Those who buy more, always pay less – at least at METRO. Because the wholesaler offers its customers attractive bulk prices. But what does this mean in reality? When and to which products does the volume discount apply and what benefits does this create for METRO customers?
What’s it all about?
‘Buy more, pay less’ – every volume discount works on this principle. What’s more, the greater the bulk, the lower the individual price. With the buy-more-pay-less strategy, METRO always offers its customers low prices.
How do METRO customers benefit from the volume discount? Let’s imagine a METRO customer – we’ll call her Sarah. She runs a traditional café in the far north, well known for its legendary tray bakes. In the summer months, however, more and more customers are asking for ice cream. Which is reason enough for Sarah to offer a small selection. Her customer manager suggests that METRO customers can benefit from a bulk price offer on ice cream. This involves a volume discount with three tiers. Sarah can check the exact pricing scale for ice cream online. When she next goes shopping in the nearby METRO wholesale store, she chooses three six-litre tubs of METRO Chef Bourbon Vanilla ice cream and saves around 16 per cent with the volume discount. She also picks up three packs of the three-litre tubs of METRO Chef ice cream. Regardless of which of the three different varieties she chooses – chocolate, walnut or strawberry – she benefits from the volume discount and pays 20 per cent less. The ice cream goes down extremely well with her customers. It’s a lucrative addition to what Sarah offers, and she makes significant savings thanks to the pricing scale.
Business owners benefit from low METRO prices thanks to the volume discount on numerous products. METRO customers can find details of the bulk prices both in the online shop and at METRO wholesale stores. Customers in the store can find information on the individual pricing scales for different products directly on the shelf edge. The volume discount applies both to METRO own brands and numerous other products, including food, as in Sarah’s case, and also kitchen equipment such as pizza pans, saucepans and storage containers. There are some exceptions on goods from the ultra-fresh range and large electronic equipment.
Each pricing scale has three tiers, and the particular quantities sometimes differ. For example, one pizza pan costs €4.99, but from a quantity of three pizza pans, the METRO price is €4.49 per pan and from six pans, the customer pays €3.99 per item. The price tiers here are at one, three and more than six pizza pans. However, the price tiers for Sarah’s ice cream were at one, two and more than three packs.
Another bulk price benefit for METRO customers is that it applies not only to bulk buying a single product but also when identically-priced varieties within a brand are combined. According to this principle, Sarah combines the three-litre tubs of METRO Chef ice cream and makes a saving thanks to the volume discount, despite them being three different ice cream flavours. METRO offers this combination option so that a volume discount can be offered on products that are both high and low in demand. If vanilla and strawberry yoghurts are the favourites in a breakfast restaurant, but now and then a guest wants to eat a blueberry yoghurt, the owner can combine the yoghurt varieties in the right way to take advantage of the volume discount and satisfy the customer’s wishes.
In contrast to temporary special offers or individual customer prices, the volume discount applies at all times and equally for every business owner. This pricing policy is anchored in the wholesaler strategy and ensures security for customers in planning and cost calculations.
