gabe
Senior Member
Yep. Las Vegas gift stores have been doing it for years. That bottle of water cost more on busy long weekend and big event days, than say regular Tuesday.
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- Thread starter Northern Light
- Start date
Yep. Las Vegas gift stores have been doing it for years. That bottle of water cost more on busy long weekend and big event days, than say regular Tuesday.
gabe
Senior Member
You would think? But the big grocery store chains know Canadians will just accept it. We have no choice. Like the stupid high prices we pay for airfare, internet and cell phone plans..etc.
If the big grocery chains agree to dynamic pricing, we are screwed.
Flash sales would be cool. Because we were independent, we had total control over pricing even though we had a major banner. Generally, the big guys give limited leeway when it comes to franchisees setting pricing, but definitely for something like a flash sale this could be fun.
gabe
Senior Member
At Costco today, they are testing a new system. Employees with tablets were scanning all the items in your cart before you reach the cashier at the checkout. The lady scanned my entire cart in less than a minute, so i didn't need to unload the items to the conveyor belt for the cashier to scan them and pack them in the cart. The line up moved extremely fast with this system. Way faster than the self checkouts and old school cashier checkouts. The lady scanned at least five carts in front of me in a very short period of time. All the cashier did was operate the debit machine. This speeds up the checkouts and cuts down on self-check out theft.
afransen
Senior Member
That makes some sense, given that Costco already has two people operating one checkout lane. And their front end is a major bottleneck for store sales and source of customer dissatisfaction. I refuse to go there at busy times because I find it insulting to pay for the privilege to wait 30 minutes to checkout.
evandyk
Senior Member
You shouldn't go there at any time. Costco is inherently anti-urban - their large format packaging nudges everybody who shops there into owning bigger cars and bigger homes. Shopping at Costco promotes suburban sprawl.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
You've never seen peak consumerist culture until you visit a Costco on a Saturday morning - and honestly I think the members absolutely revel in the experience, in a Brave New World Solidarity Service kind of way.
AoD
afransen
Senior Member
It is creepy. I am not a fully 'bought in' Costco person. They have some products I like that are not available elsewhere or much more expensive. I find good value on general merchandize that is worth the price of admission to me. I find the food offerings there promote waste and overeating. If I had a large family I could see doing grocery shopping there on a regular basis but I would hate the experience.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
It's literally industrialized, maximally "efficient" consumption. You really have to wonder if one of the greatest value of Costco isn't the selling of products per se - but the data it yields on consumer behaviour.
AoD
Mihairokov
Active Member
Totally, and in addition to this it's also this subscription service where members feel like they have access that others "below" them don't have access to, and that everyone else at Costco is just like them, in a way.
Is this similar to the checkouts at Uniqlo that scan all items placed inside of them?
torontowest91
Active Member
depends how you shop - focus on what you really need and not "hoarding" or "stockpiling"
also, go to costo about 30 minutes before close (Monday/Tuesday) is best. Never Friday-Sunday at Costco...
evandyk
Senior Member
My issue with Costco is that while it may “depend on how you shop”, it nudges Costco members towards bigger formats, which requires bigger cars and bigger houses to store it all.
I've successfully shopped at Costco many times with a bike and trailer, and I don't live in a big house. It's fun being an outlier (although when I lock up, I'm never the only bike there, so I guess there are others)
torontowest91
Active Member
It also helps owning a smaller fridge - you don't overbuy or waste food from hoarding too much either.
evandyk
Senior Member
Yeah, but Costco-ification nudges people into buying bigger fridges, because you can get the bigger format package for a slightly cheaper price (ignoring the externalities of everybody shopping at a huge suburban warehouse).
I get mad at grocery stores for offering 2-for-X pricing on huge bags of chips, too, nudging people into bigger houses, cupboards, storage rooms, pantries, etc.
I get mad at grocery stores for offering 2-for-X pricing on huge bags of chips, too, nudging people into bigger houses, cupboards, storage rooms, pantries, etc.