Who are the discount value variety stores?

Towser

There has been a shift in retail outlets for some time now.

Who are the discount value variety stores? This new breed seems to have taken over the high street changing peoples shopping habits.

Wilkinsons, B&M, Poundland How do you make the best of them? I would like to make more regular use of them but find i have to browse them to shop wasting my time. How do I change my shopping habits to make the most of the prices lower than the typical market value?

There must be a formula of type of shop and how to shop.

Come on you marketing experts help me get it.

Towser

Maybe this phenomena has not been worked out yet by the marketing experts?

Although someone must have an opinion or forecast of how these shops work.

They are just such a mish mash it's usually a lucky find that makes me want to buy in these stores.

Just wish I could work them out to use them regularly.

Clowance

I think the model is to have some genuine bargains, some apparently cheap but actually poor quality rubbish and some branded items that cost the same or more than other places.
For example in poundland alberto balsam shampoo is £1 the same price as supermarkets, but occasionally the supermarkets have an offer which make them cheaper. On the other had, Cadburys Brunch bars are £1.99 in supermarkets but regularly in Poundland / 99p store. They are very rarely on offer in supermarkets. So they are a good buy.
So
Know the regular price of an item so you can see if its worth it - or use mysupermarket app. Beware smaller pack size in discounter.
Stick to branded goods in discounters (other items tend not to last)

There is no way round this as far as I can see. HTH

Towser

The German discounters continued to attract increasing amounts of shoppers, but at a slower rate to suggest that price cutting by rivals may be beginning to have an effect. Aldi saw its sales jump 27.3 per cent and its market share lift to 4.8 per cent from 3.8 per cent. Sales at Lidl rose 18.1 per cent as its market share increased to 3.5 per cent from 3 per cent.

JessicAhh

My advice, for what it's worth...

1) Accept that you will never manage to do your whole shop at any one of these (unless you're including Lidl or Aldi), so make sure that if you do use them, the money you spend driving there etc is worthwhile, e.g. by buying in bulk

2) Like Clowance said - if it's a well-known brand, make sure you're comparing like for like, in terms of weight.

3) Things I've generally found better value at these places are the 'treat' type things, e.g. biscuits / sweets / toiletries. Also, 99p Store has always had pretty good deals on cleaning products, in my experience.

4) You'll save more, if you opt for lesser known brands. For the most part, I've not had any real issues with cheaper brand items: they're perfectly sufficient for the price.

5) It's easy to waste time browsing in these places - and this is also how they make their money with apparent bargains... Loss leaders are amazing for these companies, if they attract you to spend more money overall! So... I always go with an idea in my head of which sections I'll look at, and stick to that plan.

To be honest, though, the browsing philosophy has paid off for me in the past. For example, I picked up some plastic plant cloches the other day - three for less than the cost of a single one elsewhere. If I hadn't been browsing, I wouldn't have stumbled into the gardening section, and thus probably have bought my cloches elsewhere for three times the price...

I'm of the belief that saving money takes time, and there's no real escaping from it!

Towser

JessicAhh that is very good advice.

I have recently been round a newly opened Poundland and the only bargain I could find was a Terry's chocolate orange for £1. Everything else was scaled up or down to fit the £1 criteria.