discount sticker
{{Short description|Method of marking reductions in price}}
File:Yellow sticker cakes reduced to clear in Sainsbury's supermarket (cropped).jpg
File:Lidl discount stickers, 's-Gravenland, Rotterdam (2021).jpg is sometimes used for discount stickers]]
Discount stickers are a price markdown that are used to alert shoppers to goods which have been reduced in price, such as food approaching its sell-by date or inventory in discount clothing or outlet stores.{{Cite web |last=Ettinger |first=Jill |date=2023-07-14 |title=Irate shopper calls out Nordstrom Rack for deceptive price tag: 'Ignore the before prices and percentages' |url=https://www.thecooldown.com/green-home/nordstrom-rack-fast-fashion-discount-clothing-outlet/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=The Cool Down |language=en-US}} Some stores, especially discount clothing stores, have been accused of using discount stickers to create the impression of price markdowns when there is none.{{Cite web |date=2023-06-18 |title=Shopper disappointed to find sale sticker has same price as tag underneath, but Uniqlo explains why |url=https://stomp.straitstimes.com/singapore-seen/shopper-disappointed-to-find-sale-sticker-has-same-price-as-tag-underneath-but-uniqlo |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=Stomp |language=en}}
In certain contexts, specific types of stickers have had additional meaning. For example, yellow stickers are used for this purpose by several British supermarket chains, including Asda, Sainsbury's, and Tesco. Post Brexit cost of living increases in the UK, have highlighted the importance of "yellow sticker shopping" as a way to deal with real price increases.
Grocery markdowns
Marking down food prices at grocery stores allows for the stores to better manage their stock, and ensure some return on value of the good.{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Jiang-Tao |last2=Yu |first2=Jian-Jun |last3=Yuan |first3=Yu-Hsi |last4=Tsai |first4=Sang-Bing |last5=Zhang |first5=Shu-Fen |date=2021-02-03 |title=Markdown Time for Perishables Based on Dynamic Quality Evaluation for Complex Data Analysis |url=https://www.hindawi.com/journals/wcmc/2021/6695626/ |journal=Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing |language=en |volume=2021 |pages=e6695626 |doi=10.1155/2021/6695626 |issn=1530-8669|doi-access=free }} Especially for food that are perishable or has expiration dates, having an inventory management strategy that includes markdowns reduces food waste, simplifies inventory management and increases the likelihood of some profitability when satisfying a consumer need or demand for discounted prices.
Improvements in the early 2000s to inventory management software has made applying discounts to perishable goods easier.{{Cite journal |last=Theotokis |first=Aristeidis |last2=Pramatari |first2=Katerina |last3=Tsiros |first3=Michael |date=March 2012 |title=Effects of Expiration Date-Based Pricing on Brand Image Perceptions |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022435911000625 |journal=Journal of Retailing |language=en |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=72–87 |doi=10.1016/j.jretai.2011.06.003}} When consumers understand this practice of creating discounts on foods after perishability dates, the discounts don't harm consumer perceptions of the brands marked down.
= In Australia =
Yellow stickers have been used in Australia, including at Woolworths supermarkets.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-25 |title=Major change to reduced buys at some Woolworths stores sparks furious debate |url=https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/food/new-woolworths-sale-sticker-trial-spark-furious-debate-but-can-you-see-what-the-drama-is-about-c-5422874 |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=7NEWS |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Poposki |first=Claudia |date=2022-12-02 |title=Woolworths workers share best times to get a bargain |work=News.com.au |url=https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/eat/woolworths-workers-share-best-times-to-get-a-bargain/news-story/7dc7d8b578cc1b485f10c40e075bebc1}}
= In Japan =
File:木綿 遺伝子組換大豆不使用 消泡剤不使用 (14129275244).jpg
Looking for yellow sticker-tagged items has been noted as a way to save money when shopping in Japan.{{Cite news |date=2015-04-08 |title=Tip for saving money in Japan: Visit supermarket just before closing time |url=https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/tip-for-saving-money-in-japan-visit-supermarket-just-before-closing-time |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=Japan Today |language=en}} One chain, Gyomu Super, has chosen to allow consumers to pick which items they place their sticker on, allowing customers to markdown up to 4 items.{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-03-31 |title=Japanese supermarket entrusts customers with unusual discount sticker system |url=https://soranews24.com/2022/03/31/japanese-supermarket-entrusts-customers-with-unusual-discount-sticker-system/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=SoraNews24 -Japan News- |language=en-US}}
= In the United Kingdom =
File:Yellow sticker bread reduced to clear in Sainsbury's supermarket 02.jpg
File:Still fresh - reduced price yellow stickers at Asda north London.jpg
In the United Kingdom, the stickers have been in use since at least 1993 when a director of J Sainsbury supermarkets wrote to The Times, in response to a customer complaint, to explain that a "bright yellow sticker" was placed across the item's original barcode to prevent it being scanned at the original price.{{cite news|title=Supermarket tomato price does not seem to check out|first=Hamish|last=Elvidge|newspaper=The Times|date=10 June 1993|page=27}}
In 1999, Lynne Truss referenced yellow stickers in an article in The Times lamenting the low quality of a football team, as though they had been picked at Asda at yellow-sticker time before their shelf life expired.{{cite news|title=Monday Matters|first=Lynne|last=Truss|newspaper=The Times|date=3 May 1999|page=35}} In 2013, journalist Candida Crewe explained in The Times that she was able to live the "high life", despite having little money, by using a variety of money-saving techniques that included being "addicted to those cheerful yellow 'reduced' stickers at the end of a supermarket's day", loyalty cards, and wearing only black.{{cite news|title=How I Live the High Life—When Broke|first=Candida|last=Crewe|newspaper=The Times Magazine|date=12 October 2013}}
In 2018, yellow-sticker shopping was the subject of a paper in Area, the academic journal of the Royal Geographical Society. The authors noted the unpredictable nature of the practice with success being celebrated and described in ways that contrasted with the more mundane weekly shop.{{cite magazine|url=https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/area.12435|title=Yellow-sticker shopping as competent, creative consumption|first1=Sarah|last1=Kelsey|first2=Carol|last2=Morris|first3=Louise|last3=Crewe|magazine=Area|volume=51|issue=1|date=March 2019|pages=64–71|url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701221135/https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/area.12435 |archive-date=2023-07-01 }}
In May 2023, it was reported that according to research by Barclays Bank, 38 per cent of British shoppers were buying yellow-stickered items to make their money go further during the cost-of-living crisis.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2023/05/09/shoppers-reduced-food/|title=Nearly 40% of shoppers buying 'yellow sticker' reduced food products|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701120201/https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2023/05/09/shoppers-reduced-food/ |archive-date=2023-07-01 |first=Cara |last=Houlton |magazine=Grocery Gazette |date=9 May 2023 |access-date=10 July 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/best-times-of-day-to-get-yellow-sticker-supermarket-bargains-revealed-aRzv22f0s7Lt|title=Best times of day to get ‘yellow sticker’ supermarket bargains revealed|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701120310/https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/best-times-of-day-to-get-yellow-sticker-supermarket-bargains-revealed-aRzv22f0s7Lt |archive-date=2023-07-01 |first=Marianne |last=Calnan |website=Which |date=13 May 2023 |access-date=10 July 2023}} It was reported that the items were so in demand that Tesco staff had been forced to surround them with barriers while applying the stickers to prevent disorder as buyers grabbed the reductions.{{cite news |last1=Chakelian |first1=Anoosh |title=The dystopian rise of supermarket discount security barriers |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/business/2023/04/dystopian-rise-supermarket-discount-security-barriers-tesco-retail |access-date=4 August 2023 |publisher=New Statesman |date=6 April 2023 |archive-date=10 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610205129/https://www.newstatesman.com/business/2023/04/dystopian-rise-supermarket-discount-security-barriers-tesco-retail |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Bayford |first1=Kristian |title=Tesco introduces security barriers to stop shoppers snatching reduced items |url=https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2022/11/02/tesco-staff-security-barriers/ |website=Grocery Gazette |date=2 November 2022 |access-date=4 August 2023 |archive-date=18 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218140535/https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2022/11/02/tesco-staff-security-barriers/ |url-status=live }} The barriers had first been used by Tesco during the COVID-19 pandemic for social distancing purposes. Design Week reported that an app had been developed to help buyers incorporate the discounted purchases into their home cooking.{{cite web |url=https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/20-february-24-february-2023/uncommon-cx-yellow-sticker-cookbook/|title=Uncommon CX cooks up interactive cost-of-living cookbook|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701120508/https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/20-february-24-february-2023/uncommon-cx-yellow-sticker-cookbook/ |archive-date=2023-07-01 |first=Abbey |last=Bamford |website=Design Week |date=23 February 2023 |access-date=10 July 2023}}
In July 2023, the BBC noted that the colour yellow, used because it was thought to be "warm and welcoming", had also been adopted by retailers in their labels for items that were permanently discounted for members of loyalty schemes, such as the Tesco Clubcard scheme.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65274118 |title=Loyalty cards: How a big yellow label influences what we buy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701121609/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65274118 |archive-date=2023-07-01 |first=Kevin |last=Peachey |website=BBC News |date=16 April 2023 |access-date=9 July 2023}}
Food still unsold after being reduced in price may be donated to a food bank or sent for anaerobic digestion.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37624872 |title=Yellow stickers: Secrets of cut-price food revealed |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710081648/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37624872 |archive-date=2023-07-10 |first=Owen |last=Amos |website=BBC News |date=3 November 2016 |access-date=10 July 2023}} In 2025 Tesco announced it would run a trial offering still unsold items which had not been claimed by a charity or staff to customers for free at the end of the day.{{Cite web |date=13 March 2025 |title=Tesco to trial giving expiring food away to shoppers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2er1m2rlr4o |access-date=22 March 2025 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
{{As of|2017}}, some UK budget supermarkets, such as Aldi, do not use the stickers.{{cite news |url=https://metro.co.uk/2017/08/17/i-did-my-entire-weekly-shop-buying-discounted-yellow-sticker-food-6857455/ |title=I did my entire weekly shop buying discounted yellow sticker food |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111224123/http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/17/i-did-my-entire-weekly-shop-buying-discounted-yellow-sticker-food-6857455/ |archive-date=2018-01-11 |first=Nicole |last=Morley |newspaper=Metro |date=17 August 2017 |access-date=10 July 2023}}
In December 2023, The Daily Telegraph reported that the use of yellow stickers might end as British supermarkets introduced dynamic pricing models that automatically reduced the cost of goods as they reached their expiration date. Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) were being trialled that were hoped to reduce labour costs in applying discount stickers and production costs by more clearly signalling pricing differentials between packaged and unpackaged fresh produce. It was hoped they would also cut food waste by more closely aligning prices to customer demand."Supermarkets on brink of dynamic pricing", Madeleine Ross, The Daily Telegraph, 30 December 2023, p. 10.
Clothing retail
Retailers of major brands such as Nordstroms have developed specific outlet stores to direct market "discounted" lines of clothing, some of which are designed specifically for the outlets. Some discount clothing stores have been accused of using discount stickers to create the impression of price markdowns when there is none.
In 2012, JC Penny tried to stop using discount stickering and other discounts, in exchange for a permanent across the board markdown.{{Cite web |title=J.C. Penney to replace sales with permanent discounts |url=https://www.jacksonville.com/story/business/2012/01/25/jc-penney-replace-sales-permanent-discounts/15877786007/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=The Florida Times-Union |language=en-US}} The company rolled backed this pricing strategy after sales declined due to lack of discount stickers and other consumer signals of "getting good deals".{{Cite web |title=Lessons from the failure of J.C. Penney’s new pricing strategy |url=https://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/j-c-penny-s-pricing-strategy |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=www.priceintelligently.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=JCPenney caught marking up prices, only to lower them - SMU |url=https://www.smu.edu/News/2013/dan-howard-wfaa-7june2013 |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=www.smu.edu}}{{Cite web |title=JCPenney CEO raising prices |url=https://www.retaildive.com/news/jcpenney-ceo-raising-prices/222135/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=Retail Dive |language=en-US}} The period where prices were adjusted upward, resulted in price stickers that increased the price paired with huge discounts, creating consumer confusion.{{Cite web |title=J.C. Penney says new price markups confusing customers |url=http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/228792051.html |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=www.jsonline.com |language=en}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{commons category inline|Yellow discount stickers}}