Did You Know? Why Grocery Stores Intentionally Run Out Of Sale Items

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It's a dreaded scenario that happens too often to many couponers: you spot a stockpile sale featuring one of your favorite products in your store ad or recap.  

You excitedly get your coupons and shopping list together to head out to the store -- but when you arrive, all you see is empty shelves.

It isn't usually shelf-clearing extreme couponers preventing you from getting your deal.

In many cases, the store itself has deliberately under-stocked their shelves for a big sale. 

Here's why some grocery stores intentionally run out of inventory during sales, and what you can do to work around it.

There are two main reasons why stores under-stock hot-selling items.  


REASON #1: Creating an appearance of scarcity increases demand for a product.


via GIPHY

If you see a hot deal advertised at Target, for example, and you've been trained through previous shopping trips that Target often sells out of hot deals, you're much more likely to drop everything and rush to the store.  

So Target gets an extra shopping trip out of you, and therefore extra chances to sell you impulse items while you're in the store.

Plus, the next time you see that item on sale, you're going to be more likely to stock up to avoid running out (even if the sale isn't as good.)

REASON #2: Stores want to buy low and sell high.

When stores put items on sale, they are usually able to purchase that item at an extra discount from the manufacturer.  

That savings is then supposed to be passed on to the customer.  

Coupon Wizards has an excellent post that breaks down the grocery store inventory math for you in more detail.

However, what happens if a store orders a large quantity of a sale item at a cheaper price, but holds most of it in the back until the sale ends?

Now they can sell that stock at a higher profit in the following weeks, without raising their shelf prices.  
And now they pocket the difference, not the customer.  

This is a perfectly legitimate way of doing business, but it can be really irritating for customers who've spent their time and gas on a wasted shopping trip.  

Walmart, in particular, is notorious for this behavior -- which may be why you can't always find freebies on the shelves there!

So how can customers break the empty-shelf cycle?  

Here are three suggestions:

1) The best defense is a good offense -- which means pre-ordering items in bulk as soon as you learn of a sale.  

Many stores will place special orders for customers; just ask for your manager on duty and explain what item you're interested in purchasing!

If your store won't place an order for you, the next thing you need to ask is when their next truck with more product arrives.  And then make sure to be in the store to meet it!

2) Take advantage of rain-checks or in store substitutions if your store offers them. 

CVS offers rain checks, which is an easy way to get your sale price when they get restocked.

And HEB will sometimes offer a substitute item if they're out of a free item on a Buy X, Get Y Item free yellow coupon!

3) Follow up with corporate when necessary.

If you run across a store that consistently never has stock on hand of the deals you want, it never hurts to follow up with the chain's Customer Service department via email or a quick phone call.  

I have contact information available here for many of the national grocery stores, drugstores, and dollar stores.

Be nicer than this guy, though. 😁😁😁

Or contact the manufacturers themselves -- trust me, those companies want to know if they're losing sales (and they might even hook you up with some free coupons for your effort!)

What other tips do you have to handle empty shelves during a sale? Share your suggestions in the comments below!

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