Shopping At The Drugstore Is Costing You More Than You Think
We’ve all done it – stopping into a drugstore to fill a prescription or grab some over the counter medications and walking out of the store with groceries we suddenly realized we needed to pick up. Drugstores can be very convenient, but we are paying a price for that convenience. Shopping for groceries, toiletries, and other items at the drugstore is costing us more than we think.
A report issued by Consumer World disclosed that the average prices at the drugstore were more than 36% higher than the prices for the same items at a supermarket chain. The report was complied from information about 25 common items sold in both supermarkets and drugstores and compared their costs between three drugstores and three supermarkets in Somerville, MA, a suburb of Boston. The study found that the prices at the most expensive supermarket were at least 17% lower than the prices at the least expensive drugstore.
For example, the price of a canister of Maxwell House coffee cost around $3.50 more at a drugstore than at the supermarket, nearly doubling the price the consumer would pay for the coffee. A pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was priced $2.30 higher at the drugstore, increasing the price of the ice cream from $3.99 to $6.29. Other household items, such as toilet tissue, laundry detergent, and cleaning agents, were typically priced $1-$2 higher at drugstores than the price charged for the same items at supermarkets.
Many drugstores have added groceries to their store offerings in the last decade because groceries increase the profits of the store. These items have very good margins for the drugstores, meaning that they can be sold for a much higher price than the retailer paid for them. Although the drugstore may have a good sale on some promotional items, purchasing groceries and impulse items from the drugstore will cost you more than you would have spent at the grocery store for the same items.
