Easier for customers:

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

For Billa customers looking to save money, there are many new developments.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Billa, stock.adobe.com)

The legendary red or yellow discount stickers featuring “25 percent off”—which consumers were familiar with from Billa flyers—will now take on a different form. Starting immediately, instead of adhesive stickers, customers will find tear-off discount coupons made of cardboard. For consumers, this means changes and simplifications.

As usual, the weekly flyer or daily newspapers now feature 25 percent off discount coupons instead of the stickers. Previously, customers would stick these on up to three products of their choice, and the discount was applied at the register. This was complicated for some customers.

What’s Changing Specificallya
 Now it’s getting easier. The current 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 featuring 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 scans the coupons—which have a barcode on the back—and the customer automatically receives a 25 percent discount on the three most expensive items in their purchase.

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

Up to four coupons per purchase
One detail that should please many customers: Up to four of these coupons can be used per purchase. Three of them apply to all items—with the exception of the products or product groups listed on the back (see below). Another coupon is valid only for certain brands; for example, for 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 Billa spokesperson Paul Pöttschacher.

The back of the new discount stickers contains all the information relevant to customers.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Billa)

There are exceptions
But it’s not just the system that’s changing—the range of items to which the discount stickers apply is also becoming slightly smaller, because Billa is lowering prices on many items anyway. For example, the affordable private label “Clever” was already excluded from the 25 percent discount. In the future, customers will also not be able to apply the stickers to products from the new “Immer Clever Preis” program, which are already priced at discount levels.

Starting Thursday, Billa is permanently 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 smaller regular Billa stores, up to 2,000, depending on the store’s size. The price-reduction program applies not only to the budget “Clever” brand but also to many products 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 products are also included in the “Immer Clever Preis” program: 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, and Somat dishwasher tabs. Also included are Landliebe pudding and Nuri sardines.

Here’s what’s behind “Immer Clever Preis”
According to the company, the new “Immer Clever Preis” program is the largest price initiative in Billa’s history. As the retail chain reports, 40 percent of the items featured in the program 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 promotion 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)

Up to 3,000 products at discount store prices
So there are several changes for consumers: Instead of the previous price stickers, there are now new discount coupons. The 25 percent discount is now automatically deducted from the most expensive products at the register. At the same time, prices for thousands of items are permanently dropping to discount-store levels.