For cost-conscious consumers, price matching policies have long been a favored tool for ensuring they get the best possible deal on groceries and household essentials. Rather than wasting time and gas money driving from store to store to chase the lowest prices, shoppers could simply bring a competitor‘s ad to their preferred retailer and have them match the price on the spot. It was a win-win – the store kept the customer‘s business, while the customer got the best price without the hassle.
But over the past decade, the retail landscape has shifted dramatically, and price matching policies have become one of the casualties. Many major chains have eliminated or significantly scaled back their price matching offerings, leaving frugal shoppers wondering what recourse they have for getting the best deals.
One such chain is Safeway, the prominent national supermarket with over 900 locations across the U.S. So the question is, does Safeway still price match in 2023? I‘m a professional consumer analyst and a veteran of the grocery retail industry myself, so allow me to break it all down for you with an expert eye.
The Rise and Fall of Price Matching in the Grocery Industry
First, a little context. Price matching policies really came into vogue among U.S. grocery chains in the 1980s and 90s. With the rise of retailers like Walmart putting major price pressure on traditional supermarkets, price matching was a way for the old guard grocers to stay competitive and keep bargain-hunting customers from defecting to discount stores.
Safeway was very much a part of this trend. For many years, Safeway offered a robust and well-publicized price matching policy promising to match any local competitor‘s advertised price. Shoppers simply had to bring in the competitor‘s weekly sales ad or a printed copy of an online price. That‘s it – no "special conditions" or nitpicky exclusions like you often see with price match policies. It was a good deal.
But around 2016, Safeway abruptly and quietly eliminated its price matching policy. And it was far from alone. 2016-2018 saw a wave of major grocery chains dropping price matching like flies, including Kroger, Albertsons, Publix, and more. So what happened? Why did price matching go from an industry standard to a rarity in just a few short years?
Reason 1: The Economics Simply Stopped Working
The first and perhaps most important reason is basic economics. The fact is, matching competitors‘ lowest prices was simply no longer sustainable for many grocery chains in the cutthroat market conditions of the late 2010s.
You see, supermarkets have always been a low-margin business, but profit pressures have only intensified in recent decades with the growing dominance of Walmart, the rise of discount chains like Aldi, and the encroachment of Amazon into the grocery space. According to retail research firm Sagence, the average net profit margin for U.S. grocery stores has shrunk from 1.2% in 2015 to just 0.75% in 2023. With margins that thin, matching deep-discount competitors‘ prices meant selling many items at a loss, which is simply not a viable long-term strategy.
As retail analyst Thomas Kelly explained to Bloomberg, "The price match policies were a relic of a different retail era. With today‘s economics, the major supermarket chains simply can‘t afford to absorb negative margins just to prevent customers from shopping elsewhere. They had to adapt or die."
Reason 2: Logistical and Promotional Challenges
Beyond the raw numbers, price matching also presented a number of logistical and promotional challenges for major grocery chains like Safeway. To implement it effectively required a significant investment in technology and man-hours to verify competitors‘ prices and communicate policies to store associates. This was especially true as competitors‘ pricing and promotions became more dynamic and personalized in the digital age.
There was also the tricky question of which competitors to match and on what terms. Should Safeway match Walmart‘s prices on staples like milk and eggs even though Walmart has a fundamentally different business model? Should they match Amazon‘s online prices even if it means taking a loss? What about bargain-basement minor players that aren‘t even on most shoppers‘ radars?
These questions became even more complex with the rise of personalized pricing and loyalty programs in the late 2010s. Many retailers now offer special member-only discounts that may not be reflected in a publicly advertised price. Should those discounts be matched too? It all added up to a major headache for the national chains.
Reason 3: A Shift in Strategy to Personalized Value
Finally, the move away from price matching among chains like Safeway was motivated by a strategic shift toward a more personalized approach to delivering value to shoppers. Rather than trying to be the lowest price on everything for everyone, supermarkets realized they could build greater customer loyalty (and healthier margins) by tailoring deals to individual shoppers based on their unique preferences and behaviors.
Safeway was one of the pioneers of this approach with its Just For U loyalty program launched in 2012. By leveraging customer data to offer personalized digital coupons, customized sale prices, and fuel rewards, Safeway found it could drive bigger baskets and better margins without racing to the bottom on price.
As Safeway CEO Robert Edwards told investors in a 2017 earnings call, "Our focus is on delivering value to our customers in a more targeted and sustainable way. Blanket price matching was a blunt instrument that didn‘t serve our customers or our bottom line well in the long run. With Just For U, we can give our best customers the deals they care about most while still protecting our profitability."
Okay, So How Can I Still Save at Safeway?
Now that we‘ve established the "why" behind Safeway‘s move away from price matching, let‘s get to the question I‘m sure is top of mind for all you deal seekers out there: How can I still save money at Safeway without price matching? Fear not, my frugal friends – you have more options than you might think! Here are my top expert tips:
1. Become a Just For U Power User
As I mentioned above, Safeway‘s digital Just For U program is now the key to unlocking the chain‘s best deals. But to get the most value, you can‘t just be a passive participant clipping the odd digital coupon. You need to put in a bit of work to mold Just For U to your specific needs:
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When you first sign up, take the time to fill out your profile thoroughly and accurately. The more Safeway knows about your household and shopping habits, the better it can target deals to you. Do you have kids? Pets? Special dietary needs? Make sure that info is in your profile.
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Every week, scan the personalized deals in your Just For U gallery and clip anything that catches your eye. The more you engage with the platform, the more it will learn about what you like and tailor future offers accordingly.
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Build your shopping list within the Safeway app and sort items by "Lowest Price" to surface the best deals. The app will automatically apply any Just For U discounts as you go.
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Always check the "Redeem Rewards" section of your Just For U account before shopping. Safeway will often give you personalized freebies or bonus deals here as a reward for your past purchases.
2. Know the Safeway Markdown Schedule
Even without price matching, you can still find plenty of rock-bottom deals at Safeway if you know where and when to look. One of the best kept secrets is the store‘s regular markdown schedule for perishables like meat, dairy, and bakery items.
While the exact schedule can vary by store, most Safeway locations follow a similar pattern:
- Meat, fish, and poultry are typically marked down in the morning between 8-10 am, then again in the late afternoon around 4 pm if anything‘s left.
- Dairy and bakery markdowns usually happen in the late morning between 10 am and noon.
- Produce is continually marked down throughout the day as freshness dictates, but the biggest discounts are often found in the hour before closing.
If you can time your shopping to catch these markdowns, you can often find savings of 30-70% off the original price. Just be prepared to use or freeze the items quickly, as the sell-by date will usually be that day or the next.
3. Stack Digital AND Paper Coupons
Here‘s a pro tip you won‘t hear from many savings blogs: You can often use a paper manufacturer‘s coupon and a Safeway digital coupon on the SAME item for double the savings.
Safeway‘s coupon policy allows "stacking" one store coupon and one manufacturer‘s coupon per item. So if you have a $1 off Tide paper coupon from the Sunday paper and a $2 off Tide digital coupon in the Safeway app, you can redeem BOTH on a single bottle of Tide and save $3.
To really maximize this strategy, keep an eye out for items that also have a sale price at Safeway. If that bottle of Tide is on sale for $10 and you have a $1 paper coupon and $2 digital coupon, you‘ll wind up paying just $7, a savings of 30% off the sale price and probably 50% or more off the regular price!
4. Learn to Love the Safeway House Brands
Did you know Safeway has over 20 different store brands across nearly every grocery category? From frozen veggies to diapers to yogurt to paper towels, there‘s a Safeway branded version of just about everything.
And here‘s the thing – they‘re often just as good as (if not better than) the national name brands, but at a significantly lower price point. According to a 2022 price survey by Consumer Reports, Safeway store brand items cost an average of 25% less than comparable name brand products.
Of course, not every store brand product will be a winner taste-wise (I‘m looking at you, Signature Care Salsa), but many are indistinguishable from the big brands and absolutely worth trying. Some of my personal favorites:
- Signature Select Bacon
- Open Nature Almond Milk
- Signature Select Frozen Vegetables
- Open Nature Greek Yogurt
- Signature Home Paper Towels
- O Organics Olive Oil
Getting comfortable with Safeway‘s house brands and using them to replace name brand staples in your shopping list is one of the easiest ways to cut your grocery bill without sacrificing quality.
The Bottom Line: You Don‘t Need Price Matching to Save Big at Safeway
I know it can be frustrating when a major savings tool like price matching gets taken away with little explanation. But the reality is, price matching in the grocery industry was always living on borrowed time as market forces and strategic priorities shifted.
The good news is that price matching or no, you still have more ways than ever to save big at Safeway if you‘re willing to put in a little time and effort. Between personalized Just For U deals, creative coupon stacking, markdown sleuthing, and savvy store brand swaps, a strategic Safeway shopper can easily trim their grocery bill by 30% or more.
So while Safeway may have retired the price match, it certainly hasn‘t abandoned its commitment to value – it‘s just asking customers to meet it halfway. And with the savings tactics outlined above, that‘s a proposition I think most deal seekers will happily accept.
