At St. Mary’s School, where I attended from first through eighth grade, we had a candy store that opened for a few minutes after lunch. Kids would crowd around, pushing and shoving to buy candy before it closed. I was hooked on ValoMilk candy. It came in chocolate cups filled with marshmallow cream, and it was my favorite until Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups hit the market. Each package included a paper token. When you collected a certain number of tokens, you could mail them in for a free box of ValoMilks. What a bargain! Back then, bargains made sense. Nowadays, they border on insanity, especially when you need an app to get the sale price.
I recently gave in to the checkers’ bullying at the grocery store because I didn’t have the store app, which would give me discounted prices. (I’m not mentioning the name of the store, but it’s a national chain.) I downloaded it the other day and tried to use it. It didn’t work. I asked a checker for a quick tutorial. It turns out the phone number I entered at checkout has to match the one on my phone. Makes sense to me. But I have two phone numbers. He said if I wanted to use my app, I’d have to switch numbers, and to do that, I’d have to call the corporate office. Really?
I came home intending to delete the app, but I decided to keep it on my phone so that when another checker fusses at me, I can show them I added the damn app, even though it doesn’t work.
This incident got me thinking about the hoops we jump through for a slight discount. Then I realized it’s ingrained in our society. Remember S & H Green Stamps? Yes, I’m that old. For those who have never heard of S & H (Sperry and Hutchinson) Green Stamps, they were a popular retail incentive program from the 1930s to the 1980s, where customers earned stamps at stores like supermarkets and gas stations. The stamps were placed in booklets that could be redeemed for merchandise from a catalog or at redemption centers. You could redeem the booklets for kitchen items: glassware, dishes, pots and pans, even a toaster. Also, floor rugs, bedding, towels, and lamps. With enough stamps, you could get a bicycle, a sewing machine, radios, TVs, jewelry, watches, toys, and even a rowboat.
The grocery store app would have saved me 50 cents on a $9 piece of smoked salmon. I’m afraid the meaning of the word “discount” was lost along the way. Nevertheless, we are suckers for discounts.
As things changed and Green Stamps disappeared, clipping discount coupons from newspapers and advertising fliers entered the scene. I’ve watched shoppers cut their total in half with coupons. I often wonder whether people use coupons for the discount even when they’re purchasing a product they don’t need.
And don’t forget punch cards, especially popular at coffee shops and bakeries. I have six punch cards in my wallet that give me free coffees, muffins, and smoothies. These are my favorites. I don’t need an app or to clip coupons.
Back to the grocery store app. Wouldn’t it be much easier to just lower prices for everyone and call it a sale? It’s less of a hassle. The customer is happy, and the checkers don’t have to deal with annoyed shoppers.
But I have a way to get around the app trap. Some of the checkers will give me a discount if I ask nicely. Others won’t. If you see me in the grocery store standing in a long line when there’s a much shorter one, you’ll know why. Oh, by the way, free tokens in candy bars never hurt ValoMilk. They’re still in business. Guess what I discovered on their website?
PS, if you have a VALOMILK story to share on our website, please send it to us (Contact Us), and if we use it, we will send you a factory-fresh box of 24 VALOMILKS and credit your name (if you wish) on our website.
I’m off to work onmy ValoMilk story, or maybe I’ll just send them this blog post. Wish me luck.
Check them out. https://www.valomilk.com/.