Vijayawada: While the summer heat is at its extreme, malls are filled with offers which people find too difficult to resist. Beverages are buy-one-get-two-free, ice-creams are buy-one-and-get-one-free, cold drinks are at 40 per cent discount and ready-to-eat foods are being given away at discounted prices once in a week. While the offers are lucrative and get the customer to take on random and also a large quantity of products are really at discounted prices. A closer look at the shelves by a smart and not-so-much-in-a-hurry customer shows that maximum products which are on the first and second line in the shelf are going to expire in a month or two.
TEAM DC went around retail outlets and found that maximum walk-in’s were of customers who had limited time to shop and were not keen at looking at the expiry dates or best before use dates on the shelves. According to a survey of Indian consumers who shop in malls, it was found that 82 per cent of the people do not read the labels of best before or expiry dates before buying the products off the shelf. Market research has shown that people are happy buying in offers and that is the prime reason that these are indulged in from time to time.
Flooding offers in super markets are actually punching holes in the pockets of consumers. Many of the offers that the super markets give on perishable goods are actually to empty them from the shelves. The super markets are following this strategy to sell off the goods, which are nearer to their expiry dates. According to market analysts, the supermarkets keep a constant eye on all products on how they are faring with the customers. Based on the product analysis and the stocks left over, they will decide upon the products to be put on discounted sale. The super markets announce offers based on the stocks left over, stated experts.
But the consumers view it differently who are looking at their savings for the products at the discounted prices. Maxi-mum consumers are happy that the products they have got in bulk in terms of fruits, vegetables and also confectionaries and cakes have helped them save rather than spend more. Many customers end up buying more than their required quantity. Regional food inspector N. Purnachandar Rao explained, “Storage of foods is an important factor as the quality of foods can be preserved only when it is stored. Often dairy products like pan-eer, lassi, curd and cheese get spoilt as the refrigeration temperatures are not maintained properly and these are then dumped away in offers.”
