A former Marks & Spencer bakery worker has revealed the best times to visit stores to find yellow sticker bargains, saying early morning is the prime window for discounts.
Writing in a lifestyle piece, Katherine McPhillips explained that she now only shops at M&S at a very specific time after learning how the reductions system works during a university summer job in a bakery.
Yellow stickers are attached to items approaching their use-by date, offering shoppers a discount. Many people head to M&S just before closing time in search of these reductions, but McPhillips says this is often when staff are least likely to be putting them out.
Why early morning is best
Working the evening shift meant witnessing how hectic the final hours before closing could get, leaving little opportunity to mark down food while also tackling cleaning and organising duties. Yellow stickers were far more likely to appear during quieter periods, with overnight staff typically carrying out the reductions.
McPhillips advises that heading to M&S first thing in the morning, ideally right when the doors open, is the best bet for bagging the finest deals. On days off, a 9am visit to the nearest M&S foodhall is worth the effort.
A second window in the afternoon
For those who cannot make an early start, there is also a solid window of reductions between 3pm and 5pm most days. Late afternoon ranks as the second-best time to shop, as evening workers would frequently begin their shifts by putting yellow stickers on lunchtime items such as sandwiches and bakery goods.
However, managers would often instruct staff not to put out yellow stickers if a crowd had begun gathering in anticipation, because it could turn chaotic. Large numbers of shoppers waiting for reductions can block aisles or pester staff, making the process more trouble than it is worth.
Yellow sticker timings can differ from one M&S store to another, so it is worth politely asking a member of staff when they have a free moment. If reductions are spotted being applied, shoppers are advised to give workers plenty of room to carry on with the job.
