If you’ve ever shopped at Publix, you might be wondering why the store is so expensive compared to other supermarkets like Kroger or Winn-Dixie.
I’ve been wondering about the same thing! So, keep reading to check out 11 reasons why Publix is much more expensive compared to other grocery and retail stores!
Key Takeaways
Why Is Publix So Expensive In 2022?
Publix is so expensive due to the store buying local produce and products in its communities and has continuously offered higher-quality grocery and non-grocery-items as of 2022. Compared to lower-quality stores like Walmart, Publix seems expensive even though the prices are reasonable for the quality of products offered.
Are you still wondering why Publix is so expensive compared to similar grocery stores and supermarkets? Keep reading because I’ll get into even more reasons below!
1. BOGO Deals
Publix is known for having a lot of BOGO deals, and the store also has a lot of buy one get two free deals.
Furthermore, BOGO deals mean that Publix is offering you products at prices at what it’s getting them for or a little lower, so to counter the massive BOGO deals, Publix raises prices.
2. Higher Quality Products
You get what you pay for, and when it comes to Publix, it has higher quality products than what you’ll find at similar supermarkets or grocery stores like Winn-Dixie or Walmart.
On top of that, Publix has higher quality appliances and household goods, so it’s not just the higher quality food at the chain supermarket.
Further, Publix gets shipments of products in-store and restocks shelves daily to ensure you’re getting the freshest and most high-quality food each time you shop.
A rare and unique aspect of Publix is that it offers a lot of help to senior citizen customers, including taking out their groceries to their cars or assisting with picking out products.
Also, Publix offers senior citizens extra deals and discounts, costing the store money and digging into the bottom line of profits.
So while offering these extra services to senior citizens is a very nice gesture, it doesn’t pay for itself, so the additional services offered cost money, impacting prices at Publix.
In addition, people in the community, even those who aren’t senior citizens, are willing to pay more to shop at Publix because it offers these extra services.
4. Comparisons To Cheaper Stores
When talking about Publix, people often compare the store to Walmart, a lower-quality store with lower-quality products.
Therefore, it makes sense that Publix seems more expensive when compared to stores like Walmart, even though Publix prices aren’t unreasonable for the quality.
5. Return Policy Lets You Return Almost Any Item
Publix has a very generous return policy that allows you to return almost anything, which is naturally going to eat into the company’s profit margin for giving so much money back.
Further, since Publix offers this return policy, prices are bumped up on its products to lower the losses of those returns.
6. Top-Notch Customer Experience
One of the things people love about Publix is that the workers are incredibly friendly, and the store is very clean and organized.
However, cleanliness of the store and prioritizing the customer experience means that Publix has to hire more workers, and Publix has to make money to keep a workforce.
Therefore, by having prices that are a bit higher than Walmart, Publix is putting that money into hiring workers to organize and keep the stores clean.
7. Publix Pays Workers More Money
While on the topic of the Publix employees, one reason Publix is so expensive is that it pays workers well for the work they do.
Additionally, paying good money for jobs has worked out well for Publix because you’ll get better workers and people who have a work ethic and care about the store.
However, because Publix pays workers so well for both part-time and full-time jobs, it’s reflected in the prices in stores.
8. Publix Buys Local Produce & Products
I’ve talked about higher-quality food at Publix, and one way that Publix ensures high quality is by purchasing local produce and other products for its stores.
However, when you’re purchasing local produce from the farmers, you’ll be paying more than if you had purchased items from Mexico or California and had them shipped.
If there’s a Publix near you, it’s a guarantee the products have come from farmers within your community.
9. Publix Offers Some Free Prescription Medications
Did you know Publix offers a 14-day free supply of some commonly used prescription medication?
By offering some medications for free, Publix has to make that money back somewhere, so prices in the store are higher to cover some of those costs.
Additionally, Publix has a program where you can get 90-day supplies of various medications for $7.50, so these savings for some get passed onto others at higher prices.
10. High-Quality Deli & Deli Meats
The subs at Publix are some of the best you’ll ever have, and Publix is known for its high-quality freshly made deli sandwiches and items.
So, Publix will charge a little more money for these deli items because they’re higher quality, made with better ingredients, and aren’t frozen or prepackaged.
Furthermore, the Publix stores that offer deli items make almost everything it sells, a fresh homemade quality not found anywhere else!
11. Publix Savings Clubs
Publix offers new parents the option to join the Publix Baby Club, which offers many coupons on baby items and the coupons are good for products until age two.
On top of that, Publix Paws Club is a savings club you can join if you have pets, and Publix offers coupons and free special items for your pet, such as toys and treats.
However, by offering these savings clubs for babies and pets, Publix gives away products and sends coupons that cut into its profits.
So, one way to counter the loss of revenue with the savings clubs is to make prices higher in the store.
To learn more, you can also see our posts on Publix wrong price policy, Publix return policy, and when does Publix restocks.
Conclusion
Publix is so expensive because it offers customers higher quality products that you cannot find at lower-end stores like Walmart.
On top of that, Publix has free prescription offers, and a discount prescription program, which results in Publix losing money, and raising prices can balance that out.
Also, Publix pays workers more money, offers services to seniors, and has a deli department that makes fresh sandwiches using high-quality products, which consumers end up paying for in the other products.