goofygurl wrote:Walmart can be but they can be taught..and I do mean taught. The issue with WM is that their cashiers are not trained to the policy effectively enough.
I think the unfortunate thing is that retail staff at the store level simply do not understand the workings of corporate management. To them it feels like you're ripping THEM off, but you aren't. These coupons are mostly all from the manufacturer or the corporate offices, not the franchised store. When manufacturers release coupons, they KNOW that they are giving a lot of stuff away for free or next to it, all over the globe. This works into their overall marketing strategy as the losses they take (or rather "invest") in the long run will increase their brand awareness, word-of-mouth advertising, and many other marketing plusses. Retail staff don't see the corporate strategies of the manufacturers and their own head corporations who are churning out billions because they put marketing power over petty purchases. They're the ones who take the loss for the coupons, not the store. The store will get reimbursed for all the coupons they return to the manufacturer, or back to the franchise head office in the case of store coupons. At the corporate level, these losses are all part of their expansion and awareness strategy which has been studied and thought out by marketing professionals, sometimes costing them more to develop the strategy than to actually implement it. Every retail store manager who refuses to honor these coupons are only interfering with the feeling of good will and the word-of-mouth advertising which goes with it, which the corporations have spent so much on. Personally, I work on the professional level rather than retail.
In fact websites like yours, goofygirl... are only helping to advertise these brands in exactly the way they intended. You are helping out not only the consumers whom you are getting deals for, but also the brands whom they are getting deals from.
Anyways, I've watched the Extreme Couponing show a number of times... and for some reason it never really clicked in to me that this is an ideal hobby for preppers.
I live in a small hole in the city, and I can't prep with bulk goods. Even if I had the space it would be useless as the city is probably the last place I would stay if SHTF, so I would have to Bug-out instead of Bug-in. Instead, I prep with wilderness survival gear, skills, and knowledge. Thinking about it now though... for those who do have a place they can turn into their disaster fortress, this is such an ideal way to prep!
Thanks, I can always use more help in this area.
