All of these are tools in the customer’s arsenal to make his/her scarce grocery dollars increase in purchasing power. Those who do not take full advantage of these tools are not maximizing their potential savings.

Assuming my outlook is correct, retailers need to be focusing much more on their Internet presence. The website needs to be much more than just an online store. It must focus on a “concierge role” with consumers and a “broker role” with manufacturers. This means that for consumers it needs to offer reasons to shop the retailer and expand the assortment of items. The unique position supermarkets hold is that many of their products have short shelf lives and drive frequent visits to the store. This means that supermarkets have frequent opportunity to deliver products to their customers. If they can use the Internet to expand their product offerings, support consumer menu planning, develop charity affiliations, link to online banking, etc. they will build a consumer relationship that goes beyond being a source of products.

The retailer’s broker role can help manufacturers reach particular customers who would use their products. By building their relationship with consumers and using the website to leverage that relationship with manufacturers, retailers should be able to elicit special allowance and other marketing discounts from their suppliers that allow them to pass on even greater savings to their customers. This is a win/win as manufacturers are able to reach targeted customers and customers receive better prices.

I have tried the A&P system. Their website is a great start and is full of potential. As a consumer, the biggest weakness I saw was that the discounts appear as a single total on the receipt. From an operating perspective this also creates an opportunity for arbitrage as consumers buying on discount could return for full credit. I don’t think this is important at supermarket price points but other retailers might find it an issue.