Lots of New Things for Customers

The End of the “25 Percent Off” Stickers at Billa

For Billa customers looking to save money, a lot is changing.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Billa, stock.adobe.com)

The legendary red or yellow discount stickers with the “25 percent off” label, which consumers were familiar with from Billa flyers, are now a thing of the past. Effective immediately, the adhesive stickers have been replaced by tear-off cardboard discount coupons. For customers, this means a number of changes—and they’re significant.

Here’s how it used to work: In the weekly flyer or daily newspapers, you’d find the familiar “25% off” stickers. You’d stick them on up to three products of your choice, and the discount would be applied at the register. Many customers would peel the stickers off the products to save money and reuse them multiple times—much to the displeasure of retailers, as this wasn’t what the system was intended for.

What’s Changing Specifically
That’s now a thing of the past. The latest flyer, which was delivered to households’ mailboxes on Tuesday, no longer contains adhesive stickers. Instead, there is a small cardboard sheet in the same format as the stickers, but with discount coupons. These are perforated and must be torn off and handed over at the register.

The advantage for customers: They no longer have to attach the cardboard coupons to individual products. The cashier enters the number of coupons into the register, and the customer automatically receives a 25 percent discount on the three most expensive items in their purchase.

From now on, customers can no longer stick the stickers on products; instead, they tear them off and hand them in at the register. There, the discount is then automatically applied to the most expensive items in their purchase.(Bild: Rewe)

However, the new stickers can now truly only be used once. This is because Billa cashiers are instructed to collect the coupons. “It’s just like any other voucher or coupon,” says Billa spokesperson Paul Pöttschacher, explaining the new policy. So while it used to be quite common to reuse the stickers multiple times, that is no longer possible.

Up to four coupons per shopping trip
One detail that should please many customers: Up to four of these coupons can be used per shopping trip. Three of them apply to all products—with the exception of the products or product groups listed on the back (see below). Another coupon is valid only for specific brands—for example, Simply Good products over the next two weeks. The current coupons are valid starting Thursday, September 24.

A positive side effect for the environment: The old stickers were affixed to a plastic backing, while the new discount stickers are made entirely of cardboard. “It’s definitely a benefit for the environment that there’s no more plastic,” emphasizes Pöttschacher.

The back of the new discount stickers lists the items for which they cannot be used. This includes up to 3,000 items from the new “Immer Clever Preis” promotion, which begins Thursday.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Billa)

More and More Products Excluded
But it’s not just the system that’s changing—the range of products for which the discount stickers are valid is also shrinking. Many Billa products were already excluded from the 25 percent discount, such as the affordable house brand Clever. In the future, customers will no longer be able to use the new coupons on even more products. As stated in the fine print on the back of the sheet: The coupons do not apply to products from the new “Always Clever Price” promotion.

Starting Thursday, Billa is lowering the prices of up to 3,000 items to the level of comparable products at Hofer and Lidl. At Billa Plus, this applies to up to 3,000 items, and at the smaller regular Billa stores, up to 2,000 items, depending on the store’s size. In the future, the 25 percent off stickers can no longer be applied to these exact items. And this by no means affects only the budget brand Clever, but also many items from Billa’s own organic brand, Ja! Natürlich—such as Ja! Natürlich organic bananas or Ja! Natürlich whole milk.

But other well-known brand-name items are also included in the “Always Clever Price” promotion: classic Milka chocolate bars, Felix tomato ketchup, Haribo Goldbären, Knoppers, Gösser beer, Stiegl beer, and other beers, Milka Tender, as well as cosmetic products like Axe shower gel, Glem Vital shampoo, Cif cream cleaner, or Somat dishwasher tabs. Also included are Landliebe pudding and Nuri sardines.

Confusion Over “Ja!” Products
The back of the flyer also states that all “Ja!”products are excluded. At first glance, this sounds like another restriction, but it’s not as bad as it seems: This does not refer to the “Ja!-Natürlich” products, but rather to an affordable private label called “Ja!”, which is available at Rewe in Germany and is positioned similarly to “Clever” in Austria. In Austria, only a very small number of products are affected, such as those in the pet food category.

What’s Behind “Immer Clever Preis”
According to the company, the new “Immer Clever Preis” promotion is the largest price campaign in Billa’s history. As the retail chain reports, 40 percent of the items included in the promotion are brand-name products, 30 percent are Clever items, and 30 percent are other private labels such as Ja! Natürlich or Billa Immer gut.

Billa CEO Erich Szuchy announced the campaign a few days ago: “We’re lowering the prices of up to 3,000 items to exactly the same level as at discount stores—permanently and across the entire product range.” This would save customers the trouble of comparing prices and making extra trips.

Billa CEO Erich Szuchy: “We’re lowering the prices of up to 3,000 items to exactly the same level as at discount stores—permanently and across the entire product range.”(Bild: BILLA / Robert Harson)

What this means for customers
For consumers, these changes bring several adjustments at once: The familiar price stickers are a thing of the past and are not expected to return in their old form. The new price tags are single-use only and apply to significantly fewer products than before. At the same time, prices for thousands of items are permanently dropping to discount levels. Whether this pays off for individual customers in the end depends on their personal shopping habits.