Local supermarkets are offering an array of special promotions. For shoppers that means trying to make sense of all the . . .
By Russ Lynch
Graphic by Kevin Hand, Star-Bulletin
Star-BulletinSafeway is trying something new in Hawaii, coupons mailed direct to customers to let them double or triple the "cents-off" they get from manufacturers' coupons. Times supermarkets have dropped their redeemable stamps program and replaced it with what the grocery industry calls "loyalty" cards, enrolling customers as members. Foodland has had that program for two years and last year expanded it to its Sack 'N Save stores.
Daiei recently shifted to a program it says makes the shoppers' life simpler. It introduced month-long "target specials" in the stores and announced the end of the saver-stamp program.
The Star markets sporadically issue stamps, for about three months at a time, and like other stores, Star also issues coupon books.
What it all adds up to is a bewildering array of choices for shoppers, who must cut through the various promotions to figure out just what the real price is.
The stores say they can best provide ongoing attractive prices if they can woo a steady, reliable base of regular shoppers. Each operator has picked what it thinks is the best way to do that.
The blizzard of advertisements offering the different programs underscores a central fact of life, that the grocery business is highly competitive.
Debra Lambert, a spokeswoman at Safeway Inc. headquarters in Pleasanton, Calif., said the new direct-mail double or triple cents-off coupons are a first for Safeway in Hawaii but the company has used them in other locations.
"We don't do the doubling and tripling of the coupons very often. They're expensive," she said.
"We've had a coupon book in Hawaii for well over a year. They're very valuable and very well received," she said. Those coupons earn Safeway's own discounts.
"Let's say you have a coupon for 30 cents off and you want to triple it. You could have three times 30 and you get 90 cents off," Lambert said.
"Those kind of efforts are generally in response to local competition. They are of value to the customer," she said.
At Times Super Market Ltd., marketing director David Higashiyama said the new Times Royal Card, a free membership program, has caught on quickly - in the three months since it was launched, Times has signed up more than 100,000 households, he said.
"The card is much easier to manage (than stamps) because there's nothing physical," he said. Everything is done by computer.
That gives the store an edge too.
When the card is used, the store has a detailed record of the transaction, including a list of everything that customer buys. It can be used in a lot of ways, Higashiyama said.
"We'll be able to offer even greater specials (by direct mail) to those identified as best customers," he said.
Won't customers get a "Big Brother is watching" feeling? Certainly people are conscious of privacy and security, Higashiyama said, but he said customers are guaranteed in writing that customer lists will never be sold or otherwise passed on to others and personal details will be kept private.
That same information, however, helps the store monitor what products are popular with which customers and Times can tailor its specials accordingly, he said.
Foodland Super Market Ltd. started its Maika'i Card in August 1995. Like Times, Foodland advertises its card specials in big type, the price to non-card members in small type and stresses the savings.
Jeffrie Jones, director of marketing, said the card gives significant discounts on more than 2,000 items in the Foodland stores. The discounts apply to fewer items at Sack 'n Save, for a company-wide average of about 1,500 items.
"You get savings every day and you don't need to clip coupons," she said. "The overall objective for us is to develop a more loyal customer base and provide value for those customers. It helps to encourage customers to do more of their shopping at Foodland."
An important benefit for those who do sign up for the free card (delivered at the checkout during the same store visit) is that purchases using the card earn points that the member can use to get discounts on groceries, Aloha Airlines tickets and other purchases.
This week, Foodland added a new touch. Senior citizens who use their cards on Tuesdays will earn double points.
"That means they can earn an award twice as quickly," Jones said, adding that many seniors live alone or in small households and, given their shopping habits, it can take them a long time to build enough points for, say, an airline ticket.
Foodland says it has more than 350,000 members in the card program.
Meanwhile, Daiei has opted for in-store specials, which it calls "target specials" and says it has no plans now to go to a membership program. "We want to keep it simple," said Kanrad Sasaki, administration manager at Daiei (USA) Inc.
In doing away with its "Super Saver" stamps, Daiei wanted to broaden discounts. "We have over 1,000 items as target specials instead of just a few in Super Saver," Sasaki said. The target specials are also in more departments than the Super Savers were, he said.
At Star Markets Ltd., advertising director John Matsunaga said Star does its marketing by coupon books delivered to households in MidWeek magazine.
"We also have continuity programs," Matsunaga said. "Customers collect stamps. They're good for dollars off of things like airline tickers."
Matsunaga said that's not an ongoing program. "They run three months, three and a half months at a time," he said. The last one was at the end of 1996.
Star is facing up to the competition in other ways, he said. Stores have been renovated. "And we brought in more items, to make it a little bit more attractive."
Here's some basic advice to help grocery shoppers live with the array of special offers, "loyalty" cards, coupons and other promotions facing supermarket shoppers. Tips are from shoppers and the federal Consumer Information Service. Rules for wheeling
Know the bottom price, the lowest you can usually expect to pay for the item you want.
