Shopping: Making The Best Of Discount Stores

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The rise of discount stores

The amount of discount stores have been rising in both the UK and Ireland since the recession kicked in back in 2008. I can safely say I really enjoy shopping in discount stores. The attraction of grabbing a bargain and saving money is a universal favorite. However, it is important that one approaches a discount store with caution. The problem with shopping in discount stores is that you may come out with much more than you intended to buy.

How discount stores work

Discount retailers use good marketing that sucks you in and will draw your attention. Possibly this attention will prompt you towards products you do not need. Lets say for example, a cleaning product is something you will most definitely find in a discount store, there may be a two for one. You may have the same product stored somewhere in under the kitchen sink. If you buy it, you may end up with three bottles of cleaning product that will take a long time to use and you may end up for getting about it.

So why can discount stores sell cleaning products cheaper?

In this retail industry it is all about margins. The shop owner will buy products in bulk to store in warehouses. That way when a retailer buys 1000 products rather than 10 there will be huge discounts given and saving made. Another reason is to save money of transport costs. When you buy in bulk it reduces the amount of deliveries to your warehouse. This in turn also reduces the need to have an employee at the warehouse to collect and sort deliveries, which in turn reduces wages and increases profits. Discount stores usually work on small profit margins on each product they sell. The cheaper the product the higher the number products will be sold. Each little profit margins on each product sold will add up to an attractive sum at the end of the year.

Things to think about when shopping in discount stores

You may find your favorite brand of tea bags or biscuits for a small price in a discount store. Hold on and think… how many tea bags or biscuits are in this packaging? Most likely they will be half the capacity as you will find in the supermarkets. So bring out your list and add up two packs of these tea bags and biscuits and how does the price compare then?

Saving Money

If you want to save money, make out a list of what you need and also remind yourself of what you would have to pay in a supermarket. Its always useful to take note of your receipts from various stores. If you really have time on your hands, create a spreadsheet of all the products you buy, say weekly or monthly. Gather all your receipts from supermarkets and the discount stores to compare each.