Shoppers are more stressed than ever. Inflation, rising fuel costs, and supply chain disruptions make it harder for families to put food on the table. For independent and regional grocers, this isn’t just an economic challenge — it’s a competitive one. When a shopper sees lower prices at Walmart, Target, or other big discounters, it’s tempting for them to leave your store.
I know there are a lot of reason to be frustrated. It seems like big retailers often have cheaper retail prices than our cost of goods. And we know independents, as a group, don’t always have access to every deal and promotion big brands get.
But that never stops us. In fact, despite these disadvantages, independents — and IGA — have held onto and even grown our market share over the last 10 years. How do we do it?
Well, we know that being local is what shoppers truly want. Buying from local farms and producers, cutting meat fresh in store, and all the other things we do in our stores is exactly what big chains don’t do and what shoppers really value.
And we take advantage of every deal we can get. From on-shelf offers to IGA national offers and digital coupons, we grab every deal we can.
But there is something else we do quietly. We match prices.
Most grocers don’t advertise it, but we do it. A shopper comes in with a local competitor’s ad that has a lower price. What do we do? We match the price. Many of you have always done it, do it today, and will do it in the future. Unless it’s on something we don’t sell, or from a retailer outside our market, we take care of the customer.
Smart retailers know that matching prices might lower the margin on a specific item, but it saves the basket. In the long run, price matching is way to keep shoppers loyal.
But many of us don’t advertise it. Unlike consumer electronics or home improvement retailers that often push, “We wont be undersold” price guarantees, most grocers just handle it on a case-by-case basis.
Whether it’s because we might open a flood gate of price matching, or because we don’t want to encourage shoppers to compare prices in ours stores to dollar stores, clubs, or Walmart, independent grocers do what most marketers couldn’t imagine: we do more quietly than we publicize.
But what if we went the other way? What if we made price matching visible? Imagine a sign in your store that said, “The Price Promise: Fairness You Can See.” It would be a public price promise that advertises what we do today in a bold, proud fashion. The message is simple:
“We will match any local competitor’s advertised price on the exact same item.”
This visible commitment accomplishes several things at once:
Independent grocers face cost-of-goods pressures that big chains often avoid. National retailers get preferential pricing and marketing support from suppliers simply because of their scale. For independents, the result is narrower margins and higher sticker prices on some national brands.
A visible price promise allows you to compete on fairness without eroding overall margins. It signals to shoppers that they won’t overpay at your store, even when they see lower prices elsewhere. Over time, this builds loyalty, reinforces the value of shopping local, and protects your market share
And it does one thing really, really well: it saves the basket. Who wants to lose a shopper over single sale item?
However, we know that many retailers are surrounded by aggressive competitors that make price matching risky. That’s why we have taken a softer, but powerful approach to making a price promise. Check out the signage we have developed for your stores, in coordination with St. Joseph's University Associate Professor and Chair of Food, Pharma, and Healthcare Department Dr. Ernest Baskin. Choose the stanchion sign that best reflects the price promise you are comfortable making, and see how it impacts shopper loyalty during these price-conscious times.