Online Shopping: Hazardous To Junk Food's Health 151
Rambo Tribble writes "Reuters is reporting that the trend toward online shopping is reducing the sales of impulse-purchase items, most notably candy and snacks often displayed at the checkout counter. As even grocery shopping shifts online, junk food producers are feeling the squeeze. From the article: 'Anthony Hopper, chief executive of advertising agency Lowe Open, said brands need to change how people buy chocolate, but acknowledges that it won't be easy. "If you're somebody who on average buys one bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk on impulse once a week, can I encourage you that it's actually better value to buy a pack of four when you're doing your next online shop? It's a long-term strategy," he said.'"
will it help against impluse eating? (Score:5, Interesting)
besides, you could plan to buy one at a time.
if I'd buy four candybars and they would come in the mail I would eat them all! ALL! excuse me while I go raid the fridge for some kitkat.
Junk Food (Score:5, Interesting)
so many are struggling financially
people want to live better and feel better
Right? It's got to be because of online shopping.
Re:Validates what your home ec teacher said (Score:2, Interesting)
reminds me of a story i recall reading a while back (sorry, don't have a reference) about how parents who got tivo found they were able to save money on toys, fast food/junk food, and assorted other items just because they could censor the commercials their children watched on teevee.
Invoking Betteridge's law in 3... 2... 1... (Score:5, Interesting)
No. No, you cannot. Because:
1) Most people prone to impulse-buying your crap would eat it all the same day it arrives,
2) Impulse buyers tend to act on impulse, and wouldn't actually seek it out deliberately, and
3) People intentionally buying chocolate buy chocolate. Not your "HFCS, carob and soy lecithin" garbage.
Now, if we consider junk foods beyond just candy, let's consider margins of impulse-buys vs planned buys. I happen to like Doritos. Yeah, complete crap, and bad for me, but I intentionally (whether impulse or actually on the list) buy them every now and then.
As an impulse buy, I pay basically a buck for a 1.5oz bag of their crap. For two bucks, I can get a full-sized bag. So, Frito Lay needs to ask itself something - Can you afford to sell Doritos without the insane margins on your "vending-machine" sized packs? Or do those basically subsidize the price of "family packs" that you may well only sell for the purpose of keeping us "hooked"?
Because the same logic applies to almost every less-than-bulk sized junk-food out there. Sodas make a great example - a 20oz soda at the register costs MORE than a 2-liter bottle. A 3-pack of gum in the candy aisle costs less than a single pack of the same gum at the register. Can "impulse-buy"-centric companies actually afford to sell only their more economical sizes?
Dear Anthony (Score:2, Interesting)
Vegans in small towns do not have access to vegan brands and only get the "commercial" stuff. So the first company to actually comply with vegan requirements will be able to cash early on by grabbing customers who are currently left behind.
At the moment, the only chocolate bar I've found to be vegan is made in France, sold at our local dollar store.
Yeah right, online purchases... (Score:2, Interesting)
Sorry, It's not "online purchases" or "healthier eating" that's causing the drop in prices, it's the doubling or tripling prices for chips and soda.
Most folks who are middle class can't justify spending 4.50 on a 12-14 ounce bag of chips on their salary. Living where I do, the only ones spending that are using the link card (welfare cards for food) to get chips, pop, ice cream, and other junk foods.
The folks whining about declining sales just need to wait until more folks are on government subsistence, then the profits will creep back.
Re:will it help against impluse eating? (Score:4, Interesting)
That kind of discipline is great, but our brains are hardwired to seek high calorie foods, to which snacks fit right in. Most people just aren't going to overcome the urge to eat too much at least some of the time.
Case in point, the country with the most fat people is the one with the most "all you can eat buffet"s. For most people, it is easier and better to simply limit the amount of temptation than it is to deal with that temptation when it is 10 feet away...and salty, and rich, and sweet, and chocolaty and....
Excuse me, need to grab a snack....