"really what the supermarket is trying to do is ensure that for every shop you're trying to go there and spend your money rather than shopping around." Marvash Ikram/RNZ
Yesterday I obtained this Smeg meat knife from Coles' new collectibles promotion. It was free, in that I did not have to hand over any money for it. It 'cost' me 30 collectible points - which are separate from my Flybuys points, and which are given to me at the rate of 1 point per $20 spent. I don't really need it as I have a set of beautiful Global knives as well as several other utility knives from here there and everywhere, ranging from cheap to expensive and designer made. However, it was there, I had the appropriate number of points and I thought why not? Otherwise, I reasoned Coles is making money out of me because I have not redeemed the points.
I confess that last comment may not be correct. It could be a bit of handy self-justification. I guess it depends on the deal that Coles have made with Smeg, and none of us are going to know the details of that. I assume there might be some guarantee that Coles will shift a certain number of items in return for paying Smeg a lower price than they would otherwise get.
Both Woolworths and Coles have such promotions all of the time - mostly aimed at children via sets of cards, such as this recent one at Woolworths. Things for kids are probably particularly valuable for the supermarkets because kids are always having a go at mum to buy stuff that is not strictly necessary, and probably even the most steadfast of mums gives in every now and then because she's just had it. The kids cards are generally collected at the checkout - we have been offered them and when the grandchildren were younger we did indeed take them for the kids. And occasionally I have to say, the checkout chicks would give us more than we were technically allowed. The point of all the kids' things is that it gets the kids making their parents go to a particular supermarket and spend enough money to get the cards. The fact that the cards they obtain are random is a bonus for the supermarket because they have to get more than the 100 in the set in order to get the complete set. Which means that mum and dad have to spend more - and in the right store.
Collecting, swapping, trading cards is a very old custom dating back to the 1800s. I remember spending much of my juvenile school playtime swapping cards with my friends, in an attempt to get a complete set. I do not now remember where those cards came from. I think you could buy packets and I also think they came in things like cigarettes and chewing gum, and whilst I can imagine I had access to cigarette cards - my parents smoked - I do not think I would have been allowed chewing gum and definitely not bubble-gum, which was considered uncouth. I barred my children from them for a while until I caved in one day - though I didn't allow them to eat the bubble-gum. How inconsistent we all are. Sometimes they had information on the back of the card, be it about your favourite sportsmen or women, your favourite filmstar or cats and dogs - even kings and queens of England. Really it didn't matter becase all the fun was in getting them all and the trading that went on. Educational really - both factual and also social. It taught us how to achieve our aims, how to charm and wheedle, which is a negative way of saying it taught us how to get on with people. And it also taught us trade, bargaining, compromise ...
But I digress from my knives which are a little bit different. The cards and the little figurines are offered to you at the checkout. The knives are a choice made by you. The intention is the same - to get you to shop in the particular supermarket offering the goodies, and to spend more to get the points, even in this case to spend on particular brands which will give you bonus points. The brands even include the upper level home brand items. I guess there is a prid pro quo for the brands as well. After all they must win if people change their buying habits to specifically buy brands they would otherwise not, just to get the points. It would mean more sales, but I can't imagine that they don't pay Coles for the privilege of being on that list as well. Oh and you can only buy one brand per shop. I remember an episode in that wonderful comedy series Upper Middle Bogan, in which the bogan side of the family collected points or some such thing for a meal in one of those fast food places with an all you can eat buffet. Besides the enormous amount of shopping they had to do there was also a fair amount of game-playing and cheating the system, which gave them an enormous amount of satisfaction.
You need to look at your receipts to see how many points you have, and this will only come up if you scan your Flybuys card, so even if you spend your money in the store, you will not get those points if you do not have a Flybuys card. And we all know that the Flybuys card gives Coles a lot of information about what you spend your money on, so that they can target you with their advertising. To get your chosen knife - or the knife block, which I gather has been snapped up to the extent that some stores have run out - you pick the one you want and then, I think, flash your card again, and scan the knife? I confess we chickened out and called for help - well we were doing the self checkout thing. If you used a manned checkout then the checkout chick would presumably do it for you.
The point is, that nobody invites you to buy these things - which are fairly prominently displayed near the self checkouts. You need to choose to redeem your points - 1 for every $20 you spend. Which to me, means that Coles gets something out of you not taking up the offer.
These are the knives that you can buy. I chose the meat knife, because I had 33 points and the knife 'cost' 30 points. Which means that I had to have spent $600 in order to get a 'free' knife!
It doesn't end there, however because I can also actually buy that knife for $30 or $15 plus 15 points - both of which are a whole lot cheaper than $600. If you want the whole set plus the block you can buy it for $292 which is a whole lot cheaper than the $665 I saw advertised on one site. Which surely must mean that Coles are getting a very good deal from Smeg on all of this. How else would they be able to sell it at such a low price, even if they are getting your custom? So on the plus side for the customer, if you are setting up a kitchen and need to purchase good knives, buy them - don't wait for the points, which may not come in time, and anyway you might miss out because they are all sold.
I gather it has been an enormous success for Coles - the promotion began in September and runs until January, or until stocks run out. Will I 'buy' anymore? Well I think it depends on how many points I get. Maybe the vegetable knife with its serrated edge. However, if this began in September and it is now November - it has taken me that long to earn 33 points, which is how many I had before I 'bought' my knife. Now I have three. And also remember that this is not just me. As far as Coles is concerned David and I are one person. Well I think so. Maybe I should check that. David always pays the bill. Maybe I should look next time I pay for a shop.
It's weird isn't it how people like me almost feel as if they are not only missing out, but are also giving something to Coles if we don't make use of this promotion? I am not so weird that I make a special effort to gain points as I believe many do:
"Two in five Australian shoppers (40%) are willing to spend more than planned on groceries – up to $74 extra or twice the required $30 minimum spend – to redeem collectables, according to a survey of more than 1,500 supermarket shoppers." Luciana Davies/Canstar Blue
And then we complain about the cost of living. In fact if you are very poor, you are not spending much in the supermarket and so you won't get the points and so you won't get the 'free' goods.
It begs a whole lot of questions really. And perhaps we should look at our receipts more closely. In fact I can't quite remember how we knew that we had those points. I think somebody told us - but who? I know - I think it was David who got an email or something from Coles. Which might of course mean that our points are indeed separate. Which would also explain why I did not get that message, because I don't often pay the bill, so obviously don't have enough points. It's interesting though that they should remind David of the option because what do they get out of that? Silly me - it gets him back into the shop. Or maybe they do have to 'sell' a certain number of items. Anyway I now have a knife that really is superfluous to requirements and for which I shall have to find a home worthy of its quality in my kitchen. Perhaps I should buy the block and put some of my other superfluous knives in it.
YEARS GONE BY
November 9
2022 - One soup or four?
2021 - Smoke can be liquid
2020 - Almost freedom (from lockdown)
2018 - Rice pudding
2017 - A word from Jamie Oliver
A rare full house.
Comments