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Paper Roses

(7,504 posts)
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 05:46 PM Feb 2023

What do you think about the Digital Coupons that grocery stores are promoting?

I strongly dislike this new ploy. All they are accomplishing is tracking you.

Having a sale? The sale prices should be available to anyone. Many people do not have a smart phone to download the App. Stores would get their money anyway, with or without the Digital Coupons if the customer wants the item.

I don't want their App on my phone. Neither do I want them to track me. All the Grocery stores in my area are now doing this except Market Basket. Bravo to MB, they were credited as the best run grocery store in the US
I will not shop at a store that requires me to use this digital baloney to save money on my purchase. I will pass the items that are on sale only with this Digital coupon only.

29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What do you think about the Digital Coupons that grocery stores are promoting? (Original Post) Paper Roses Feb 2023 OP
NOTHING. elleng Feb 2023 #1
I don't have a smart phone either. Wouldn't know what to do with it if I had one. Midnight Writer Feb 2023 #18
Sounds about right! elleng Feb 2023 #19
I agree with you. I avoid any such tracking ploys Raven123 Feb 2023 #2
I have the Winn Dixie app. It's incredible. You gain points everytime you shop. jimfields33 Feb 2023 #11
Coupons often allow the store to limit how many times you can get the discounted price. Freethinker65 Feb 2023 #3
I hate digital coupons! TurboDem Feb 2023 #4
Yeah, I use them but I still hate them. halfulglas Feb 2023 #5
They piss me off. dem4decades Feb 2023 #6
I love the store APP Kaleva Feb 2023 #7
The chain I frequent targets them to things I ordinarily buy MichMan Feb 2023 #8
The 5 items don't necessarily have to be five of the same item. subterranean Feb 2023 #12
I'm referring to Meijer MichMan Feb 2023 #13
I had to spend 4 hours trying to learn BigmanPigman Feb 2023 #9
if you are not using cash, you are being tracked regardless Kali Feb 2023 #10
Giant has been doing this for quite a while Freddie Feb 2023 #14
I assume I'm being tracked already ... surrealAmerican Feb 2023 #15
Most stores moniss Feb 2023 #16
My wife handles it. Mr.Bill Feb 2023 #17
My wife tracks me by watching my debit card purchases with her bank job MichMan Feb 2023 #23
A local produce store Retrograde Feb 2023 #20
It's a built-in advantage to tech savvy customers tishaLA Feb 2023 #21
Doesn't bother me Duncanpup Feb 2023 #22
They suck! Just drop the price. Emile Feb 2023 #24
great topic NJCher Feb 2023 #25
So glad you mentioned Aldi. A new one just opened near enough to me to make a trip. Paper Roses Feb 2023 #26
Just another way to compromise your privacy and monetize your personal data. n/t TygrBright Feb 2023 #27
My thoughts exactly. Won't do it. Bet this Digital coupon stuff dies in no time. Paper Roses Feb 2023 #28
You don't need the digital cupon to get the price. Just show the ad to AndyS Feb 2023 #29

Midnight Writer

(22,944 posts)
18. I don't have a smart phone either. Wouldn't know what to do with it if I had one.
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 08:36 PM
Feb 2023

Just spent a couple months checking out new smartphones, since my old flip phone doesn't work anymore (3G).

After checking out all the features, the prices, the service plans, and the different models, I ended up with... a $20 flip phone.

jimfields33

(18,654 posts)
11. I have the Winn Dixie app. It's incredible. You gain points everytime you shop.
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 07:03 PM
Feb 2023

Recently I had over 70 dollars to spend. I like free money.

Freethinker65

(11,102 posts)
3. Coupons often allow the store to limit how many times you can get the discounted price.
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 05:52 PM
Feb 2023

Many times I have gone to a specific grocery for a specific sale item only to find it sold out (often on the first day of the sale). Sure, one can sometimes get a "rain check", but often the item is not regularly stocked. I have found items more likely to be available since the use of digital coupons.

TurboDem

(272 posts)
4. I hate digital coupons!
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 06:00 PM
Feb 2023

Instead of installing the app on your phone, go ahead and sign up for their card and when you go to the checkout just tell the cashier that you forgot your phone and would like the item at the digital coupon price. They will usually give it to you. For some reason the digital coupons never load correctly from my phone to my card so I stopped even trying to use them.

halfulglas

(1,654 posts)
5. Yeah, I use them but I still hate them.
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 06:06 PM
Feb 2023

Some stores apps are a bit glitchy and they have the digital coupon in the ad but I can't find the button to "clip" it. There are several times I can swear I clipped a digital coupon but when it rings up I don't get the coupon price. That pisses me off and it makes me want to throw my phone or something else.

I totally agree they are not fair even when they work perfectly. I'm not too bad for a senior lady on my computer, but my phone is another story.

Kaleva

(38,062 posts)
7. I love the store APP
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 06:10 PM
Feb 2023

I use it when I go to the Dollar General store to shop on Saturdays. I can scan the products which puts the item in my digital cart. There I can see my running total. As I collect $5 off if you spend at least $25 coupons during the week or preceding Saturday shopping, the app makes it easy to keep track so when I get just over $25, I go to the register, pay, put the stuff in the car and go back in the store for the next bunch. Yesterday, I had 6 coupons, so I made 6 separate shopping trips saving $30 plus what I saved with the digital manufacturer's coupons and the store sales.

When scanning a product, the app lets me know if the item is on sale or there is a manufacturer's coupon available. One item on my shopping list was Swiffer cloths. When I scanned the box, it said a $2 coupon was available for that product and I selected it. Along with the $5 off for $25 spent coupon, the final price for the box was $7.60 instead of $12.

I used to use paper coupons, but it took a lot of time to gather the coupons and keep track of them and I wondered how much I was actually saving if I included my time into the final cost. The digital coupons and using the store app is a real time saver.

MichMan

(13,071 posts)
8. The chain I frequent targets them to things I ordinarily buy
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 06:11 PM
Feb 2023

Save me a lot of $ since it is items that I would be buying anyway. Much better than a bunch of random coupons I don't need.

What I don't like is their in store sales have been increasingly oriented towards having to buy multiple items to get the sale price.

"Buy 5, get $1 off on each; must buy 5 for sale price"

Two items isn't bad, but who needs 5 bags of Frito's ?

subterranean

(3,532 posts)
12. The 5 items don't necessarily have to be five of the same item.
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 07:47 PM
Feb 2023

My local store (owned by Kroger) has that kind of sale often, but usually there are numerous items throughout the store that are part of the sale. You can combine any five qualifying items to get the $1 off each, if you can find five things you want. It causes me to spend more time in the store and sometimes buy more of something than I otherwise would -- which, of course, is exactly why they do it.

MichMan

(13,071 posts)
13. I'm referring to Meijer
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 07:49 PM
Feb 2023

All 5 have to be identical. Love the store other than that. I really do.

Occasionally they have a 10 for 10 promotion with the 11th item free. That one is mix and match.

BigmanPigman

(52,216 posts)
9. I had to spend 4 hours trying to learn
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 06:13 PM
Feb 2023

how to hook up the whole thing on my own. I am retarded when it comes to tech anything. I spent all that time this past summer so I could get peaches and shrimp at a great price. I brought my phone to the store, hoping they could show me how to use it at the check-out but it was such a pain in the ass for the staff that I got my items for the sale price without even using the newly installed app. I have to teach myself everything as far as tech goes and it is frustrating, time consuming and not worth the energy. The staff at my store isn't too crazy about digital coupons hope they go away ASAP.

Kali

(55,711 posts)
10. if you are not using cash, you are being tracked regardless
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 06:31 PM
Feb 2023

I just try to be baffling with random purchases of items or amounts.

Freddie

(9,686 posts)
14. Giant has been doing this for quite a while
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 07:50 PM
Feb 2023

Doesn’t bother me and I get gas points. They used to send households paper coupons and did the same thing. I occasionally get my neighbors’ mail. My coupons from Giant were things like toilet paper, Fancy Feast, white bread. Theirs were all natural/organic stuff.

surrealAmerican

(11,480 posts)
15. I assume I'm being tracked already ...
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 07:55 PM
Feb 2023

... that said, as a general principle, I try not to give my phone number out to anyone whose phone call I'd rather not answer. This includes the supermarket. There's no way I want them calling me.

moniss

(5,568 posts)
16. Most stores
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 08:04 PM
Feb 2023

I'm aware of also have their "card" that accepts the digital coupons if you just go online and download them from a non-mobile unit. I know there is still a "tracking" component to it but at least they are not getting all of the info your mobile device would provide. I agree with you about discounts being available to all regardless of "shoppers card" etc.

Retrograde

(10,626 posts)
20. A local produce store
Sun Feb 5, 2023, 11:54 PM
Feb 2023

has a weekly "free when you spend X dollars" specialsthat you have to sign up on their website to know about (or you can just ask the cashier what their weekly special is when you check out). That's about the level at which I want to be tracked.

tishaLA

(14,318 posts)
21. It's a built-in advantage to tech savvy customers
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 12:59 AM
Feb 2023

I use them, but I think they're terrible because older and poorer consumers who tend to be less tech literate are basically left out of the equation. OTOH, they're so much better than those old paper coupons that used to tie up cashiers for ridiculous amounts of time.

I'm not so worried about tracking because I already have multiple Google smart home devices in every room, so I'm already being tracked even in my sleep; I don't care because they make life easier.

Duncanpup

(13,663 posts)
22. Doesn't bother me
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 07:01 AM
Feb 2023

I have store app on my phone no $ limit last time was like $45 in points I let them on there didn’t cash them out.

NJCher

(37,743 posts)
25. great topic
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 10:43 AM
Feb 2023

so glad you raised it.

I, too, hate 'em. I've noticed that ShopRite, one of the better "value" stores in my area, is now letting you clip them from the circular on some occasions.

For a while they had some kinda' scanner in the stores for them, but they come and go and even when they had them, they seemed a source of frustration for the people using them.

Another thing is that as you look at the screen, sometimes you don't see the amount off until you get to the end of the transaction. The ones at SR now show it, but on some other types of transactions, they don't.

I will say this: the customer service people at my store are very nice about helping you when the card fails to load from your computer or on other occasions, I would presume.

Bottom line is, it's so much easier just to go to Aldi where you don't have to Mickey Mouse around with the mystery of whether your coupon is loaded to your card.

I am going to print this thread out and mail it ShopRite and Stop 'n Shop. Once I complained to ShopRite about something through their web site and they even followed up with me later to see if my concern was taken care of.

Paper Roses

(7,504 posts)
26. So glad you mentioned Aldi. A new one just opened near enough to me to make a trip.
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 11:44 AM
Feb 2023

My only option near me is Marker Basket and they don't use the Digital Coupons and told me they were not planning to. MB is fine, no problems with them but I've never been to Aldi and want to see what it is like and what they offer. So glad they did not adopt this ploy. All the others near use them.

I wonder how long it will last before the stores get enough feedback from customers and drop this ridiculous idea.. No-one I know likes to clutter up their phone with more Apps and have to fiddle around with this scheme. Many also feel it is not fair to those who don't have the right phone.
I hope you get a reply from your letter to the stores and keep us posted.

Paper Roses

(7,504 posts)
28. My thoughts exactly. Won't do it. Bet this Digital coupon stuff dies in no time.
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 04:05 PM
Feb 2023

Very little positive support in my area (Mass). Just give the customer the sale price. As a store, you will get will get your money either way!

AndyS

(14,559 posts)
29. You don't need the digital cupon to get the price. Just show the ad to
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 07:36 PM
Feb 2023

the clerk at checkout and they will manually enter the discounted price. No tracking, no need for a smart phone.

While I respect your personal choices re phones, I have always embraced new technology. I got that from my Dad who was the first farmer to adopt such tools as cotton pickers, hay bailers and other 'modern' tools in the late '40s early '50s. Those tools allowed him to cut his labor by days which allowed him to contract out to all the other farmers for a share of their crops. That allowed him to embrace rural electrification and more leisure time to enjoy the first TV in our community.

My smart phone has made my life much easier and helped me organize my time so like Dad I have more of it!

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