I feel like this misunderstands sales and discounting systems. Because it's a snappy line which is technically true but the long answer is way weirder.
I'm just gonna use Kroger as an example because they use "club pricing", rotating club pricing, actual sales, "manager specials", and closeout sales.
- Everything by default is priced at MSRP, that's the price on the white price tags or the yellow price tags that don't have a corresponding white price.
- Then they use club pricing which is the price on the "yellow" tags that aren't formatted like number/$dollars like 3/$5 or 2/$4. This is the price you would compare to Walmart.
- Then there is rolling club pricing which is like 2/$5 but always unit priced to your benefit. So they will mark 2/$4 but the unit price is $2.
These aren't actually sales in any meaningful sense. But the next ones are.
- The actual sales require a minimum unit purchase. You probably see these when buying soda or vitamins. If you compare prices to other stores this is only time you'll see the unit price actually smaller than other stores. The "buy n get $n" deals are also in this category but are way more gameified.
- Then there are "manager specials" i.e. "woohoo!" deals which are priced with stickers and also actually discounts.
- Finally there are closeout deals which are white tags usually steeply discounted and don't require a card to get.
I really hate that all this garbage works. I really appreciate stores that just post a price.