The quiet disappearance of low-cost products
Das leise Verschwinden der günstigen Produkte
Dear Migros Recently it has been loudly proclaimed that Migros is lowering its prices and that you should no longer have any reason to go to the discounter. Unfortunately, I have to say that this doesn't match my actual shopping experience. Little by little, inexpensive products are disappearing without a word and are being replaced by much more expensive products. For example, popular ready meals from the M-Budget range are currently being gradually removed and replaced by much more expensive meals from Anna's Best. This week it was my beloved Älplermagronen, and before that spaghetti Bolognese. You wait in vain for new cheap products to replace the ones that have gone. Several varieties of Migros stacked potato chips have disappeared and been replaced by more expensive Pringles brand potato chips. When it comes to spices, the large jars mean that you now have to buy more than you can possibly use. What good is it if the price per 100 grams has remained the same if you now have to buy more and throw half of it away? Many promotions that used to take place regularly, such as 50% off pasta, have disappeared or been made much less attractive (20-30%, only certain pasta and in cumbersome 1 kg packs, etc.). Sometimes products are once again on promotion, but the shelf is empty. Even with cheap bread, the shelf is practically always empty (except immediately after the store opens). Only the more expensive varieties are restocked until the evening. I could list many more examples of how the big price reductions announced are recouped twice or three times over by such measures elsewhere. For me, there are more and more arguments for doing more of my shopping at the cheaper competitors, not less. Migros is currently losing the trust of many loyal customers who have not yet migrated to the discounters. I would be delighted if this feedback were passed on and taken to heart, so that people with a smaller budget no longer have to feel that they are less and less welcome at Migros.
Official Migros response
Dear FrauBärlauch, your research is correct. We communicated that we would reduce the prices of 1000 products over the course of the year. However, we have only just started doing this. So not all items are on sale at reduced prices yet. It is also important to mention that everyday products are affected. For example, apples, tomatoes, bread, milk, etc. We assure you that we are doing everything we can to offer our customers added value. We are pleased that you are sharing your opinion with us. I'll be happy to respond to your feedback and take an example from you: M-Budget Bolognese. You can't compare this product 1:1 with the Anna's Best version. Here we have a higher proportion of meat and the origin is Switzerland (in the case of M-Budget Germany). The proportion of vegetables is also higher and the product now contains a cheese bag. This also explains the significantly higher price. However, we understand that the other variant was better for a smaller budget. I'm happy to pass on your feedback. The Pringles potato chips are unfortunately much more popular than our M-Budget variant - but I understand your point, because I also really liked them (i.e. the predecessors). But we also have the Wave or Sky variant with paprika under M-Budget. Perhaps you would also like one of these variants? The sizes of the spice jars are now based on other products on the market. Due to the new jar, the quantity of contents is sometimes slightly more or less than in previous products. However, the quantity is really very similar for most items. We rarely run large promotions of 50% - we agree with you. Most of the time, we have them for weekend specials or during the Easter/Christmas period. At the moment, we've even marked down Aproz by 50% for the whole week: https://www.migros.ch/de/brand/aproz?filter.promotion=true. We always try to calculate the quantities for promotions as accurately as possible. However, we are aware that we sometimes succeed better and sometimes worse. If you are faced with empty shelves again, please let us know. Can you please tell me which bread you are missing and in which store it is? We hope that you will feel a little more welcome in our branches in the future and look forward to continuing to count on your valued trust. Best wishes and have a nice afternoon, Chloe
