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How do you determine what the best food is or the cheapest cost for that matter? Do you comparison shop at different supermarkets to figure out what the highe

How do you determine what the best food is or the cheapest cost for that matter? Do you comparison shop at different supermarkets to figure out what the highest quality food is for the lowest price? If you are like me you did that one or two times when you moved to a new area, but then stick to buying everything from the same store which I thought had the best quality food for the best price in general. The relationship that I have with that grocery store keeps me from shopping around prices at other locations.

icebraining 9y ago
I have to say, I don't know anyone that always goes to same grocery store. Maybe it's because almost everyone I know is working-class, often hand-to-mouth, or because our stores are usually within 30m walking distance, but we all know which products tend to be cheaper on each stores and make trips to each depending on our needs. Comparison shopping is vital if you want to have a decent variety of foodstuffs on a tight budget.
- ghaff 9y ago
  I honestly don't really comparison shop in a meaningful way beyond a generalized Whole Foods tends to have high prices. Market Basket tends to have cheaper prices. But I definitely shop at different stores based on what I'm buying and what's convenient as well as farm stands etc.
tesseract 9y ago
> [Does one] comparison shop at different supermarkets to figure out what the highest quality food is for the lowest price? No, of course not. That's what the weekly newspaper flyers are for. On the other hand if one is relatively well off, then the strategy you propose of picking a store that seems like an overall good value and sticking to it may make more sense than spending valuable time poring over grocery store flyers and making trips to multiple stores. This difference in behavior (combined with coupon clipping) is pretty much the quintessential example of how retailers can implement price discrimination - i.e. charging higher prices to those with a greater income or greater willingness to spend.

icebraining 9y ago

I have to say, I don't know anyone that always goes to same grocery store. Maybe it's because almost everyone I know is working-class, often hand-to-mouth, or because our stores are usually within 30m walking distance, but we all know which products tend to be cheaper on each stores and make trips to each depending on our needs. Comparison shopping is vital if you want to have a decent variety of foodstuffs on a tight budget.

ghaff 9y ago
I honestly don't really comparison shop in a meaningful way beyond a generalized Whole Foods tends to have high prices. Market Basket tends to have cheaper prices. But I definitely shop at different stores based on what I'm buying and what's convenient as well as farm stands etc.

tesseract 9y ago

> [Does one] comparison shop at different supermarkets to figure out what the highest quality food is for the lowest price? No, of course not. That's what the weekly newspaper flyers are for. On the other hand if one is relatively well off, then the strategy you propose of picking a store that seems like an overall good value and sticking to it may make more sense than spending valuable time poring over grocery store flyers and making trips to multiple stores. This difference in behavior (combined with coupon clipping) is pretty much the quintessential example of how retailers can implement price discrimination - i.e. charging higher prices to those with a greater income or greater willingness to spend.