You’ve heard it said before while shopping for your weekly grocery items, you’ve even noticed the plaque hanging next to the customer service counter while checking out. But what is the Publix Promise? What does it stand for and why is it so important?
For those who struggle just to get in and get out while shopping with the entire family, it’s okay. We understand that you may not have time to stop and read the wall or have an associate explain it to you. For that very reason, we have dedicated this article to you — the busy bee with a million and one things on your plate. As you sit down to unwind from another hectic day, we invite you to enjoy this easy read where you can learn all about the meaning behind our 41 word phrase that has been the backbone of our grocery store chain since day one.
“Our Publix Promise states that if during checkout, the scanned price of an item (excluding alcohol and tobacco products) exceeds the shelf price or advertised price, we will give the customer one of that item free. We will charge the lower price for the remaining items.”
How Does it Benefit Publix?
You may be wondering, how does an assurance like this benefit a company trying to make money? The truth of the matter is, making a profit isn’t the most important thing to Publix. As stated by our founder, George Jenkins, “Never let making a profit stand in the way of doing the right thing.” What’s important to us is you — the customer.
If you see that an item is marked one price, and then at the register it rings up differently, we want to make it right. When that happens, of course we think the sale price should be honored, but we also feel you should get one of the items for free.
Why do we do this? Simple. Your complete satisfaction is what we are all about. As a “sorry for the inconvenience” we do it to keep you happy and coming back for years to come. So again, you ask how Publix benefits from the Publix Promise? The not-so-secret secret is that we get to see your smiling face come back.
How Does it Benefit You?
The answer to this one is simple. To ensure that you are taken care of from the second you walk into the store to well after you’ve prepared your meal at home, it’s important to know that we’re here to help in any way we can. At the register, we know it can be frustrating when there’s a line or maybe even just a few items on the belt in front of your order. To help save time, we’ve trained our staff to help unload the shopping cart and ring up grocery items in the most efficient way possible. You may be thinking, “Yes, all that is just fine and dandy, but what about when something is rung up wrong at the register?” To be sure that this mistake does not happen again in the future, it’s likely that an associate will be sent back to check the shelf and pull the tag if necessary. We know that your time is valuable and would never want anyone to feel like their time is being wasted. As a kind gesture, aside from making sure that the price is corrected, we also offer one of the items for free.
Our drive to keep our customers happy is what we’ve focused our attention on since the beginning and it’s what we will continue to focus on as we move forward. Our Publix Promise is just one of the many features that we offer to customers in our store. Do you have a Publix Promise story that you’d like to share with us? How about just a nice personal story that touched you in one way or another at checkout? Either way, we want to hear about it! Share with us in the comments below.