It's about the shopping experience in the US.
Something I didn't experience in SG.
There are a few really really good points on how US handles the retail experience.
1. Returns
I can bring an opened item back to many retailers and get a full refund back into how I originally paid for the products.
So I could return an opened peanut butter that I felt wasn't what I expected. Give them a receipt and get refunded in cash, or credit card, or gift card credit.
I have NEVER experienced that in Singapore.
I can return almost anything to major supermarkets or retailers, and it's a really really easy process. It's not like I have to jump through hoops to process a return, and neither does the staff processing the return ask too many questions.
2. Returns (Part 2)
I just bought something from Amazon. They delivered the wrong product.
My wife wrote to their CHATBOT... not even a human. The chatbot had some standard questions and standard responses that customers can reply.
So the chatbot asks why we want to return the product, they suggested some answers, she clicked on the "wrong item delivered" button.
The chatbot said that it will process a refund back to the Amazon account, it also replied that we don't need to return the product.
So we get the product for free and our credit back.
NEVER GONNA HAPPEN IN SG.
3. Freebies
My wife likes to go online and scour for deals.
So she tries to get samples of products, or volunteers to review products, etc...
She goes to buy a specific item, tries it, gives a review, then submits the receipt to the company for a full refund.
Or companies would send her products to try and she just needs to give a review.
Or they would send coupons whereby we can go to the retailer and just buy the product for free using the coupon.
We get stuff like milk, almond milk, vitamin gummies, ham, plant based meat from different brands, coffee, pizza from a leading pizza chain, etc...
This isn't some small bottle or milk or products. This is like really an actual product which we buy from the supermarket. A full carton of milk, or a large pizza, etc...
4. Freebies (Part 2)
And then when it was our birthday, we downloaded some apps and created accounts for a bunch of food eateries, some fast food, some are sandwich shops, burger shops, etc...
And we can get a free burger, or sandwich (similar to subway), and a couple of other eateries.
We've eaten from a couple of places for free due to this.
Just go to the outlet, order, flash a code from the app, the end. No purchase necessary.
5. Stacking coupons / promos
We can use multiple different coupons and promos for a purchase at most leading supermarkets.
There's the manufacturer coupon, then there's the supermarket coupons, AND supermarket promos.
So if a supermarket has a buy 5 item and get $1 off each of the item promo (this is considered a supermarket promo),
AND a coupon which gives $0.50 off for toothpaste (this is considered a supermarket coupon),
AND a $2 manufacturer coupon, they ALL can be used together.
Resulting in a $3.50 discount off the product, and this could result in a product being free.
Also, there's a possibility that this product might be featured in another app as a promo item and we could also submit the receipt for even more rebates making a purchase a money maker.
Doesn't exist in SG. Where most promos/discounts are always "Not valid with other promos".
The way I look at it, is that, in the US, the marketing is really really aggressive.
They don't mind giving away products or samples, for consumers to try.
Just try it, so that maybe you'll like it and become a regular customer.
It's entirely a different experience. They just want people to try their stuff.
The idea is that if it's good enough, you'll end up ditching your regular brand for whatever new brand you're trying. And the companies are ok with such marketing techniques and expenses.
It's quite hard to keep up with the freebies and promos. There's a lot of stuff.
And I can see why some people can't be bothered to chase these freebies. It takes a lot of dedication cos it's all over the place, different websites, diff retailers, etc.
It's much easier to just focus on what you want and just buy it, instead of trying to get the stuff for free.
There is some effort required.
Nonetheless, this is quite a nice experience in the US.
The retail, customer returns, freebies, really make me feel that SG is really far behind in this aspect.
I mean... I've never been able to return anything in SG. OR even if I return something, it needs to be unopened and I can only get credit back such that I still need to spend the credits at the same shop again.
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