When quality is hard to judge, price becomes a shortcut.
More quotesTwo receipts, same supermarket, same week.
The first has saffron, fresh dill and a particular rice because dinner is already promised. The second has carrots, lentils and whatever bread carried a yellow sticker. One shopper arrived with requirements. The other arrived with time.
Average prices can look perfectly fair while the urgent items carry the fattest margins. The supermarket does not need a questionnaire about wealth. It can distinguish the shopper who must buy tonight from the shopper who can walk away. Flexibility is visible at the till.
People call this segmentation when they admire it and a nuisance surcharge when they pay it. A carer between appointments has less scope to compare shops than somebody with a car, freezer and free afternoon. Loyalty prices add another condition: hand over data, remember the card, use the app, then receive the number printed in large type. Refuse the admin and pay the quiet tax.
Some differences are reasonable. Fresh food spoils. Promotions shift stock. Shops charge for convenience because convenience costs money and customers value it. The dodgy bit is pretending everyone encounters the same offer when access requires time, storage, transport and attention.
At home, the first receipt is £18 dearer. The saffron accounts for £4. The rest is spread across nine small differences. The receipt stays on the kitchen counter while dinner is prepared.