Do We Even Need to Buy Brand Names?
Imagine this scenario: you are gracefully steering your shopping cart through the sliding doors of the supermarket, with a messy shopping list in hand. As you walk through the aisles, you remember there’s a frugal strategy you can use to save an average of 33% on your entire purchase.
It doesn’t require any kind of coupon cutting or signing up for rewards cards. The best part of it all is that you still get to buy every single item on the list. You only need to buy private-label products instead of brand-name products. Now, this is something that could pop into your mind IF and only IF you already read this article. I’m just saying it’s a win-win situation.
What are private-label products?
Also referred to as “store brand” or simply “generics”, private-label products are oftentimes manufactured by a supplier and offered under another retailer’s brand. Some suppliers offer store-brand products, as others are brand-name manufacturers who use their facility to make value-brand products in a non-competitive category (such as a brand-name ketchup producer that could manufacture a store-brand tomato paste, for instance).
In certain circumstances, a single supplier could provide products (with completely different recipes and formulas) for a wide variety of different store brands.
Why are they much cheaper?
Private labels are also able to sell their products for way less, and that’s because their marketing and advertising costs are much lower than their brand-name counterparts. Come to think about it, when was the last time you actually saw a Super Bowl commercial for no-name tortilla chips?)
Well, who cares about that when they can pass those savings along to us, the customers? Interestingly enough, even if they are priced more cheaply, store brands generally provide the supermarket with a higher profit margin than brand names do. So not only are generics a proper deal for you, but they are also quite good for the store’s bottom line!
What about the difference in quality?
One of the biggest obstacles in switching over to a store brand is quite a psychological one: getting over this whole idea that a brand name should automatically imply top-notch quality is just false. We’ve also had to experience disappointment after straying from a brand-name product but to convince yourself that all off-brand products are low quality, you are definitely missing out on wonderful deals, but also great products.
In a Consumer Reports taste test, over 60% of store-brand items were judged as good or better tasting than the national brand-name items. In the most recent years, retailers have been doing their part to make out-of-store brands something a bit more appealing to shoppers, by updating their branding and packaging designs, and also by including exciting specialty products in their store-brand lineup. Some grocery stores such as Target and Trader Joe’s succeeded in building extreme brand loyalty to their store-brand products.
Single-ingredient? Well, it’s a no-brainer.
When something on your list has a single ingredient, it’s quite hard to justify paying a lot more just to get a brand name. After all, salt is still salt, and bleach is just bleach. The same goes for simple pantry items like flour, sugar, and spices.
For produce, you can learn to read the signs for freshness way before defaulting to the label. Other kitchen cupboard staples like nuts, dried fruits and canned foods are interchangeable for the most part (even if it’s generally a good idea to check the ingredients list to see if there are any differences in preservatives or additives that could affect your decision).
Play with preference
You can take a peek inside your fridge and pantry and try to take note of the products you consistently buy brand names. After all, is there a reason why you have never strayed from them? Do you even have a real preference for the taste, or are you simply getting them because that’s what you grew up with?
Substituting the occasional brand-name stock, seasoning, or sauce with a store brand can be a wonderful way to save money while exploring brand-new flavor profiles.
Be selective about your brand loyalty
Naturally, sometimes a brand-name product will definitely outperform its generic version. However, before you automatically reach for the national brand, you should think if that performance is truly worth the extra expense.
You might also find that some items in your shopping cart are totally non-negotiable, as others have more relaxed requirements. For instance, shelling out for brand-name super-soft tissues with lotion could genuinely mean the world to someone who suffers through allergy season, but for the occasional nose-blower, a store-brand box of tissues might do the trick. Be critical and selective about which specific products deserve your brand loyalty.
Make room for some trial and error
We sometimes tend to be creatures of habit, and as a result, it can be quite difficult to introduce change into our routines. Not every generic product you will try might be the winner, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any generic winners out there, so keep searching.
Instead of overhauling your entire shopping list all at once, you can try swapping out one or two products every single time you go to the store and see what truly works for you. As time goes by, you will be able to keep your household running as you save some cash at the same time.
Store-brand items to buy
If you’re still deciding which store brands to get, it’s important to be open to the idea that each decision might differ. The trick is to find those situations where opting for a store brand doesn’t make any kind of difference in terms of flavor and quality and try to enjoy the savings you can unlock.
This smart grocery shopping habit might help save hundreds of dollars. There are plenty of store-brand items you can consider to stretch your grocery budget as far as it gets, such as cereal, eggs, dairy, soft drinks, frozen foods, staples, baked goods, spices, condiments, paper goods, and also cleaning products.
Store-brand items to skip
Naturally, there are some situations where the quality or taste of store-brand items could potentially fall short of their name-brand counterparts. Plenty of people have tasted a cake mix or any other product where the flavor didn’t quite live up to the name-brand equivalent.
Sometimes, the quality of store-brand products can turn out to be quite inferior, too, like flimsy napkins or paper towels that would imply using double or triple the product to clean up a mess. All in all, there’s no specific list of generic items you should skip.
For instance, a store-brand tomato sauce could taste horribly from one retailer and super good from another. In the end, buying private-label items might call for some trial and error. Bonus points, if you shop somewhere such as Costco, the warehouse store’s generous return policy allows you to return items you buy for virtually any reason, even if didn’t like the way something tastes.
Generic goods don’t win every single time in such a battle. Did you know there might be some off-brand products that represent a tough competition to the originals? The next time you feel like having a snack, you should give off-brand Cheezits a try. You’ll know what we’re talking about.
If you’re happy you stumbled upon this article, we also recommend checking: Best 9 Places to Go Shopping in Tampa, FL
