Suzie, a senior shopper on the East Coast, uses coupons to stretch her food budget, but said she can’t take advantage of digital discounts because she can’t get the store app to download in her phone. About four-in-10 don’t have home broadband services (43 percent), or a desktop or laptop computer (41 percent). Based on income: Almost a quarter (24 percent) of the adults in households with incomes below $30,000 a year don’t own a smartphone.Based on age: 39 percent of those 65 and older don’t own a smartphone, and 25 percent don’t use the internet.
Two surveys by the Pew Research Center in 2021 documented how many older and lower-income Americans don’t have the technology so many of us take for granted:
“They are a clever ploy by big supermarket chains to get people into the store, knowing full well that many of them will wind up paying more than the advertised price.” “Digital discounts are no deal for millions of shoppers, especially seniors and low-income individuals who don’t have online access, a smartphone to use the store app, or simply can’t follow the cumbersome online procedure, even if they do have the proper technology,” said Edgar Dworsky, founder and publisher of Consumer World. Read Consumer World’s Report: Tech-Challenged Seniors Denied Digital Discounts by Grocers The savings can be significant-often 50 cents to $1 off-sometimes more.Ī recent ad from Shaw’s in Massachusetts (owned by Albertsons) advertised digital coupons for discounts of $3.02 a pound on beef sirloin steak tips, $2.02 a pound on raw shrimp, and $1.50 a pound on seedless grapes.Ĭonsumer World, a consumer advocacy website, checked weekly circulars at more than 50 supermarkets across the country in June, including Acme, Albertsons, Food Lion, Fred Meyer, Jewel-Osco, Kroger, Ralphs, Safeway, Shaw’s, and Stop & Shop, and found that two-thirds of them advertised digital-only discounts. On its website, Kroger says: “Digital coupons are just like paper coupons, only easier!” Digital Deals Offer Significant SavingsĪt some stores, digital coupons for in-store purchases are available on dozens of items including meat, fish, and poultry. We did not get a response to our requests for comment. “If that isn’t discrimination, tell me what is,” George said.Ĭheckbook contacted Kroger and asked about its digital-only coupon policy.
In the past, George said, the cashier would let him have the digital-only discounts, but not anymore. “I don’t appreciate being a second-class citizen, especially when this affects people like me, who really need these discounts the most.”
“I only have a flip phone and wouldn’t know how to download that stuff if you paid me,” George told Checkbook. George, a senior who lives in Carlsbad, Calif., and shops at Ralphs (owed by Kroger, the fourth largest grocery chain in the U.S.) admits to being tech-challenged-and he doesn’t like being left out. To get these digital deals, the customer must go online or use the store app to “clip” the digital coupons or offers they want and load them onto their account before they shop. Now, the industry is moving into digital marketing by advertising in their circulars sale prices that require internet access. Those discounts are featured in the weekly circulars and with shelf tags. Listen to audio highlights of the story below:įor decades, supermarkets have offered lower prices on certain items to members of their loyalty rewards programs, which require a phone number to join. At a time when consumers are especially focused on saving money at the supermarket, some shoppers-those who are tech-challenged or digitally disconnected-are unable to access “digital only” sale prices advertised in weekly store circulars.