GroceryHop: FAQ

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GroceryHop Frequently Asked Questions

General
What is the purpose of GroceryHop? Groceries are the second highest expenditure after housing for many households. Consumers have become very price savvy using multiple stores to buy items at the lowest unit price and analyzing their monthly grocery bills to keep spending down. But determining when a sale is actually providing the best value, which store offers the best price for each item and figuring out why the grocery bill is constantly increasing can be a time consuming task. GroceryHop provides you this analysis through your own grocery price book to save time and money.

How much can a grocery price book save me? Gary Foreman of The Dollar Stretcher states "Most people are able to reduce their grocery bills by 15% or more by using a pricebook. And, they're buying the same items as before. Just paying less for them."

Where can I see GroceryHop in action?
Our easy to use tools to help you save money include:
An easy to create, reusable Grocery List that shows your lowest unit price paid per item. If you see a sale while at the store, simply check it against your grocery list! Instant Analysis highlights your items increasing in both cost and quantity purchased. Complete Item Summary, Detail and Trend Analysis for additional information.
How does GroceryHop provide this analysis to help me save money? GroceryHop provides this analysis based on the purchase history you enter. At this time, we do not receive any information from manufacturers or stores.

How do I start? You may start by creating a grocery list for an upcoming grocery trip or entering a receipt from a previous trip. We recommend you prepare your grocery list before each grocery trip and then you use that list after the grocery trip to quickly enter your purchase information into GroceryHop.

How long will this take each week? Initially, it will take some time to set up your items and grocery lists. But after you complete your initial setup, it should take no more than 15 minutes each week to prepare your grocery list and enter your purchase information.

When will GroceryHop start to save me money? You can take immediate advantage of our money saving tools after you enter your first grocery receipt. Users will begin to receive most of the benefits of our money saving tools after only a few weeks of entering purchase information.

Items
What is a Grocery Item and why is it important? A grocery item is an item you purchase and is a part of a grocery list and/or a grocery trip. Items are reused as needed on grocery lists and grocery trips. GroceryHop uses the items you define for unit price comparisons, analysis and recommendations. The effectiveness of your item definitions will greatly impact the effectiveness of GroceryHop's unit price comparisons and recommendations. View examples of items.

While on a grocery trip, how can I compare the unit pricing of an item I normally don't buy at this store with the unit pricing at the store where I normally purchase the item? In addition to your grocery list for the store in question, we also provide you a list with all of your other items not on the grocery list. You can take this list as a secondary list on your grocery trip to help you determine the lowest unit price for each item. To access this list, click on "View Items with unit price not on list" at the top of your printable grocery list.

Why do some of your Sub Categories within the same Main Category have general names while some of the Sub Categories have specific names? Specifically, within the Main Category "Flavorings", you list Sub Categories such as "Condiments" (general) and Mayonnaise (specific) but no ketchup. This is due to different unit price conventions among similar appearing products. Most Condiments such as ketchup have a unit price in ounces, but for reasons unknown to us, mayonnaise has a unit price in quarts. Sub Categories allow for different unit price units.

How can I change the name of an item I entered in GroceryHop? You can change the item name for a specific grocery trip by selecting the trip and editing the name. You can change the item name for all of your trips and lists by selecting the item under the Grocery Items tab and changing the name at the bottom of the specific Item Detail page.

I just created a new item on a grocery list - so why is the information for this item on the Items table empty? The information on the Items table requires the entry of purchase information for the item. Some of the information will be available after just 1 purchase, but other information will only be available after multiple purchases.

Analysis
What is the purpose of using a "rolling one month comparison" for total units and total spending comparisons? We use rolling 1 month comparisons so we can provide you instant analysis and feedback after you enter in a new purchase. Using calendar months for comparisons would force us to wait until the calendar flips due to the inadequacies of comparing time periods of differing lengths.

For unit price comparisons, what is the difference between 3 Month Trend and Most Recent (MR) % Change? MR % Change compares your most recent purchase with the average of the purchases over the previous 4 weeks. As soon as you make a purchase, you will receive instant feedback on how that purchase compares with your other recent purchases. The 3 Month Trend provides you directional information over a slightly longer period of time and is not as heavily impacted by the most recent purchase.

Feedback
How can I provide feedback, request new features or discuss any comments/concerns? We welcome all user email and will respond within 1 business day. Please let us know how we can help you save time and money on your grocery shopping and provide the best user experience possible!