I am a single mother of two small boys and unfortunately I have to rely on SNAP benefits to make ends meet. Double coupons at Kroger was the only way I was able to stretch those benefits to provide enough food for my growing children. Now that Kroger has eliminated that customer reward I will probably do the majority of my shopping elsewhere and did I mention that I am also a Kroger employee?! While
Kroger has reduced prices on many items ( still not as low as Walmart's everyday low prices) the prices on many other item have actually increased I have noticed. How is this going to earn
Kroger more business when other stores with competing prices have more coupon incentives? Walmart not only price matches but will take competitor store coupons. Target will stack their own store coupons with manufacturer coupons. Kroger was my favorite place to shop and now I have to rethink things. I live in an pretty poor community and I know I'm not the only person who relays on coupons to make ends meet. I hope Kroger will rethink this decision. Bring doubles back to the Mid Atlantic region!

This is the FIRST TIME Kroger has disclosed to its shareholders it was ending the CUSTOMER 1st LOYALTY REWARD of NO DOUBLE COUPONS:
Kroger Defends Double Coupon Elimination - "Kroger Co.’s chief financial officer on Tuesday defended the chain’s recent discontinuation of double coupons in several markets, saying the practice was “a VERY EXPENSIVE REWARD proposition that a very small number of [our] customers actually engage in.” Speaking at BMO Capital’s Farm to Market conference, Michael Schlotman said eliminating double coupons has helped the company invest in lower everyday prices that benefited a larger group of shoppers than the chain’s heavy coupon shoppers.

“Now, they're a very vocal part of your customer base, and they don't like it when you stop giving them that reward,” he said. “But the percentage of customers who actually enjoyed the benefit of that, our view was we were better off taking those dollars and investing them in better prices for all of our customers rather than rewarding just a select segment of our customers.”

Kroger introduced lower everyday prices to coincide with the removal of double-couponing. Kroger so far has stopped doubling coupons in Houston, Southern California, Cincinnati and most recently in the Mid-Atlantic states."
http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/kroger-defends-double-coupon-elimination

I live an hour away from the closest Kroger. The only store locally is Walmart. Now I use to drive to Kroger when they doubled coupons. I would shop for 2-4 weeks at a time. I would buy my gas there and it made it worth the trip. With Walmart matching Krogers prices, I have no incentive to make the drive to Kroger.

Open Letter to Kroger Company Shareholders
Why Customers are No Longer Shopping at Kroger

Kroger ended double-triple coupons for Houston in April 2011. We reached out in a letter to Kroger CEO David Dillon, Houston Store Managers, and all Division Presidents.(1) Kroger repeatedly told customers these changes would not roll out to other regions, and yet to date this has rolled out to many regions.

When you see a drop in both profitability and foot traffic to the Kroger stores, it is due to customers VOTING with their WALLETS. Kroger management chose to drastically change coupon policies and limits, as well as make their cashiers sign “Coupon Agreements” causing customers to be berated for use of coupons. To date none of these extreme changes to Kroger’s Customer 1st Strategy have been reported to shareholders in the Kroger financial reports/transcripts.

Thousands of customers posted on Kroger Facebook and were ignored: “Kroger missed 100% of their consumers' complaints on social networking sites in a study conducted by Conversocial.”(2) Many customers mailed/emailed letters to Kroger asking them to reconsider these new policy changes and noted there was no incentive to continue to shop at Kroger. Customers sadly stated how many generations, years of loyalty, and memories they had wrapped up in shopping at Kroger stores.

The most recent region to lose double coupons effective March 1, 2013, is the Cincinnati Region which includes stores in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. It appears Kroger is rolling out these coupon policy changes in the markets they are currently ranked #1 and #2. (3) Dallas/Fort-Worth lost double coupons in September 2011. Ralphs lost double coupons in April 2012.(4) Fry’s Food Stores ended double coupons in Sierra Vista, Casa Grande, Yuma, and Greater Tucson area stores on September 14, 2011 and later reversed their decision.(5)

Kroger has repeatedly denied their participation in TLC’s Extreme Couponing show was an influence on ending double coupons, even though this new policy coincided with the new season of TLC Extreme Couponing. Kroger was the BIGGEST STAR retailer (6) participating in the majority of the episodes with two million plus viewers each show. Many participants used endless amounts of coupons, did not have the store limit coupons, or apply the stores coupon policies. There was no legal disclaimer in the show stating this could not be duplicated under normal circumstances. Kroger.com website traffic clearly benefited from the show with an increase of over 1 million visits.(7) The pilot airing of the show in December 2010 had advertising sponsor Staples, whose President also serves on Kroger's Board of Directors. Was Kroger a silent producer of the show?

Kroger told Houston they would end double-triple coupons because of the cost of the new Fuel Rewards program. Kroger has added many other regions to the $1 Fuel Reward, and has NOT removed double-triple coupons from these other regions. Kroger said that only 7% of customers use coupons and only 1% use more than 10 coupons per transaction. Kroger said they lowered prices and yet most reported prices were not lowered but almost identical to Kroger’s other regions. Kroger said $25 million was the savings under the old savings program with double coupons and the new savings program would represent much more savings for the Houston customers. Kroger said the TLC Extreme Couponing Show did not ruin its bottom line, yet Kroger later said in the media that due to extreme couponing they would have to increase prices. During this time many of the Kroger ads had the double coupon wording and limits of coupons not included in the fine print of their advertisements for many regions. Kroger continues to set NEW coupon limits in many Kroger regions without prior notice to customers or in their advertisements.

Does Kroger really understand what Customer 1st means? In the end companies will only be successful that are engaging, relevant, truthful; earning respect, and creating value. The game of creepily gathering data/spying on your customers, trickery in prices and promotions, broken digital coupons, ending doubles is not working. May the best retailer win!
LINK: http://tinyurl.com/a9g9lfb
https://www.facebook.com/Bringbackdoubles
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Krogercouponers/

(1) http://tinyurl.com/allmqsr
(2) http://management.fortune.cnn....RRnLI.dpuf http://hwigton.files.wordpress...ger-co.pdf
(3) http://supermarketnews.com/kro...ng-channel
(4)http://www.consumerworld.org/pages/doublecouponsprs.htm
http://www.mouseprint.org/2012/03/26/no-joke-ralphs-dropping-double-coupons-on-april-1/
(5) https://www.facebook.com/notes/frys-food-stores/manufacturer-coupon-announcement/278916155452706
(6)https://www.facebook.com/groups/Krogercouponers/doc/232075473522751/
(7) http://siteanalytics.compete.com/kroger.com/

Our most vulnerable population, the poor and elderly, don't understand why they have to pay more for groceries than shoppers with internet access. Kroger's recent Daytona sale is an example. Without a smart phone or internet connection to load digital coupons, there's no sale price. Kroger needs to think about the effect their strategies have on shoppers who have been loyal for decades. Bewildered shoppers will be taking their business to other more senior friendly competitors. The extra savings of paper coupons, with double the value, are needed for our elderly and poor.

I give up! Kroger's not worth worrying about. If you're wondering where I went, check the jungle, Jim's that is!

Believe it or not, I'm not shopping at Kroger. Never thought I could feel so free. Track that Dunnhumby. You'll never find me.

Thank goodness Meijer and Remke haven't lost their senses! I know where I'll be shopping. Wake up Kroger, bring back doubles!!

Kroger recently announced that they're lowering prices on 3500 items. I just saw a news report that a Kroger in GA is stocking 58000 items. That leads me to wonder how many items have seen a price increase. It's impossible to check Kroger's claim of new low prices. All I can see is my total grocery spending going up at their store. With double coupons, I saved enough to keep me coming back. Kroger's competitors will be getting my spending now. Hey Kroger, bring back double coupons.

I am not able to spend as much money at Kroger since they eliminated double coupons in Irving, Texas last year. Not only do I need the double coupons to manage my grocery budget, they also help me to donate to local food banks. Tom Thumb still offer double coupons so they now get more of my business.