Food City: 6 ways to build a list around coupons

03Filter coupons against the list you actually have

I open Digital Coupons after I know what I intend to buy. The filter and sort controls help me narrow the screen instead of scrolling through offers for products that have no place in this week’s meals. When I find a relevant coupon, I tap to add it to my ValuCard. I check the qualifying purchase before I count it as part of my plan.

This order pays off when a coupon tempts me to change the list just because it is there. I would rather clip an offer for a planned purchase than build a new dinner around an offer I spotted while waiting in a queue. At checkout, a coupon added to the ValuCard can apply to a qualifying purchase. The next useful check is right in the kitchen, where I can see which products I need to replace.

04Scan the package in your hand instead of typing its name

When I use the last of a pantry item, I open Food City’s Barcode Scan and scan the package before it goes away. The scanner can add a product to my shopping list or cart, which is handy when the label is more precise than the shorthand I would type. It can also surface relevant digital coupons, offers and nutritional facts while I am looking at that product.

I choose the list when I am still planning an in-store trip; I choose the cart when I am preparing an order. That distinction keeps me from treating a thought about dinner as a decision to buy immediately. A scan is especially helpful for a familiar product with several similar varieties, but I still look at what was added. Then I can turn loose ingredients on the list into an actual meal.

05Let a recipe suggestion fill the gaps, not replace dinner

Food City offers personalized recipe suggestions based on favorite ingredients, with a way to add ingredients to a list or cart. I use that when I already have a starting point, such as a vegetable that needs using, but have not settled on the rest of dinner. I look at a suggestion beside my current shopping list before adding its ingredients, so I can tell what I already have.

The useful move is adding recipe ingredients to the list while I am planning, then checking for duplicates before I shop. It pays off on the evenings when I know the main ingredient but keep forgetting the small things that make it a meal. If I am arranging curbside pickup or delivery instead, adding ingredients to the cart may be the more direct route. Either way, the list needs one final look before the trip.

06Let aisle sorting turn the list into your store route

Before I walk in, I open Shopping Lists and look at the aisle-sorted view. I resist rewriting the list in the order items came to mind; the app sorts it by aisle for the store trip. That is the part I appreciate when I am fitting groceries around the family calendar and do not want to double back for an item I passed near the entrance.

I also scan the list once for anything I added from an ad, a barcode or a recipe that no longer fits. The aisle order helps with finding things, but it cannot decide whether I still want to cook that meal. If I am using pickup or delivery, I switch my attention to the cart instead of relying on an aisle route. For an in-store trip, though, this is where the earlier planning starts to feel useful.