| Title: | Discounting one selected item or the whole cart? : A theoretical analysis of two mutually exclusive supermarket discount formats |
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| Authors: | ID Velkavrh, Žiga (Author) |
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| Files: |  RAZ_Velkavrh_Ziga_2026.pdf (5,27 MB)
MD5: 184B935186977892DA06013635D2496D
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291126010016
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| Language: | English |
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| Work type: | Article |
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| Typology: | 1.01 - Original Scientific Article |
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| Organization: | FAMNIT - Faculty of Mathematics, Science and Information Technologies
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| Abstract: | The article addresses two real-world decision-making problems faced by customers who are offered two mutually exclusive supermarket discount formats: an unconditional per-selected-item discount and a conditional per-purchase discount applicable only when the total purchase amount reaches a specified spending threshold. The analysis provides a normative benchmark for comparing these formats from the customer's perspective and determines what a customer should do, once they have selected their cart, to minimise total payment. When the threshold is reached, the problem reduces to a monetary comparison between applying a higher discount to a most expensive item in the cart and applying a lower discount to the overall purchase. When the threshold is not reached, the problem becomes more complex, as the analysis requires determining whether applying a higher discount to a most expensive item in the original cart results in a lower or higher total payment than adding an additional item to reach the threshold and applying a lower discount to the new total purchase amount. To automate the required calculations and thereby facilitate discount comparisons, we provide a prototype decision aid in the form of R functions, which could serve as a basis for supermarket decision-support tools. |
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| Keywords: | customer behaviour, decision theory, normative benchmark, per-purchase discount, per-selected-item discount |
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| Publication version: | Version of Record |
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| Publication date: | 12.08.2026 |
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| Year of publishing: | 2026 |
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| Number of pages: | str. 1-12 |
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| Numbering: | Vol. 14, article 103435 |
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| PID: | 20.500.12556/RUP-23479  |
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| UDC: | 519.816 |
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| ISSN on article: | 2590-2911 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ssaho.2026.103435 |
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| COBISS.SI-ID: | 287789059 |
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| Publication date in RUP: | 14.08.2026 |
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| Views: | 34 |
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| Downloads: | 2 |
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| Metadata: |    |
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