A growing number of supermarket deals require the use of digital coupons to get low-priced advertising.
With a store app on your phone, it’s much easier than the traditional method of tearing out paper coupons.
However, it has become a problem for many senior citizens and people with digital disabilities who cannot use these new coupons.
And it all came to a head recently as we realized that shoppers without smartphones wouldn’t be able to get many of the best holiday deals like these.
For example, Kroger advertised one of the cheapest Thanksgiving turkey prices in the country. In many of its markets, store-brand frozen turkey is just 49 cents a pound.
However, I needed the Kroger smartphone app and digital coupons to get that incredible deal.
Meanwhile, an East Coast Stop & Shop store advertised a chicken breast for just $2.99 a pound.
But even that required a smartphone app.
Shopper Robin Casagrande says it’s unfair to people who don’t know how to use the Store app.
“They are annoying,” she said. “They are uncomfortable in the sense that if they don’t know how to use the app, they won’t get that discount.”
Consumer groups ask stores to help shoppers with digital disabilities
Well, first on ConsumerWorld.org this ““Digital Discrimination” A coalition of groups is asking stores to support people with digital disabilities.
consumer reports, consumer actions, of National Consumer Federation, When Pirgu I sent an open letter to the grocery store chain asking for a workaround.
ConsumerWorld’s Ed Dworsky, who first brought the issue to national attention, says digital coupons will keep out older retirees who need their savings the most.
“25% of that is not on the internet,” he said. “How do they get the discount? The answer is that many of them don’t.”
Dworsky isn’t looking for a return to the 1980s, and understands that there will be no return to paper coupons, as digital coupons are an aid to store marketing and inventory management.
But he wants stores to “enable digital prices to be claimed by cashiers upon request,” so that those who don’t have the app can save just as much.
Alternatively, the paper option can be reverted to weekly magazines for shoppers to clip for savings.
Shopper Tanya Lovett agrees.
“I think we should use the paper ones for a while,” she said.
Kroger did not respond to a request for comment. Stop & Shop, meanwhile, said it had not yet seen the letter from the consumer group, but would review it when it received it.
According to ConsumerWorld, in the current situation, many retirees are struggling to cover social security costs and are unable to take advantage of the discounts available to young shoppers.
As always, don’t waste your money.
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