Almost 70% of shoppers have regretted items they bought on ‘offer’. Forgive my unorthodox opening but I really wanted to drill the message home that we are being conned here.Ever walked into your local supermarket intending to buy a loaf of bread and left having spent much more than intended on items on “sale”? Exactly.Worry not, there are millions of shoppers just like you, sadly. In this article, I shall be unveiling the truth behind the supermarket scandal and lifting the mask behind those ‘bargains’.
It would be unreasonable to brand all supermarkets fraudulent. However, they do have an inclination to manipulate customers into purchasing items that the majority of the time are not essential. Supermarkets do this by deliberately labelling goods as half price and placing a large, brightly coloured poster telling you how much you’re ‘saving’, at the door. Well, I for one have had enough of these ‘buy one get one free’ signs and they can BOGOF as far as I am concerned – no pun intended.
Supermarkets play a psychological game. Where us consumers are the supporters, cheering them on. But enough is enough. I feel it is my duty to tell you that the yogurt you have recently bought on offer isn’t actually 30% off. That packet of frozen spinach lying neglected at the bottom of the freezer isn’t actually half price. That cheeky bottle of red wine isn’t actually a ‘bargain’. We have been hypnotized for far too long. A vicious circle has been formed where all common sense and not to forget our hard earned money is being devoured by the supermarkets.
Anyway, you’re probably thinking this guy is just a bit angry because he found out he is late on his mortgage. Again. Well, no, an investigation regarding Ocado, exposed that the price of strawberries had increased from £3.89 to £4.98. But that is not all. How long do you think the price stayed for? Let me do the honours. 13 days. Yes, I repeat 13 days and you can probably guess what happened next. The strawberries were reduced on offer to £2.19 with a brightly coloured offer sign stating better than half price. In this economically strained environment, a chance of saving a few pounds on your weekly shopping is a match made in heaven. Where the consumer believes they have made a saving and the supermarket benefit from the swarm of sales.
Okay, I understand you think that is one off. Well, quite frankly, it isn’t. An ITV report found that Tesco was selling Muller yogurt for 30p. Then the big brains at Tesco decided to increase profits by putting a big yellow sticker stating “special offer” for 10 yogurts for only £4. Now I am no Einstein but when you do the calculations (30p x 10 units= £3). Therefore, when Tesco claims to reduce the price of yogurt on offer they are essentially increasing it. Consequently, the unsuspected customer to be deceived of their money by the supermarket goblin. Every pound really does help. There is an ocean of these fraudulent offers and it is us, the consumers who are drowning in them.
Let’s proceed to the x.99p section. You often see items being sold for £3.99, £2.99 etc. Ever wondered why supermarkets practice this tactic? I mean it’s not a highly attractive offer of saving 1p and they are not doing it so you can start saving up in a penny jar. No. This is called psychological pricing. Where the consumer believes they are paying £2 instead £3 (in the £2.99 case). Now equipped with this new piece of knowledge think back of the amount of times you have spent money on goods that end in .99p. Exactly. Don’t succumb to these mind games. Rinse yourself clean and repeat after me. I will not buy these goods again (unless their Pringles). By doing this, you’re setting yourself free from the chains that have manipulated your logic and slaughtering the beast that has kept you captive for all these years.
I would like to leave you with a little bit of stats. Don’t worry, you won’t be needing your algebra skills again today. Anyways a survey was taken on supermarket shoppers, where 39% regret their shopping choices and a further 24% won’t do it again. And this survey was taken from 1000 people. That’s already 240 people who have the ability to see through the misty fog that surrounds supermarket offers.
April 6, 2015 at 10:35 pm
Anas,
The tone of this is fairly confident, with some well chosen vocabulary in places. your use of rhetorical questions and manipulation of pronouns helps to persuade your reader that your ideas are valid – as does your research – good effort. I particularly like phrases such as: ‘There is an ocean of these fraudulent offers and it is us the consumers who are drowning in them.’
Targets:
1) Proof read – secure your use of commas to separate clauses and show subordinate clauses. Do this throughout.
2) Look at your final paragraph – how might this be made stronger? For instance – could you use another word that is more powerful than enchantment?
3) Look at this sentence: ‘Okay, I hear you think that is a one off’ – do people hear each other think? How else might you express this without such a problematic idiom? Where else might this occur in your piece?
April 20, 2015 at 8:36 pm
Hi Anas,
It appears as though you’ve acted on some of Mr North’s feedback and I think your piece is stronger for it. However, I think you can go further with some aspects of the piece.
1) Your opening paragraph is still quite weak in comparison to the rest of the piece. Perhaps introducing one of those startling statistics earlier might engage the reader from the beginning. Rather than just ‘leaving [us] with a bit of stats’, use the stats for effect.
2) Is it a paper? It looks like an article – reads like one too.
3) Consider taking out the ‘no pun intended’. I hope it was intentional because it’s very funny.
4) Think about the connection between saving a few pounds on your mortgage and matchmaking. I’m being a perfectionist here, but Mr North has covered all the essentials and I did promise you feedback.
Good luck!