Military Life

Editor’s note: During National Coupon Month this September, DeCA wants to remind all patrons that their commissary gladly accepts manufacturer’s coupons for the products it sells.

FORT LEE , Va. – Commissary shoppers save more than 30 percent on their grocery purchases compared to commercial grocery stores, but they can save even more by using coupons.

Coupons are a free, fast way for commissary patrons to stretch their military paychecks even further. To make the most of coupon use, be diligent, organized and methodical.

Today’s manufacturer coupons have shorter “use by” dates. This causes shoppers to feel they must clip and buy products quickly. But consider each coupon as you clip. Many times, shoppers buy an item simply because they have a coupon, not because they want or need the item. By creating a grocery list first, you will know which products you are purchasing. Then, clip or go online to find manufacturers’ coupons just for those items.

Many Internet sites dedicated to finding, using and maximizing the savings coupons offer advise coupon users to:

· Buy Sunday papers, which always contain manufacturer coupon inserts

· Search manufacturers’ Internet sites to get coupons online

· Use coupons in conjunction with store sales to stock up on items you actually use often, and for items that can be stored for extended periods of time

· Sign up with manufacturers to receive e-mail and “snail-mail” coupons

· Carry coupons with you everywhere you go

· Take inventory of coupons regularly to remove expired ones and to remind you of the coupons you have on DeCA’s Web site, www.commissaries.com, which includes links to several commercial Web sites offering online coupons to shoppers.

Finally, commissary shoppers have an additional coupon source – “military store only” coupons. Manufacturers provide these exclusively for use by commissary patrons; they’re found at the front of commissary shelves next to the products they can be redeemed for.

By investing a little time and effort, you can reap even bigger savings at your commissary by using coupons regularly.

About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Authorized patrons purchase items at cost plus a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. Shoppers save an average of more than 30 percent on their purchases compared to commercial prices – savings worth about $3,000 annually for a family of four. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.

Commissaries ring up increased savings for military families

by Kevin Robinson, DECA Media Relations

FORT LEE, Va. – Commissary customers are ringing in the New Year with record-breaking savings. As a result they should be “resolving” to shop their local commissary more often.

“I’m proud to announce that average customer savings for a family of four have risen to nearly $3,000 annually,” said Defense Commissary Agency Director and CEO Patrick Nixon. “As an agency, we always deliver the message that our savings are an ‘average of 30 percent or more’ worldwide, but savings have actually been holding steady at about 32 percent for several years now.”

DeCA has not revised its savings messages for over a year, but using current United States Department of Agriculture figures for retail grocery food purchases consumed at home, a family of four shopping at the commissary on a regular basis can now save $2,957 annually on groceries. The figure formerly used was $2,700.

“Considering the rising cost of food, our buyers and the manufacturers and vendors that sell groceries in the commissary system have done a great job in maintaining outstanding customer savings over commercial grocery stores,” said Nixon. “It all adds up to savings that can be used by military families to meet the rising costs of college, vacations, new cars – or even gas for their cars.”

Under the latest calculations, couples can save $1,885, and singles can save $1,029 by shopping regularly at their commissary.

DeCA’s average savings calculations are based on an annual price comparison study, which compares commissary prices on approximately 30,000 items with those of local supermarkets, major grocery store chains and supercenters. The study also takes into account state taxes and the 5 percent commissary surcharge, which goes to renovate commissaries and build new ones.

Figures for fresh meat and produce, as well as data for locations outside the contiguous United States, are obtained through random sampling. Weighting techniques take into account such factors as cost of living in a variety of areas and regions, as well as customer buying habits.

The commissary benefit also offers an efficient return on investment for the American taxpayer. “The commissary benefit has always been recognized as one of the military’s most valued benefits,” said Nixon. “When you take customer savings into account, commissaries deliver more than two dollars in benefit to military customers for every tax dollar expended to support the system, and we’re extremely proud of that accomplishment.”

Clip coupons!

By Bonnie Powell and Rob Hansgen, DECA

FORT LEE, Va. – Shopping regularly at the commissary can save you an average of more than 30 percent on your grocery bill, but savvy shoppers can save even more through coupon clipping and redemption.

Commissary shoppers in commissaries worldwide saved an incredible $109 million on their grocery bills through the redemption of more than 151 million coupons in fiscal year 2004. Shoppers at Fort Belvoir, Va., redeemed the most coupons in FY04 saving more than $2.4 million. Other locations in the top 10 were: Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.; Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.; Fort Meade, Md.; Naval Base San Diego, Calif.; Marine Corps Combat Development Command Quantico, Va.; and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va.

“We expect to save about $400 in coupons in the commissary this year, increasing our average savings per visit by 5 percent to10 percent,” said one loyal commissary shopper at Fort Campbell, Ky. “I plan my list in advance and then go through the organized coupon holder and mark the items on the list that are on sale. I also watch the sales promotions on the commissary Web site.”

According to a 2003 report by NCH Marketing Services, which specializes in coupon processing and promotion information management, military commissaries are among the top five retailers redeeming grocery coupons. In addition, there are many coupons targeted exclusively to military shoppers – appearing in installation newspapers, special “military only” mailings, hand-delivered at commissaries or from tear pads on commissary shelves.

To increase opportunities for coupon lovers, DeCA accepts Internet coupons as long as they have a bar code for scanning purposes, and the coupons are not for free product. Since the announcement, links on www.commissaries.com to sites such as www.coolsavings.com and www.eclip.com have become popular with commissary “coupon clippers.”

Savvy coupon clippers develop a system for cutting, saving and organizing coupons to maximize savings. Some insider tips include:

· Make a list prior to shopping and mark the items you have coupons for. Plan ahead to avoid impulse buys, saving additional money.

· If you have several coupons for the same product, use them in the order of their expiration dates or if the product is on sale, use them all at once to buy larger quantities.

· Organize your coupons according to the layout of the commissary – many commissaries have aisle plans on their store pages at www.commissaries.com.

· Since coupons are good in overseas commissaries up to six months after their expiration date, send your expired coupons to friends and families overseas. A great address list for overseas organizations that accept coupons can be found at www.siteforsavings.com/content_mas/hlphand.htm.

· Swap coupons with friends and family or form a coupon club. Everyone finds coupons they won’t use, but certainly someone else will. Some commissaries have a bin at the front of the store for depositing unused coupons.

Many people believe that coupon cutting is a chore, but it doesn’t have to be. Get your kids involved. Pay them a percentage of your coupon savings for clipping and organizing coupons. It helps them to learn the value of saving and smart shopping. As an incentive, put the money you save using coupons in a separate account for something special. Some families find they save enough money for an annual vacation or donate the proceeds to a charity food locker. Like any good investment, keeping a special account allows you to see a real return for your time and effort.

When looking to stretch your commissary savings with coupons, consider these tips:

· Don’t use coupons to buy products you don’t use or need for this will only hurt your budget. Do use them to try new products.

· Do take a calculator along to the commissary to do comparison shopping using unit prices listed on the shelf label. And be sure to subtract the coupon value from the price before figuring the unit cost.

· Don’t forget about those last-minute coupons. Most commissaries offer various publications with valuable coupons in them near the entry or front of the store.

· Do present all coupons to the cashier before he or she begins to ring up your merchandise. To speed up the process, group all products that you have coupons for together. That way if a coupon does not scan correctly the cashier may more easily find the product and compare it to the coupon.

Do use coupons even if you are using self-checkout. The system will automatically match the coupon to the correct product purchased.

Self-checkouts, coupon verification system
arrive in selected commissaries

by Bonnie Powell, and Rick Brink, DECA

FORT LEE, Va. – Three commissaries in Virginia, Texas and California are the first to receive self-checkout lanes and an automated coupon verification checkout system that Defense Commissary Agency officials say increase shopper convenience and service.

The self-checkouts first appeared last month in the Langley Air Force Base, Va., commissary, and have since been installed at the Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and McClellan, Calif., commissaries. Commissaries on Vogelweh and Ramstein Air Bases, Germany, are slated to get them later this spring.

Langley store director Norman Brown reported customer use of self-checkouts grew from 10 percent of total transactions to more than 13 percent in less than a month.

“We’ve been very pleased with the level of customer acceptance for the new lanes. One customer said using self-checkout is like baking – it gets easier and easier the more you do it,” said Bob Vitikacs, DeCA’s head of sales operations.

Self-checkouts are for customers with a few items who scan and bag their own groceries. An attendant monitors the lanes, checks shoppers’ ID cards and provides assistance when needed. The system weighs the bags to ensure scanning is done correctly.

Method of payment – credit, debit or cash – is nearly the same as regular checkout lanes. Self-checkouts also have the capability to scan coupons although the attendant has to check expiration dates.

Coupon processing at all checkout lanes in the five commissaries receiving self-checkouts is becoming more convenient thanks to a scanner software upgrade that validates coupon purchases. By gleaning information from coupon bar codes, the scanners validate whether a customer has actually purchased products represented by the coupons. This replaces the manual process conducted by cashiers.

“With our manual process, if there are any questions about a coupon, our cashiers have to go back and look at the order or the register tape,” said David Bradford, chief of DeCA’s systems modernization. “Now the scanner will tell us automatically if a customer is redeeming a coupon on an item actually purchased. Cashiers only have to verify the coupon expiration dates.”

The upgrade is being tested in the five stores, and it will eventually be implemented in all checkouts in all commissaries. “Overall, it will improve the flow of customer checkout and increase our coupon redemption accuracy,” said Bradford.

- DeCA -

The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of nearly 280 commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Authorized patrons purchase items at cost plus a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. Shoppers save an average of 30 percent or more on their purchases compared to commercial prices – savings worth more than $2,700 annually for a family of four. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.