Keeping Prices A Secret?

It's me again, Margaret.  After writing up the previous post about my shopping experience at Market Place, a question occurred to me:  Why would retailers want to keep their prices a secret?  As a consumer, if I can get my milk at Store A because it's cheaper than Store B, I'm going to buy it at Store A, aren't you?  I'd guess that shoppers have been spreading the word about great prices for years and years, it's not a new thing just because we have ease of access via social media these days!  Of course, you used to have to wait until you got home and use a landline to tell your best friend about a good sale.  Now, it's a little easier to do in real time with cell phones, texts, email, twitter, facebook, etc, etc.

Traditionally, Market Place has a four page ad each week with very few products you can save money on.  The real savings are achieved by doubling your coupons and finding things that are unadvertised sales.  With the sudden explosion of couponing, I can see how the store might perceive a down side to the double coupon courtesy.  And it is a courtesy.  Grocers do not get reimbursed for the double, they only get reimbursed for the face value plus the service fee (that's why you don't get overage from a doubled coupon).  There was some mention of couponers taking advantage of the store and I can only imagine that the double couponing was in play here. 

Here's the thing, Market Place will double 50-cent and under coupons for any customer who presents a valid coupon.  It shouldn't matter if twenty customers present one coupon each, or if I present twenty coupons in one shopping trip.  I hope the store doesn't view me as taking advantage of the double coupon courtesy because I had the knowledge/ability to accumulate twenty double-able coupons.  And as you all know, a double-able coupon very often makes an item free or very, very cheap.  That's what makes them so great.  That's why couponers want to use them at a store that will double.  I have a hard time imagining the store losing money, all of a sudden, because of double couponing.  I know I'm just a beginner, but folks have been couponing for over a hundred years (http://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/history/).   I'd guess stores have been doubling coupons as an incentive to get shoppers into their stores for a very long time.

Even if the store looses some money on the double, they are certainly not losing money on coupons that do not double.  They receive the full face value plus the service fee paid by the manufacturer's on every coupon.  So that $1 off coupon, is just like money in the store's pocket that didn't have to come out of my pocket.  Why aren't they hanging banners and shouting the sales over the PA system.  "Hey shoppers, do you have a coupon for that box of cereal?  It'll save you money, and we'll make money off it, too!"  Am I right?

Once again, I'm going to hope patience pays off at Market Place.  We've seen improvements at Walmart, albeit baby steps, but improvements just the same.  I keep telling myself, coupon improvement does not happen over night.  I'm not sure what a reasonable amount of time would be to start really seeing the shift in attitude.  I jokingly told Carrie that Market Place needs a Coupon Relations department to help the store go from coupon hostile to coupon savvy.  Anyone want to apply for that job? 

Thanks again, and happy couponing!
--The Hopkins County Couponer