Supermarket Buying Guide

Getting started

One-third of subscribers we surveyed in our 2011 Annual Questionnaire said they had given the heave-ho to a nearby grocery store. Forty-three percent left a grocer in search of lower prices, about 25 percent cited poor selection, long lines, or lousy food, 17 percent blamed employee rudeness, and 14 percent cited the crowds.

"I hear a lot of discussion about how to make the in-store experience more pleasing and efficient, and also how to adapt it for changes in the ways consumers shop," David Orgel, editor of Supermarket News, an industry publication, said. Orgel suggests that some shoppers may be more discriminating than in the past because they know they have more options, they are exposed to more types of stores selling food, and they're more sensitive about experiences that may fall short of their expectations.

Survey results

Of the 24,203 readers who told us about 42,695 supermarket experiences, more than half had at least one complaint about their current store; almost a third cited two or more. Even high-rated chains such as Raley's (in the West) and Wegmans (mid-Atlantic) gave plenty of readers something to criticize.

The biggest gripe overall: Not enough open checkouts (cited by 27 percent of shoppers), followed by congested or cluttered aisles and advertised specials that were out of stock. Other irritants included inept bagging, missing prices, and scanner overcharges.

No chains tried their customers' patience more than Walmart Supercenter, Pathmark (Northeast), and Pick 'n Save (Wisconsin), where about three-fourths of shoppers had one or more problems. Shoppers who frequented Walmart, the nation's largest grocer and the chain with the most shoppers in our survey, were most likely to be miffed about the lack of open checkouts, out-of-stock regular items, indifferent employees, spotty pricing, and confusing store layout. Thirteen percent of respondents shopping at Pathmark said they'd been overcharged, almost twice the average rate in our survey.

Some problems, including long lines, can even make you spend more. If five or more people are ahead of you at the checkout, according to Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell University Food & Brand Lab, you're more likely to buy a nearby treat such as a candy bar.

Fortunately, most consumers have several shopping choices, and some supermarkets gave customers much of what they want. The national grocers Costco and Trader Joe's, along with Fareway Stores (Midwest) and Wegmans, offer quality meat and produce, a clean shopping environment, and very good or exceptional prices. All but Costco also earned the highest possible marks for service, defined as employee courtesy and checkout speed. Service is minimal at warehouse clubs such as Costco, and long lines are a trade-off for day-in, day-out deals.

Other chains excelled in some areas but fell down in others. Readers ranked Whole Foods very high overall but said it had exceptionally high prices. Walmart, despite its problems and subpar perishable foods, was praised for low prices. The chain's sibling, Sam's Club, outscored Walmart in every Ratings category except price (in which the two were judged even) and variety (a battle Walmart won hands down).

Over the years, our supermarket Ratings have been very consistent. This is the third straight survey (the earlier ones were in 2005 and 2008) in which Wegmans, Trader Joe's, and Publix (South) have been at the top and A&P, Pathmark, Shaw's, and Walmart near the bottom. The rankings of other chains have remained largely unchanged.

Ways to save

Shoppers have a lot invested in their stores, making 88 trips and spending $5,060 a year on average. In this sour economy, they're finding more good deals. The Food Marketing Institute, a trade group, says that 36 percent of grocers it surveyed are featuring more promotions and deeper sales, 10 percent have switched to an everyday-low-price policy as an alternative to weekly specials, and 10 percent have added perks to their loyalty programs, including fuel discounts and more-generous rewards. In addition, more chains planned to remodel or open new stores in 2011 than in 2010.

Our reporter learned firsthand that a smart shopper can save money by using these tactics.

Use coupons. Manufacturers flooded the market with 179 billion grocery coupons last year, and 2.3 billion were redeemed, according to Charles Brown, vice president of marketing for NCH Marketing Services, which tracks promotions. The average face value of a grocery coupon is $1.17, and more and more manufacturers require you to buy multiple items to land the discount. Coupons also tend to have a shorter life cycle than they used to (the average duration is 10.2 weeks, down from 11.2 in 2007). The source of most coupons remains inserts such as those in the Sunday newspaper, but you'll also find offers on websites operated by supermarkets and manufacturers. Fewer than 1 percent of coupons are distributed by e-mail or via mobile applications, though many of the chains in our survey let card-club members download coupons to a smart phone.

Be loyal. If your store has a loyalty or bonus-card program and you're comfortable with the privacy policy, join it. A Food Marketing Institute spokeswoman says the organization doesn't know of any chains that sell card lists to third-party marketers but advises consumers to check, because policies differ. Eighty-six percent of those club members we surveyed were satisfied with the savings they received.

Increasingly, stores are saving their best deals for loyalty-card members. At Harris Teeter (in the South), for example, club members can double the value of some manufacturers' coupons, download coupons electronically to their cards, receive special e-mail offers, and be notified when items they regularly buy are on sale. At Fred Meyer stores (mostly in the West), members earn points toward cash rebates, and at Price Chopper (Northeast), AdvantEdge Card members earn a 10-cent-per-gallon discount on fuel for every $50 they spend.

Buy store brands. Due in part to lower product-development and promotional costs, store brands can sell for a lot less. Seventy-two percent of our survey respondents said they bought store brands, and 89 percent of those who did said that store brands are as good as or better than national brands. Year after year, our trained tasters often agree. In our survey, Costco, Trader Joe's, Wegmans, and Whole Foods earned top marks for house brands. Aldi (a nationwide chain that sells mostly store-brand items) and Giant Eagle (Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) are so confident customers will like their brands that they offer a double-money-back guarantee.

Shop from home. Big Y (Massachusetts and Connecticut), Harris Teeter, Safeway (nationwide), and Schnucks (Midwest) are among many chains at which shoppers in some locations can order groceries online or via a mobile phone for in-store pickup or delivery. At Safeway, a personal shopper will gather your order, catering to preferences for, say, firm tomatoes or thick-cut deli meats, and it will be delivered within your choice of available time frames. The charge: $3.95 to $12.95. The faster you need your order, the higher the fee. Some chains charge a flat fee per order. Grocers sometimes waive the fee for first-time customers, so it won't cost anything to give it a try. Also, chains usually back their programs with a satisfaction guarantee.

More ways to save

Take a flyer. Most grocers play the high-low game: They price some items at or below cost, feature them in flyers to draw you into the store, and hope you'll then buy more-profitable items. Be aware that not everything in flyers is on sale.

Combine deals. Some chains are expanding discounts. Tops Markets (upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania), for example, offers thousands of weekly specials for loyalty-card customers, and buy-one-get-one

-free deals, three-day markdowns, mix-and-match 10-for-$10 deals, and customized coupon offers for people who sign up for text or mobile alerts.

Look for longer markdowns. Continuing a trend that began early in the recession, some chains have extended sale prices beyond the typical week. Stop & Shop (Northeast), for example, identifies multiweek markdowns with "Real Deal!" signs. Starting in early January and continuing for more than three months, Wegmans froze prices on 223 products.

Show your age. More chains are catering to older shoppers by offering bonus savings on certain days. At some Kroger stores (nationwide) and Fry's (mostly in Arizona), a rewards club entitles shoppers at least 60 and 55, respectively, to 10 percent off their purchases on the first Wednesday of the month. At Bi-Lo (in the South), shoppers who are 60 and older receive 5 percent off on all Wednesdays.

Compare unit prices. That's the most effective way to determine which brand, size, or package type is most economical.

Use a basket if you can. Shoppers who wheeled jumbo carts bought more than those wheeling regular or small ones, according to a study by the Cornell University Food & Brand Lab. The effect was more pronounced the longer shoppers stayed in the store. If you need only a few items, skip the cart and consider a hand basket.

Avoid traps and tricks

You can save even more by knowing how stores try to make you buy: piling items on end-aisle displays even if they're not on sale because most people assume they are, posting signs such as "5 for $5" though there's no requirement to buy all five to get the discount, and cutting sliced watermelon into chunks and tripling the price for the added convenience. But those tactics are just the tip of the iceberg.

"Most of the decisions we make in the supermarket are little ones, made in the midst of distractions--you're on the cell phone, the kids are fighting," William Poundstone, author of "Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It)" (Hill and Wang, 2008), said. "You're operating on autopilot and don't have time to think things through logically. In those situations, as marketers have discovered, we're all very easy to manipulate."

Indeed. We visited local stores and spoke to marketing experts to help you identify where the manipulation may occur and how to resist it.

What to look for

As you work your way through the store, you'll probably spend somewhat less by shopping clockwise, according to Herb Sorensen, a consultant for retailers and manufacturers. Most stores have their main entrance on the right side, and their customers tend to move counterclockwise. When researchers compared those shoppers with people who went through a left entrance and shopped clockwise, they found the clockwise folk spent $2 less per trip, on average.

The produce department is usually near the entrance, and there's a savvy strategy behind the location. In addition to imparting the message that "this is a fresh, healthy place," Sorensen said, that placement gives shoppers license to buy cake and ice cream as a reward for picking up a head of broccoli or bag of apples. Also, be aware that bright white halogen spot lamps can make fresh food look more luscious. Strawberries appear redder, for example, and string beans greener.

As you walk the aisles, beware of "bumpouts," displays and shelves that curve or jut out. They catch the eye and make merchandise more tempting, Sorensen says.

Look above and below eye-level shelves. Manufacturers sometimes pay retailers for valuable eye-level placement. In a study by the Cornell Food & Brand Lab, researchers watched shoppers buy 40 percent of the items in their carts from shelves that were within 12 inches of eye level.

When you reach the end of an aisle, don't always expect a sale. Stores routinely reset endcap and other high-profile displays with sale items the day before the lower price takes effect (but without the new signs). If you grab and go too early, you'll pay full price. Our reporter knows, because it happened to him.

Wherever you see offers for free stuff, make sure there's no catch. "Most purchases are a gamble," William Poundstone said. "You pay your money and hope that the product is as good as you thought it would be. ‘Free' is a great sales pitch because you say to yourself, ‘I can't regret this purchase because I got it for free.' Unfortunately, you generally have to buy something else with the freebie."

When you do pay, don't be fooled if the price ends in "9." It's a practice known as "charm" pricing. Some researchers believe that shoppers see a jar of peanuts priced at $6.99 as $6 rather than $7, making it seem cheaper. Buyers have also been conditioned to associate prices ending in "9" with a bargain, Poundstone says. "We're Pavlov's dogs salivating at the 9 we associate with a discount," he said.

Finally, at the checkout, double-check the receipt. Six percent of respondents to our survey said that they were overcharged, a figure that has been consistent since our 2005 survey. When an item scans at the wrong price, some chains will give it to you free, but you may have to complain forcefully.

Bottom line. If you're unhappy with your store, fire it and look at the Ratings for a good alternative. Though each has its limitations, Costco, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods are high-rated stores available to many people across the U.S. Wherever you shop, save a bundle by using the tactics we've outlined.

Unit pricing is not universal

Unit prices make it easy to compare apples to apple slices. They're the cost per ounce, per quart, per pound, or per 100 sheets (for starters) listed on the shelf beneath each product. Beyond telling you whether bulk products are cheaper than packaged ones, unit prices indicate whether a big box of cereal is more economical than a small one, or whether brand X is a better deal than brand Y. Three-quarters of all grocery shoppers rely on them to make comparisons, according to the Food Marketing Institute, a trade association.

Yet there is no federally mandated unit-pricing label similar to the Nutrition Facts on packaged goods. Unit pricing is largely voluntary. Only nine states require it; 10 states have voluntary guidelines, meaning if a retailer chooses to post unit prices, the format must adhere to certain standards. The result: a mishmash of labels that vary from store to store and state to state.

Aisle by aisle

We sent 13 shoppers to 44 stores in 11 states to examine the labels for everyday items. Of those states, eight--Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas--lack unit-pricing rules. Each shopper encountered examples of inconsistent labels and, on several occasions, no unit pricing at all. For instance:

Campbell's, Lipton, and Progresso soups were priced by the ounce and by the pound; Tide liquid detergent by the ounce and quart; Kellogg's Froot Loops and Favorite Fruit Rings (a store brand) by the pound and ounce (Kuhn's market, Mountain Township, Pa.).
Skinny Cow ice cream was priced by the ounce and per "unit" (Kroger, Cedar Hill, Texas).
Various sodas were priced by the ounce, liter, and milliliter (Brookshire's, Midlothian, Texas).
Various laundry detergents were priced by the load and ounce (Giant Eagle, Parma, Ohio).
No unit price labels were on any laundry detergent (Walmart Neighborhood Market, Surprise, Ariz.).
Gold Medal Flour was priced by the ounce and pound (Ralph's, San Diego, Calif.).
Coca Cola was priced by the ounce, quart, or "pack" (of eight) (Bashas' market, Surprise, Ariz.).

Even in states with unit-pricing rules, enforcement may be spotty. David Sefcik, an expert at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Office of Weights and Measures, an agency within the Department of Commerce that works with the industry to make labeling consistent, says there's been "very little or no recent activity where retailers have received a fine or penalty by states with mandatory unit pricing laws for noncompliance."

Bottom line

There ought to be a law. Unit pricing is specifically exempted from the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, and attempts to regulate it have been unsuccessful. For now, the best way for consumers to compare prices may be to use a calculator.

An ideal unit-price label

Unit-price labels now differ in size, shape, color, content, layout, and legibility. Check out this PDF of an "ideal" label we created with input from David Sefcik, a unit-price expert at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. With such a label, comparison shopping could be a breeze--not a burden.