But savvy shoppers will note that the store flier advertised 12- to 16-ounce packages of brand-name Oscar Mayer bacon for $3.99 with a store discount card.

Martin’s lower-price items include its popular store-cooked rotisserie chickens, which are now $4.99, down from $5.99, according to information provided by the company.

Price-cutting promotions help with perception, Springer said.

“Consumers today are extremely price-sensitive. Value — being cheaper — is definitely one of the big things food retailers need to do. They can’t afford to be perceived as being too high-priced in a market.”

“That is true all the time, but it seems like now that is even more so, inasmuch as there has been a lot of shakeout as Walmart, at first, and now some of these other price operators like Lidl and Aldi — the guys who kind of lead with price — have really made the other supermarkets aware that they need to be as competitive as possible.