In a tight economy, grocery stores want to save money, too.
Although it's commonly known that customers look for ways to save money on food, such as by using coupons and buying sale items, many grocery stores want to save money on overhead costs as well. If you own or manage a grocery store and are looking for ways to save on everyday costs, you have several ideas from which to choose.
No More Free Bags
Many discount chains have lowered overhead costs by not offering bags for years. According to an interview on KPBS, consumer bags have become an environmental issue as well, and the state of California is considering passing a bill that even prohibits supermarkets and convenience stores from distributing single-use bags. If your store isn't in a state that has strict, environmental policies, you might want to counterbalance costs by charging customers for plastic or paper bags. If you want to eliminate those costs completely, consider selling reusable cloth bags or letting customers know they need to bring their own bags to your store.
Sell Every Product
Many grocery stores lose money by not selling their perishable items, such as meats and vegetables. Cut down on your losses by repackaging near-expiration-date products in a more consumer-friendly way. By repositioning these items, you won't even have to mark them down for clearance. An example of this is taking an almost expired beef rump roast and repacking it with near-expiration-date potatoes, carrots, onions and celery. Place the newly packaged item in the deli section and promote it as a convenient crock pot roast dinner. Another idea is to use near-expiration sandwich meat, cheese and bread to create marked-up deli sandwiches for sale.
Eliminate Unnecessary Staff
Your grocery store probably needs to be fully staffed during peak hours, such as the early evenings and weekends, but you can cut down on hourly wage costs by eliminating unnecessary staff during off-peak times. For example, consider only having one to two full-time checkers during the weekdays. If you have a very busy grocery store, consider installing self-checkout computerized areas for customers to ring themselves up. Many grocery stores have eliminated baggers and curbside service altogether. If you have a customer with special needs who does need this type of assistance, the manager on duty can help him. Some stores even cut costs on staff by requiring customers to pay rental fees for grocery carts. When the customer returns the cart to the proper location, he is able to get his rental fee back. This could help you save money on employees who typically gather up the carts in the parking lot.
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