say, “But my latest-generation super-high-tech cellphone/MP3 player said that it’s good! Lol!”
That was the Old South too, Rick. Ostentatious displays of wealth were considered rude. Then the Invasion From The Great North and West began and the McMansions multiplied like the kudzu they were replacing.
Is it ironic that the way through this period like many before it is conservatism not in the political but the economic sense?
Then of course, the media will start telling us we should be more carefree, less frugal, and more live for the day because that is what the marketing department will tell them to say. Give a Nobel Prize to the person who comes up with a vaccine against that.
That was the Old South too, Rick. Ostentatious displays of wealth were considered rude. Then the Invasion From The Great North and West began and the McMansions multiplied like the kudzu they were replacing.
Is it ironic that the way through this period like many before it is conservatism not in the political but the economic sense?
Then of course, the media will start telling us we should be more carefree, less frugal, and more live for the day because that is what the marketing department will tell them to say. Give a Nobel Prize to the person who comes up with a vaccine against that.
That was the Old South too, Rick. Ostentatious displays of wealth were considered rude. Then the Invasion From The Great North and West began and the McMansions multiplied like the kudzu they were replacing.
Is it ironic that the way through this period like many before it is conservatism not in the political but the economic sense?
Then of course, the media will start telling us we should be more carefree, less frugal, and more live for the day because that is what the marketing department will tell them to say. Give a Nobel Prize to the person who comes up with a vaccine against that.
Hey! Can we take at least part of the West out of the frivolous spending crowd? I don’t know about the West’s “new money”, but those of us who grew up with the West’s “old poor” mentality pretty much live by the phrase Rick quoted earlier (“use it up; wear it out; make it do or do without”).
That said, technology is somewhat of a weak spot in our household spending, but we are extremely picky consumers of such items and tend to keep them past their prime (at least according to those pushing the new gadgets). Of course, after football, picking apart stupid commercials and marketing tactics is our favorite sport. I mean, what’s more fun than shouting back at a 55-inch TV?
Hey! Can we take at least part of the West out of the frivolous spending crowd? I don’t know about the West’s “new money”, but those of us who grew up with the West’s “old poor” mentality pretty much live by the phrase Rick quoted earlier (“use it up; wear it out; make it do or do without”).
That said, technology is somewhat of a weak spot in our household spending, but we are extremely picky consumers of such items and tend to keep them past their prime (at least according to those pushing the new gadgets). Of course, after football, picking apart stupid commercials and marketing tactics is our favorite sport. I mean, what’s more fun than shouting back at a 55-inch TV?
Don’t answer that Rick
.
Don’t answer that Rick
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Don’t answer that Rick
.
There’s the one about the lady that bought cookies she didn’t like because she had a coupon!!
There’s the one about the lady that bought cookies she didn’t like because she had a coupon!!
There’s the one about the lady that bought cookies she didn’t like because she had a coupon!!
Haven’t been on in awhile, but thought I’d drop in and mention Scott Adams’ blog yet again – his latest on the economy is a good read: http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/sign_of_the_end_time/
Haven’t been on in awhile, but thought I’d drop in and mention Scott Adams’ blog yet again – his latest on the economy is a good read: http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/sign_of_the_end_time/
Haven’t been on in awhile, but thought I’d drop in and mention Scott Adams’ blog yet again – his latest on the economy is a good read: http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/sign_of_the_end_time/
What I really liked, in my perverse way, was a piece from “60 Minutes” or “20-20″ a while ago.
The investigative reporters apparently contacted a Chinese company that manufactures counterfeits of “Western” prescription medications, PROUDLY.
The manufacturer’s rep was a very attractive young lady, all bounce and business and willingness to please. She assured what she thought were several American (and Canadian, if I remember right) buyers for pharmacy services that her company could provide hundreds to thousands of packages with exact reproductions of packaging right down to holograms and other tamper-resists, containing tablets and capsules that were not even microscopically different from the real meds. She said the company was already doing this “service” for many suppliers.
I don’t remember if the feds joined the party at this point or whatever else might have transpired, but when it comes to “shopping” and RFID and whatever technology you want to rely on, my guess is that the commercial instincts (spelled “greed”) will find a way to trump any efforts to “protect the consumer.”
Isn’t Thomas Friedman’s Flat World just a wonderful place to live?
What I really liked, in my perverse way, was a piece from “60 Minutes” or “20-20″ a while ago.
The investigative reporters apparently contacted a Chinese company that manufactures counterfeits of “Western” prescription medications, PROUDLY.
The manufacturer’s rep was a very attractive young lady, all bounce and business and willingness to please. She assured what she thought were several American (and Canadian, if I remember right) buyers for pharmacy services that her company could provide hundreds to thousands of packages with exact reproductions of packaging right down to holograms and other tamper-resists, containing tablets and capsules that were not even microscopically different from the real meds. She said the company was already doing this “service” for many suppliers.
I don’t remember if the feds joined the party at this point or whatever else might have transpired, but when it comes to “shopping” and RFID and whatever technology you want to rely on, my guess is that the commercial instincts (spelled “greed”) will find a way to trump any efforts to “protect the consumer.”
Isn’t Thomas Friedman’s Flat World just a wonderful place to live?
What I really liked, in my perverse way, was a piece from “60 Minutes” or “20-20″ a while ago.
The investigative reporters apparently contacted a Chinese company that manufactures counterfeits of “Western” prescription medications, PROUDLY.
The manufacturer’s rep was a very attractive young lady, all bounce and business and willingness to please. She assured what she thought were several American (and Canadian, if I remember right) buyers for pharmacy services that her company could provide hundreds to thousands of packages with exact reproductions of packaging right down to holograms and other tamper-resists, containing tablets and capsules that were not even microscopically different from the real meds. She said the company was already doing this “service” for many suppliers.
I don’t remember if the feds joined the party at this point or whatever else might have transpired, but when it comes to “shopping” and RFID and whatever technology you want to rely on, my guess is that the commercial instincts (spelled “greed”) will find a way to trump any efforts to “protect the consumer.”
Isn’t Thomas Friedman’s Flat World just a wonderful place to live?
Now I FINALLY have the rationale for purchasing an iPhone.
Of course it’ll have to wait for that RFID reader technology to be fully institutionalized.
Now I FINALLY have the rationale for purchasing an iPhone.
Of course it’ll have to wait for that RFID reader technology to be fully institutionalized.
Now I FINALLY have the rationale for purchasing an iPhone.
Of course it’ll have to wait for that RFID reader technology to be fully institutionalized.
JT, I remember seeing that…the little chinese girl was like….what’s the problem here, we’re doing great!” Like, we don’t care about your swine investigation, we’ve got real money….ha.
JT, I remember seeing that…the little chinese girl was like….what’s the problem here, we’re doing great!” Like, we don’t care about your swine investigation, we’ve got real money….ha.
JT, I remember seeing that…the little chinese girl was like….what’s the problem here, we’re doing great!” Like, we don’t care about your swine investigation, we’ve got real money….ha.