You’ve probably seen all of the many headlines that infer we are getting fat from super sizing our burgers and fries. Now the media is telling us that we are also getting fat, and our wallets are getting thin, from bulk buying at the warehouse stores.
ABC News aired a story claiming that the warehouse stores encourage excess; people get carried away shopping at warehouse stores, buying more than they thought they would and consuming more because they have more.
“One woman we spoke with at Costco said she often spends more than what she planned to spend. “You can come in here and think you’re going to spend $25 to $50 and you go out spending $200, easy. You know what they should call it? ‘Costco Surprise,’ because when you get to the register, everybody’s face is like, ‘What?!’”
My take on this excess spending is that it can happen in any grocery store. That is why savvy shoppers always carry a list, a sales flyer and their coupons. The difference in the warehouse stores is that everything comes bigger, so the difference between your spending expectation and your spending result will naturally be bigger. Stick to your list, and you should be fine. It is important to note that some warehouse stores, such as BJs, do take coupons.
The other claim that we consume more because we have more:
“Researchers who study warehouse clubs also told us having all that food around the house makes people overeat.
Cornell University marketing professor Brian Wansink tracked the eating habits of 240 club shoppers for two weeks. He found most ate more, because they had more food in the house.
‘Buy something, you take it home. Of course you’re going to open it. …Some people even open the stuff on the way home,” Wansink said.
Club shoppers said they were buying food for a month, but Wansink said within 10 days of buying it, people ate half the food that they had bought.’”
Okay, they ate half the food they bought in 10 days, so they consumed a month’s worth of food in 20 days, leaving them about 10 days short. That doesn’t sound as bad, does it? Did they really consume more food then they would have normally consumed, or did they just underestimate the amount of food needed for their family for the month? A month has a nice even sound to it. No one would ever say they are shopping for 20 days. Could that have something to do with it?
I can also see the natural inclination to consume more when you have more. If we know there is an entire case of Ritz crackers in the house, then eating a whole tube of them at a time doesn’t seem like a big deal. I wonder, though, about those who have stockpiles. Do we naturally consume more?
I also wonder if ABC news would have compared the actual calorie consumption or food volume of those who were warehouse shoppers against those who were not. Would there be a difference?
What do you think?
To go to the ABC News article, click here.
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