It’s undeniable how dramatically grocery shopping has changed over the past decade. What was once a fairly straightforward process of checking the weekly circular, clipping coupons and comparing shelf prices is nowadays tied to smartphones, loyalty apps and digital promotions.
These changes offer convenience and savings to many customers, but for others, particularly older shoppers, they create a challenge – and it’s only getting tougher. Because discounts that were once available to everyone increasingly require digital access and familiarity with retailer technology.
Technology is only part of the issue. Questions of fairness and risks to customer relationships are on the table, too. Are digital promotions – which are becoming more widespread by the week – delivering savings to the customers they’re intended to reach?
Let’s take a closer look…
The New Rule: Same Shelf, Different Price
Grocery savings were, traditionally, pretty easy to understand. Customers could look through a weekly circular, clip a coupon or take advantage of a sale displayed on the shelf.
These days, however, taking advantage of those savings requires additional steps. Consumers may need to download a retailer’s app, create an account, locate a digital coupon and activate it before purchasing the product. In the most egregious cases, a customer might stand in front of an advertised special, put the item in the cart intending to take full advantage… and still pay full price because the offer was never digitally activated.
Another complication is the use of promotions that require consumers to purchase multiple products – sometimes across different departments – to qualify for a discount. A shopper may need to buy several participating items, mix and match brands or reach a specific spending threshold before receiving the advertised savings.
While these programs can ultimately encourage larger purchases, they can also be confusing and frustrating for consumers trying to understand just what actually qualifies. When an offer also requires digital activation, shoppers must keep track of both what to buy and what steps are necessary to receive the discount. In other words, retailers see a chance to increase basket size, while shoppers trying to save some money see a hurdle.
The result is a disconnect between the price a digitally engaged shopper might pay and the price paid by someone who shops the same store but does not use its app.
An Aging Customer Base That Retailers Can’t Ignore
Older Americans represent a large and growing segment of the grocery market. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population age 65 and older reached 64.6 million in 2025 – an increase of 16.2% since 2020. Their grocery spending is significant, too: Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that households headed by someone 65 or older spent an average of $5,251 on food at home in 2024. Supermarkets and consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers overlook this at their peril.
But comfort with technology varies considerably among older consumers. Pew Research Center data show that 79% of Americans age 65 and older own a smartphone. Compare that with 97% of adults under 50. Ownership, however, doesn’t necessarily mean proficiency. AARP research found that 60% of adults age 50-plus believe technology isn’t designed with their age group in mind; 30% say they lack the digital skills to take full advantage of being online.
For shoppers navigating small screens, complicated menus and digital coupon requirements, those limitations can become barriers to everyday grocery savings.
Besides, some consumers are just plain reluctant to download another application or share personal information just for a lower grocery price. A March 2026 Ipsos survey found that 33% of Americans don’t want additional retail apps or lack space for them, while 30% are uncomfortable giving companies access to their personal data. Another 33% cited concerns about storing payment information.
There is a longer-term consideration: today’s 55-year-old is tomorrow’s 75-year-old, and may not see well enough to comfortably navigate the small screens and complicated applications that are becoming part of everyday grocery shopping.
It’s not unreasonable to speculate on a generational blind spot within the grocery industry itself. Younger executives at supermarket chains and CPG companies have grown up with smartphones and digital technology. What seems routine to them may be much more difficult for an older customer. Smartphone ownership does not automatically translate into digital shopping proficiency.
The bottom line is this: Stores need to make certain they’re not making it harder for a loyal customer to receive the same value available to everyone else.
Digital Discounts Are Drawing Regulatory Scrutiny
The debate over digital-only discounts has begun moving beyond customer service and into public policy.
Consumer advocates have raised concerns that consumers without reliable digital access, or those who are unable to navigate retailer applications, may be excluded from savings that are otherwise advertised to the public.
San Diego became the first U.S. city to adopt an ordinance addressing digital-only grocery discounts. Its Grocery Pricing Transparency Ordinance requires retailers to provide an in-store alternative for certain publicly available digital discounts. The measure took effect October 1, 2025, with provisions addressing loyalty and rewards programs and exceptions for certain personalized offers and paid memberships.
As with “surveillance pricing,” the value-access issue is likely to attract attention as more retailers fold promotional activity into their digital platforms. While there are perfectly legitimate reasons for retailers to encourage app usage, policymakers and advocates are beginning to examine whether a digital device should be required to access an advertised grocery discount.
The Manufacturer’s Stake in Unredeemed Discounts
Unsurprisingly, the value-access issue has implications for CPG manufacturers, too.
Manufacturers routinely fund promotions to encourage trial, increase sales and build brand loyalty. Digital coupons give manufacturers and retailers more information about consumer behavior, allowing them to target offers and measure redemption.
Depending on how the promotional agreement is structured, a manufacturer may be paying the retailer for every qualifying unit sold during a promotional period – regardless of whether the consumer actually received the advertised discount. If the shopper never activated the digital coupon, the manufacturer might still be funding a promotion that never delivered the intended savings to that customer.
CPG companies seeking to evaluate their promotional spending – and the return on those investments – ought to ask whether they’re paying for discounts shoppers actually receive… or simply funding promotional programs based on retailer sales activity.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that promotional accounting is improper, per se, but it does suggest that manufacturers should understand exactly how their promotional dollars are being applied, reported and reconciled.
In my view, the value of a promotion should be measured by whether it influences purchasing behavior and delivers a benefit to the consumer – not simply by how many coupons were loaded onto an app.
When Digital Convenience Costs Real-World Loyalty
Retailers have good reasons to embrace digital promotions, including lower printing and distribution costs, better consumer insights and more effective targeting.
But there’s a difference between encouraging customers to use technology and forcing them to as a requirement for receiving competitive prices. That said, some major retailers have always made it easy. Food Lion, for instance, and H-E-B offer straightforward ways for their shoppers to seize the value, with everyday low prices. What promotions are offered come in easy-to-understand formats. What’s more, plenty of Ahold banners have in-store kiosks – easy to find – where a customer can print hardcopies of every coupon they’re entitled to on the visit.
As we all know, supermarkets operate in a highly competitive environment where customer loyalty is tough to earn and easy to lose. It’s not hard to envision a shopper, feeling penalized for not using an app, deciding to take more of their business elsewhere.
And there’s the checkout experience to consider. Customers who believe they qualify for a discount but don’t receive it can create frustration for themselves, store employees and other shoppers waiting in line.
The shopper-experience goal of a promotion – always – should be to make the shopping experience more attractive not to create another source of confusion.
Making Savings Accessible to Everyone
The good news is there are practical ways for retailers to maintain the benefits of digital promotions without excluding customers who prefer more traditional shopping methods.
First, stores can offer an in-store way to access publicly available discounts. There are plenty of ways to accomplish this, from printed offers to shelf tags to assistance from employees who can help customers activate promotions.
And retailers should simplify their applications. Customers shouldn’t be forced to navigate multiple screens or complicated menus to find basic savings. Digital offers should be easy to understand, easy to activate and clearly identified at the shelf.
What’s more, stores should pay close attention to promotions requiring multiple purchases or spending thresholds. If customers need to buy products across several departments to qualify, those requirements have to be clearly explained before they reach the checkout.
Finally, manufacturers and retailers alike should examine whether promotional dollars are actually reaching the shoppers they are intended to benefit. A promotion that’s difficult to understand or requires too many steps may not deliver the results anyone expects.
Ultimately, technology shouldn’t be a barrier to value. Food retailers invested more than $10 billion in technology in 2024 alone. Customer relationships ought to benefit from that. If not, retailers might find that the customers they’ve worked so hard to retain are the ones being left behind.