Buy Wisely Using ‘Unit Price’ Comparison

Earlier Sundays used to be Fundays with a lot of shopping in malls & entertainment. But due to lockdown, all that has gone now… Now the purchases are through online… Anyways, whether it is a normal purchase or online purchase of FMCG goods, some factors influence the purchase decision… So we should understand those factors & act accordingly.  Let us discuss one of those now…

Earlier in good olden day, all the FMCG goods were packed & sold following uniform weights… such as 100gm, 200gm, 500gm or 1Kg etc…. uniform volumes such as 100/200/500ml/1lt etc…. We never used to see 110gm or 270ml etc…. But now a days, we see different weights or volumes of FMCG products… This is creating the problems for the normal customers to compare the prices and is impacting the purchase decision of several consumers. Let us take an example

One beverage let us say apple juice,  1lt price is Rs100/- for Brand-A, where as for Brand-B it is Rs95/- but the weight return on the pack is 900ml. If someone does not observe properly, it appears that the Brand-B is cheaper compared to the Brand-A. But the actual fact is Brand-B is costlier.  If we see the per litre price of both brands, Brand-A is Rs100/-, Brand-B is 95*1000/900 =Rs105.55/-. If Brand-C is 110/-

Here we should introduce the term Unit Price… It is the price of the product per unit or per kg or per gm or per ml or per lt etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_price

So the price comparison & analysis is greatly affected by the weight of the product/volume also. But unfortunately, most of the customers don’t consider it because of several reasons…

1.       Lack of awareness

2.       No scope to evaluate in normal retail outlets

3.       Very tedious & time taking job

4.       With the apprehension that the savings will be very minimal in comparison to the efforts made for the analysis

5.       So many other factors we can add on

As cited above, there is a need to increase the awareness of the customers. The research shows that using unit price concept has helped the purchasers to save around 17-18%.

Let us say we have 4 brands with 4 different weights & prices. We have to calculate for all the unit price and compare. This is for one product. If we want to purchase several, just imagine how much tedious and impracticable it is… Thus, we are bound to make a mistake in the price assessment, comparison, and analysis & finally purchase decision.

The only way to go about is to either go for standard uniform weights like in olden days or to get the information about Unit Price. As the product manufacturers are cleverly doing it, the purchasers should also be smart.

1.       If the products to be purchased are less in number, please do the unit price analysis to compare.

2.       Visit the supermarkets where we have the Price as well as Unit prices both are displayed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_price_information_in_supermarkets

3.       Please use the online purchase websites/apps which give the unit price information beside the price. A famous online purchase app gives Unit price within the brackets just beside the selling price.

 

Thus, think twice, buy wisely after comparing the unit prices of the products especially FMCG products.

Happy Sunday… Happy Shopping…