Kroger ends senior discount

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storewanderer
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Kroger ends senior discount

Post by storewanderer »

I did not know this program existed. Maybe only in Houston? http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/ho ... 942156.php

Kroger is making some lousy decisions lately. It will be interesting to see their sales numbers this year.
bm10k
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Re: Kroger ends senior discount

Post by bm10k »

I know Fred Meyer does a Senior Discount on the First Tuesday of every month as my Grandma tends to shop there
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Re: Kroger ends senior discount

Post by architect »

storewanderer wrote:I did not know this program existed. Maybe only in Houston? http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/ho ... 942156.php

Kroger is making some lousy decisions lately. It will be interesting to see their sales numbers this year.
This senior discount has been run on a division basis for several years now; many had already discontinued it. Although it acts as a goodwill measure, it tends to be heavily abused since the discount is simply tied to your shopper's card, without any proof of actual age. In many cases, seniors were giving their phone numbers to extended family/friends/etc and heavily sharing the discount privilege. In Texas, Kroger's pricing is already very reasonable (especially with promotions). The less gimmicky discounts they offer, the more straightforward and lower they can make their overall pricing. This is especially critical in Houston, where their biggest competition is HEB and Walmart (both with consistent everyday low pricing).
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Re: Kroger ends senior discount

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote:
storewanderer wrote:I did not know this program existed. Maybe only in Houston? http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/ho ... 942156.php

Kroger is making some lousy decisions lately. It will be interesting to see their sales numbers this year.
This senior discount has been run on a division basis for several years now; many had already discontinued it. Although it acts as a goodwill measure, it tends to be heavily abused since the discount is simply tied to your shopper's card, without any proof of actual age. In many cases, seniors were giving their phone numbers to extended family/friends/etc and heavily sharing the discount privilege. In Texas, Kroger's pricing is already very reasonable (especially with promotions). The less gimmicky discounts they offer, the more straightforward and lower they can make their overall pricing. This is especially critical in Houston, where their biggest competition is HEB and Walmart (both with consistent everyday low pricing).
The senior discount was tied with the phone number, and I think it was through metadata.

I got the senior discount, because my Kroger card was tied to my mother's, and I guess they gathered from what things she bought she was a senior citizen (because I'm pretty sure she didn't put her birthdate on it). The local Kroger just doesn't carry the products I want...the produce department is much smaller and lower quality than H-E-B, it lacks things like frozen fruits (well, it carries the Kroger Private Selection brand at an insane markup), and several items they just don't carry.

If they wanted to get rid of gimmicks, they could ditch the card, and as it stands I've more burned and disappointed by Kroger than any other supermarket in the last two years (with Randalls and Walmart, you have to know what to expect).
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