Great 'supermarket staff tell us your reduction policies' hunt

lin473 wrote: »

I was in M&S today and was looking at the Oakham chickens.
All except a couple of very large ones (too big for us) had today's date on.
I wanted to get one for tommorrow's dinner while they are on offer.
Am I right in thinking that they never reduce food going out of date as I have never seen it .
Or should I have asked ?
I would have bought some and frozen them if they were further reduced.
Any inside information would be appreciated!

Hi, I work in M&S (although in Womenswear not Food). M&S don't reduce going out of date food for the customers. Instead the staff get the chance to buy any that hasn't sold at the end of the day at 50% off (most items) or 75% off (bakery and meat products and possibly some other things I'm not sure) and sometimes there are offers for the staff such as pay for one sandwich, take 4 depending on how many going out of date items of a particular kind there are! One of the perks of working at M&S !

* Which supermarket do you work for/did you work for? Another Morrisions worker here
* What times of day do you reduce prices? I am on the tills but I have noticed that reduced fruit and fresh stuff come through from about half five or Six pm onwards. However in my store at least there will be a shelf with grocery and home and leasure stuff on avaliable constantly. If you really want the bargains half past 7 onwards is your best bet for pie shop stuff which can go down to as little as 25 p, and fruit to 19p.
* How big are the discounts? (If the computer does it automatically, do a rough estimate) significant, see prices noted above.
* What time is the final, final reduction (to 10p-ish)? depends on which manager is on and how much is left, roughly 15 mins before the store closes though. At times such as Christmas and Easter then if there is still fresh items avaliable ten minutes before closing then they have been known to go down to 5p.
* Who has the authority to reduce prices? Department managers and supervisors besides checkouts. Store managers. Make sure that your asking a member of the relevent department though.
* If a customer asked you to reduce something because it’s on it’s sell-by date are you allowed to? Personally as a checkout worker No. We would ask for you but if you brought it to the checkouts and it was not reduced chances are the response will be peals of laughter before being told no, if it was going to be reduced then it would be on the shelf reduced already. If you ask at the checkout be prepaired for a very long wait to especially if it is at peak times.
* Does it vary if it’s a 24-hour store? n/a
* And any other useful tips …

Yes a fair few. From a checkouts point of view never ever ask us to reduce anything , the answer will always be WE can not!
All stuff that is going really cheep will be out of date that day.
If you do not mind eating damaged goods then you may be able to get the reduced if you ask nicely. Same with home and leasure stuff, but you must ask a manager of that department.
Be careful with reduced fridge stuff, you have no idea how long it has been sat away from the fridge before it got put back in the chillers.
Reduced items, once brought can not be exchanged or refunded so check the condition before you pay for it.
Home and leasure items such as Birthday cards will never be reduced, especially if you are the nittwit that put the mark on it. Never ever ask if you can have a discount beause it has no envilope either...:mad: simply because in Morrisions the envolopes are tucked behind the cards for you to pick up. On a similar note kiosk items will never be reduced.
If you want a bargain say after a big event such as easter, christmas, mothers day and similar big retail events any related stock will always be reduced almost imediatly after the day itself, and there is normally plenty of stock left to.
If you break it, the chance of it being reduced will be at the disgresion of the department/store manager.

Oh and one final and vital one that really gets on my nerves, if an item has been reduced then that counters out any offers it may have been part of previously. For example BOGOF, the two for two pounds etc.

hope this helps.

Julia - I know EXACTLY what that is like. At times on a Sunday afternoon I couldn't move for people (the same people each week) being around me. There were about 10 regulars who did it and it was horrible, they would literally follow me about for the last hour of the day!! and the worse thing is sometimes they would take all the stuff off the reductions area at about 3, so I came along, did all my reductions etc, then just when I was about to leave at 3.55 or something, they would come back with all this stuff and say 'can you reduce this' etc etc. Drove me mad!!!!!

Which supermarket do you work for/did you work for?
I used to work for ICELAND.
What times of day do you reduce prices?
Itmes which will be going out of date the next day will start to be reduced the evening before but only by about 20p. Items that are going out of date on that date will be reduced throughout the day. For example, if an item was reduced in the morning, it will be reduced again at lunchtime and again in the afternoon. The final reduction will be done half an hour before closing.
How big are the discounts?
Depends on the member of staff. It is usually 10% the day before, then a further 20% the next day and then silly prices before the last half an hour of the day.
What time is the final, final reduction (to 10p-ish)?
Around 5:30pm.
Who has the authority to reduce prices?
Members of staff, usually with reducing stickers. Items can also be reduced at the till by the cashier.
If a customer asked you to reduce something because it’s on it’s sell-by date are you allowed to?
Yes but not by too much also, this is dependent on the manager. Some staff try to do this when a manager isn't about because some can be funny about it. Others aren't.
Does it vary if it’s a 24-hour store?
NA
And any other useful tips …
Get there quick as staff tend to grab stuff or ask each other to reduce things down even lower.