Why are supermarkets so bad at managing inventory / adjusting for demand?

[ControlD]

When the water needs to be specifically tailored for a sensitive species it is safest to start with distilled water. You add minerals but you start with distilled water so that you KNOW what is in it and how much. Duh. Hell, even Sea Monkeys include a water conditioner that you can add to distilled water.

Much easier and cheaper (and just as effective) to start with R/O. But, I guess someone needs to keep the DI water people in business.

 

[gotsmack]

Sounds like some of you could use a distilled water machine. My high school chemistry teacher said he had one. Quick Amazon search showed one going for $600.

Unlikely, I run the humidifier 4 months out of the year and use under 100 gallons of distilled water. There is no way I'd make up the cost if the machine after energy costs before the thing broke down.

 

[CZroe]

Much easier and cheaper (and just as effective) to start with R/O. But, I guess someone needs to keep the DI water people in business.

Sorry, but pure reverse osmosis filtered water is not a specific and commonly available type of bottled water like Drinking water, Spring water, and Distilled water. Are you actually suggesting that people get a whole-home reverse osmosis system for their aquarium hobby? Should they buy a crate of Dasani the next time they need to fill a dinky 5-gallon aquarium? 🙄

Sure, some bottled Drinking water is filtered with reverse osmosis while some isn't but, even when it is reverse osmosis filtered, it isn't really any cheaper than Spring or Distilled. Even when you do specifically find reverse osmosis filtered Drinking water, it almost always has mineral additives for taste. Admit it: Distilled is better suited.

 

[ControlD]

Sorry, but pure reverse osmosis filtered water is not a specific and commonly available type of bottled water like Drinking water, Spring water, and Distilled water. Are you actually suggesting that people get a whole-home reverse osmosis system for their aquarium hobby? Should they buy a crate of Dasani the next time they need to fill a dinky 5-gallon aquarium? 🙄

Sure, some bottled Drinking water is filtered with reverse osmosis while some isn't but, even when it is reverse osmosis filtered, it isn't really any cheaper than Spring or Distilled. Even when you do specifically find reverse osmosis filtered Drinking water, it almost always has mineral additives for taste.

I wasn't talking about a 5 gallon aquarium, but then again in most cases people that only have 5g tanks also most likely aren't keeping delicate fish that need anything more than dechlorinated tap water.

I change out around 70 gallons a week right now for my various aquariums and the thought of doing that with 70 one gallon jugs of DI water from Walmart is silly. Most hobbyists that need special water get stand-alone R/O units to gather enough water for a week's worth of water changes, not a whole house system. It costs about $200, not a huge outlay of cash. Most good aquarium stores (if you can find one) also sell bulk R/O for people that don't want to mess with it.

I'll meet you in the middle: DI is better for applications where avoiding mineral deposits is needed. No doubt about that.

Everyone knows the best water is beer anyhow.

 

[evident]

Very few people on earth buy distilled water, it sells like dogshit pretty much everywhere. It doesn't have any real place in the world anymore. It used to be bought by garages to service open-cell car batteries and little old ladies to use in steam irons. Nowadays, I think hardcare aquarium guys use it and that's about it.

I thought people with dehumidifiers use it so it creates less bacteria and less white dust in areas with hard water. at least thats what my instruction manual says

 

[FeuerFrei]

I used to stock the water at Walmart (non-supercenter). I worked nights. There was only space for 16 gallons of distilled on the shelves. If we had a skid of it in the backroom, shelves were full every morning when the store opened at 7AM, or soon thereafter. I know the store manager would keep an eye on it and restock during the day if needed. When people come in and buy two or six gallons at a time, the shelf empties quick, though some days you might sell only 10 gallons.

Why they don't dedicate more shelf space, who knows. It's decided at the corporate level.

 

[Ichinisan]

I assume while you were there you told the manager how often you find that shelf empty - what did he say?

He was on-the-ball. He saw me taking the first picture and asked if he could help. I told him I only find distilled water ~1/5 times I go there and it seems they can't really keep up with demand - and that it's gone on for a long time. He took interest and checked inventory. He said they had a bunch on their last order that was "struck out" for some reason and they were expecting more to arrive that night. I came back the next day and saw that the replenishments were selling out fast.

 

[Ns1]

I used to stock the water at Walmart (non-supercenter). I worked nights. There was only space for 16 gallons of distilled on the shelves. If we had a skid of it in the backroom, shelves were full every morning when the store opened at 7AM, or soon thereafter. I know the store manager would keep an eye on it and restock during the day if needed. When people come in and buy two or six gallons at a time, the shelf empties quick, though some days you might sell only 10 gallons.

Why they don't dedicate more shelf space, who knows. It's decided at the corporate level.

/thread

 

[CZroe]

I wasn't talking about a 5 gallon aquarium, but then again in most cases people that only have 5g tanks also most likely aren't keeping delicate fish that need anything more than dechlorinated tap water.

I change out around 70 gallons a week right now for my various aquariums and the thought of doing that with 70 one gallon jugs of DI water from Walmart is silly. Most hobbyists that need special water get stand-alone R/O units to gather enough water for a week's worth of water changes, not a whole house system. It costs about $200, not a huge outlay of cash. Most good aquarium stores (if you can find one) also sell bulk R/O for people that don't want to mess with it.

I'll meet you in the middle: DI is better for applications where avoiding mineral deposits is needed. No doubt about that.

Everyone knows the best water is beer anyhow.

Well, I was thinking of hobbyists with multiple smaller aquariums in addition to their large displays with smaller ones used to isolate or stage certain specimens, especially exotics or those with special requirements (not simple salt water, fresh water, tropical, etc).

I've never seen a stand-alone reverse osmosis unit and imagined that they would be a kind of water cooler/fountain, but it is interesting to know that they do exist. If I was going to spend $200 I'd probably spend a little more to get the whole-home unit. 😉

 

[Childs]

You might be better buying a 3 or 5 gal bottle and just refilling it. Theres quite a few places here that sell 5 gals of reverse osmosis or distilled water for $1. I go to the hoity toity one that charges $1.25, but its on the way to work. You can buy a bottle with a spout built in. A non electric water dispenser can be had for like $20-30, and a hot cold unit like in an office can be found for $100. I bought a fairly good one (Aquaverse 5H) for $90 new from Costco via eBay. For some reason they were selling them on eBay, but not under their own name. Anyways, if you buy a lot of water it might be a better option than hoping its stocked in the store.

 

[slag]

Quite the opposite. It looks to me like it occupies a significant amount of shelf space and sells out consistently -- leaving a lot of empty space on the shelves. The proper response would be to allocate even more shelf space to that product to satiate demand or replenish stock more frequently.

As I said, this has been going on for many years since I noticed.

Shelf space is a premium and water is cheap. They could allocate more shelf space to water, but they probably lose a lot more money. A gallon sells for under a buck and it takes up a lot of space.

 

[slag]

Who the hell buys distilled water on a regular basis?

Me and the wife for our CPAP machines.

 

[QueBert]

Very few people on earth buy distilled water, it sells like dogshit pretty much everywhere. It doesn't have any real place in the world anymore. It used to be bought by garages to service open-cell car batteries and little old ladies to use in steam irons. Nowadays, I think hardcare aquarium guys use it and that's about it.

Detailers use it, most buy it from machines as they have 50-100 gallon tanks to fill up. I detail and do rinseless wash (no hose) I buy about 15-20 gallons of it a week from the store.

 

[Aikouka]

Hmm my local Kroger seems to be fine when it comes to distilled water. They did stop carrying my favorite spaghetti sauce though... Classico's Italian Sausage. It's not as good as Wegmans' Bolognese sauce (I miss Wegmans :'(), but it's good enough.

I totally agree. My only local grocery store constantly runs out of the unsweetened almond milk every single time, but they always have oodles of the sweetened, chocolate, and coconut on hand. Makes zero sense.

KT

My Kroger doesn't even stock the 30-calorie unsweetened almond milk. 🙁

 

[rudeguy]

ITT: People argue over what water to drink.