Asda announced this week that it’s cutting down on bulk-buy offers such as ‘three for the price of two’ and ‘buy one, get one half price’. Would you like to see other supermarkets do the same?
Asda says it’s reducing the number of multibuy offers because it believes many shoppers are on tight budgets and can’t always afford to buy in bulk, but we know that’s not the only problem with these offers.
In a survey of Which? members last June, 84% told us they’d prefer a straight discount to a multibuy offer.
What you think of multibuys
You mentioned several problems with multibuys, including a feeling of having being ‘conned’ or ‘ripped off’ if you don’t take up the offer, being unable to use up perishable items before they go off, having nowhere to store them, and being concerned about how multibuys contribute to food waste and obesity problems.
We’ve also raised this issue many times before here in previous Conversations. When we talked about the ‘supermarket special offers that aren’t so special‘, Graham told us how confusing he finds them:
‘I shop at ASDA and practically every other week I’m having to do mental arithmetic in their store to check e.g. whether it’s cheaper to buy a 1.5 litre carton of fruit juice or two one litre cartons.’
But Sophie Gilbert says she steers clear to avoid being fooled:
‘I have always considered these “special offers” ploys to get me to the supermarket premises and never taken the bait. I go to the supermarket when I need to and buy the products I need. If they happen to be on special offer that day, great, if not, fine.’
Replace multibuys with reductions
Taking everything into consideration, it would be easy to celebrate the demise of multibuys. But on the other hand I save a lot through bulk discounts on items such as cheese and fruit juice that I get through quickly, and I don’t want to see those savings disappear.
If multibuys are going to be reduced, or eliminated entirely, then I want to see supermarkets replace them with proper price reductions. That way, shoppers who buy in bulk – such as large families – can continue to benefit, and those who like to buy less can join them.
Asda says it’s trying to bring down the number of special offers and is concentrating instead on offering lower prices across the board. If it follows through on that plan, then I certainly think it’ll be a change for the better. And hopefully other supermarkets will follow suit.
Are you pleased to hear about Asda’s plan or are you a multibuy fan? Should all supermarkets be phasing out multibuys or do you have a better solution?
Should other supermarkets follow Asda's lead and scrap multibuy offers?
Yes - they should just discount individual items (70%, 710 Votes)
I don't mind either way as long as the deals are good (24%, 244 Votes)
No - I like buying in bulk (6%, 62 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,020
