The Most Influential People in the coupon Industry
Grocery coupons work. Used wisely and doggedly, smart shoppers can create tremendous savings each week on their food bills using grocery coupons. And who doesn't want to save money, especially in these tight economic times? If many of the claims made on leading coupon websites and on shoppers' blogs are to be believed, people not only pay less for many of the things their families use each week, many are able to actually combine store coupons, manufacturer coupons and in-store sales to get some groceries for nothing.
How can supermarkets continue to stay in business if they give away groceries for free? Profit margins for most supermarkets are slim enough. Wouldn't you think the last thing they would want is a bunch of people spending less money in their stores? And yet they encourage it! Many of the grocery coupon flyers that stuff our mailboxes are printed by supermarkets, and more and more grocery store coupons can be found on-line at supermarket and other shopper-friendly web-sites.
So the obvious answer is that supermarkets like, and see a tremendous benefit in, grocery coupons that far outweighs any losses they rack up when shoppers use coupons. Here are a few things they know about us that we might not know about ourselves.
1. We're Not As Loyal As We Think - Overall we are a pretty faithful lot, we shoppers. With all the choices available to us every time we walk through a supermarket's sliding doors, chances are we going to put the same brand in our carts that we've been buying for years...unless we can get something just as good for less money. "Coupons have always been an effective way to encourage trial and repeat purchase and are proving to be a bright spot in an otherwise dreary economic environment," according to Matthew Tilley, director of marketing of the Nielsen Company, the well-known survey company that tracks supermarket sales patterns.
2. We're Not As Strong As We Think - Sure, we might be saving $2 off our breakfast cereal and $1.50 off ground coffee this week, but didn't we also pick up that package of chips or cookies at full price. And what about those sale items we didn't plan on buying, but picked up because they were placed at the end of each aisle where we couldn't miss them. Supermarkets know it's only human nature to buy on impulse. They know where to put those impulse items so we can't miss them as we go up and down the aisles.
3. They Are Smarter and Better Organized Than We Think - Grocery stores spend a lot of time and money figuring where to put their items to increase your chance of buying them. They also know we might be tired after a long day's work or in a hurry to get the shopping done and pick up Suzie at ballet. Even with our grocery coupons, we probably don't spend the time and effort we could to outmaneuver and beat the supermarkets at their own game. Did you know that supermarkets have even determined that shoppers are more likely to spend money when shopping counterclockwise than clockwise? It's true. According to the market-research firm Sorensen Associates, counterclockwise shoppers spend $2 more per trip than those who go the opposite direction.
4. They Think We Won't Notice - Quite often, a sale offered through a grocery coupon may not be the very lowest price a shopper can find for the goods they are buying. In truth, the real savings may lie in the generic store brand or a competitor's basic brand. Supermarkets must realize, however, that we tend to take things on a face value and if we are holding a grocery coupon that implies we are getting a value, we believe we are getting a value and won't take the time to compare other prices.
Okay, so maybe there is no such thing as a free lunch - or bar of soap, for that matter, even if you buy two and get one free. Maybe supermarkets know what they are doing and the deck is stacked against you. That doesn't mean that savings can't be found using grocery coupons. It just means you, as a dedicated savvy shopper, have to work a little harder to stay ahead of the game.
Pizza delivery is one of the most convenient things about living in modern society, but it can get expensive, especially if you have a big family. That's why most families are always looking for a good deal on pizza delivery to save a few bucks. There are actually quite a few ways that you can. In fact, there are so many ways to save money on pizza that you should never have to pay full price for your order. Let's take a look at five of the best ways that you can feed your family with delicious pizza, wings, pasta or bread sticks and still put a few dollars back into your wallet.
Sign Up for Email Deals
First, make sure that you create an account at whatever pizza delivery place you shop at so that you can receive email deals. Getting deals by email is something that nearly every pizza chain out there does. They send you emails periodically that have promo codes or links that you can click to get an amazing deal on your purchase.
These deals are often a lot better than what you would find if you went on the website. They could be buy one get one free deals, a certain percentage off of your order deals or lots of other things. One of the major advantages of signing up this way is that they usually offer some kind of special deal on your birthday. You enter your birthday in on the pizza website, and they may send you a promo code to give you an absolutely free pizza on your birthday or a deep discount on one. Email deals are just one of the ways that you can save money on pizza delivery.
Look for Website Discounts
Another thing that you can do to get hot deals on pizza delivery is to look for discounts on the website itself. Almost every pizza chain out there has a section that you can look at to find out what the current specials are. These are different from one particular location to another, so you should enter your address in to find out exactly what your particular stores offering.
Sometimes, they are national deals that are offered by nearly every pizza chain store, but other times they are simply deals that are being offered in a local area like a promo code relating to a local baseball team. There is one additional thing that you need to know about these web discounts. The website generally lists only most of the deals that the store offers. If you want to find out what else is available, you should call your local pizza store and ask about their specials. You may find a better deal there.
Get Discount Codes on Coupon Sites
Just like using an Amazon promo code, you can use discount codes and promo codes at pizza places that you find online. You have probably heard of group coupon code on, but there are other deal sites out there that offer just as good or better promo codes on delivery pizza. For example, if you type in the name of your pizza chain followed by 'promo codes,' you're going to see several sites pop up that have these promo codes. These can range anywhere from a free item added to your order all the way up to 50 percent off your entire purchase.
However, one other thing that you should know about this method is that these websites are not the only way to find promo codes for your particular pizza chain. These chains have huge marketing departments that contract with lots of different advertising agencies, and you may be able to find mobile apps that will give you even better promo codes.
Look for Carryout Specials
You should also look for carryout specials on the pizza that you love. Carryout specials are specials that are only applicable on orders that you actually go to the pizza store and pick up. These specials are often much better than you would get for delivery deals. In fact, you can find carryout specials that can get you an entire pizza or meal for half of what you would spend if you were to get the same thing with delivery.
Carryout specials are great if you are able to get to the pizza place and have the time to pick up your pizza, but if you do not have a car and have to take an Uber or spend more money than a few pennies on gas, then you're probably going to find a better deal by getting your pizza delivered. You have to compare the delivery charge and the temp you are giving your driver to what you would spend on the carryout deal.
Use Rewards Points
Most of the major pizza places out there offer some sort of rewards program. You earn points for everything that you purchase and eventually, you are able to get a free pizza or other items delivered. These reward programs usually work on a 10 percent basis - where you have to spend around $100 in order to get a $10 credit; for example.
However, they can be extremely useful especially if you save them for when you do not have the money to get pizza but still want to. Each one of the major pizza chains has their own specific reward program and they all work a little differently. You can look at the rewards program on Pizza Hut, Domino's and Papa John's to get an idea of how these programs work.
Use Apps & Sites
Another thing you may want to consider is using coupon apps and sites to try to find particular deals for your pizza chain specifically. For example, you may be able to use an app or site to get a gift card with your pizza chain that saves you a great deal of money off of your next order. This is a terrific way to save money on pizza, and it does not usually require very much work on your part.