You will not have missed it: from one supermarket to another, products are not sold at the same price. But did you know that you have something to do with it?
When we look at the prices displayed on supermarket shelves, it is a reality that not all French people are in the same boat. You may have already noticed it yourself, from one brand to another, the same product has a different price. This is particularly noticeable depending on the region. And in this yoyo of prices, no radius is spared. In the next issue of Capital, “Price war: revelation on the hidden side of labels” broadcast this Sunday, September 29 at 9:10 p.m. on M6, a team of journalists looked into this subject which ultimately concerns many consumers. And what they discovered is disconcerting to say the least…
In fact, price differences can go up to 25% depending on the region. According to the Capital survey, and data collected by the NielsenIQ institute, one of the world leaders in the analysis of data on the prices of drives from five major distributors, the West of France is much more advantaged than the South-East. On the podium of the most expensive departments, outside the Paris region, we find Paris in first position, followed by the Alpes-Maritimes, then Corsica. Conversely, Vendée, Mayenne and Haute-Marne are the least expensive areas. How to explain this?
We would tend to blame the manufacturers, but it is clear that they cannot impose a selling price on the shelves. On the other hand, distributors have their own methods for setting prices, and inflating them according to purchasing power in the most affluent areas. And in this case, customers have something to do with it… Very few people know it, or even suspect it, but they are scrutinized in the smallest detail. Merchants hire the services of companies, such as Smappen, a geomarketing specialist, which draws up typical customer profiles.
They analyze their income, their family situation, whether they are tenants or owners, whether they live in a house or an apartment, whether they travel by bicycle or by public transport, etc. In total, there are approximately 320 criteria that are studied by distributors, including median income. On this point, if we take into account income by department and the prices charged by all drives, some residents spend much more than they should.