Swiss summer stock gets cleared from mid-August to make room for autumn ranges. Charcoal, sun care, grill accessories, summer drinks and end-of-line glace drop 30–50% as the chains empty their shelves. The trick is to buy only what actually keeps — charcoal, sunscreen, long-life drinks — so you lock next summer's supply at this summer's clearance price.
A CHF 12 sack of quality briquettes at 40% off costs CHF 7.20; three sacks put away in August save roughly CHF 14 against next June's full price. Add discounted sun care and a couple of crates of drinks and a household banks CHF 40–60 on things it would have bought anyway.
When does the late-summer clearance actually start
The switch happens right after the national holiday. Once 1. August is past, the summer party season is effectively over for the retailers, and the shelf space those grill and drinks displays occupied is wanted for back-to-school, autumn baking and squash. From roughly the second week of August, Coop and Migros start marking down what is left of the seasonal ranges, and the discounters follow within days.
It is not one single sale but a rolling wind-down. The first markdowns are modest, 20 or 30% to nudge stock, and they deepen through late August into early September as buyers clear the last pallets before the shelves are reset. Consumer-magazine price checks by K-Tipp have tracked these end-of-line cuts reaching 50% and more on seasonal non-food. If you can wait a fortnight, the patient shopper usually wins.
Which five categories are worth stockpiling
Not everything on clearance deserves cupboard space. The categories that pay off are the ones that keep for many months and that you will certainly use again next year. Five stand out:
- Charcoal and briquettes: the clearest win. Prices fall 30–50% and the product keeps almost indefinitely if it stays dry. A sack in the cellar lights just as well next June.
- Sun care: sunscreen, after-sun and lip balm at 30–50% off. Check the date, but most sealed bottles are good for two to three years, comfortably past next summer.
- Grill accessories and seasonal non-food: firelighters, skewers, aluminium trays, cool-bags and ice packs, sometimes the grills themselves at 40–60%.
- Long-life summer drinks: mineral water, ice tea and beer in cans or PET with a best-before months away. These sit happily in storage.
- End-of-line glace for the freezer: discontinued flavours and multipacks at 30–50% that go straight in the freezer and last for months.
The common thread is shelf life. It is the same logic behind smart stockpiling the rest of the year: a discount only counts if the product survives long enough to be used.
How deep do the discounts go, and where
Discount depth depends on the category and on how badly a store wants the shelf back. Food with a best-before date rarely falls beyond 30–40%, because the chains would rather sell it at a thin margin than write it off. Pure seasonal non-food, such as a display grill or a cool-box, can crash 50% or more once autumn stock is waiting in the warehouse. Landi and Ottos, which carry a lot of garden and grill kit, often cut hardest on the hardware.
| Category | Typical clearance discount | Best time to buy | Where to look |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charcoal & briquettes | 30–50% | Late Aug – early Sep | Coop, Migros, Landi, Ottos |
| Sun care (sunscreen, after-sun) | 30–50% | Mid–late August | Coop, Migros, Lidl, Aldi |
| Grill accessories & non-food | 40–60% | Late August | Aldi, Lidl, Ottos, Landi |
| Summer drinks (ice tea, water, beer) | 20–40% | Mid-August onward | Denner, Coop, Lidl |
| End-of-line glace (freeze it) | 30–50% | Late August | Migros, Coop, Denner |
| Marinated grill meat (freeze it) | 30–50% | August | Coop, Migros, Aligro |
Does charcoal really keep until next year
Yes, and this is what makes charcoal the flagship clearance buy. Lump charcoal and briquettes do not spoil; their only enemy is damp. Kept in a sealed bag somewhere dry — a cellar, a garage, a covered balcony box — they will light and burn next summer exactly as they would today. If a sack has taken on moisture, a day spread out in warm air usually brings it back.
Benchmark for charcoal: quality briquettes run roughly CHF 2.50–3.50 per kg at full-season price. Anything under CHF 1.80 per kg on clearance is worth putting away for next year; below CHF 1.50 per kg, buy as much as you can store.
Sun care is nearly as forgiving. An unopened bottle of sunscreen holds its rated protection for two to three years, so a tube bought at half price this August is still doing its job next July. The little open-jar symbol with "12M" or "24M" tells you how long it lasts once opened, not while it sits sealed.
What should you leave on the shelf
A clearance sticker is not a reason to buy. The markdowns to walk past are the ones on things that will not survive the wait, or that you were never going to use:
- Fresh and short-dated food you cannot realistically eat or freeze in time. A 40% cut on something that expires in the cupboard is a total loss, not a saving.
- Sun care close to its expiry date, which will not make it to next summer.
- Novelty single-use grill gadgets you did not want at full price and will not want next year either.
- Anything you have no space to store properly. A damp-ruined sack of charcoal saved nothing.
The rule that keeps clearance buying honest: only stockpile what you would have bought anyway, and only what keeps at least until you use it. Everything else is the shop clearing its problem into your cupboard.
How to shop the clearance without overbuying
The failure mode of any sale is buying more than you need because it is cheap. A short routine keeps the clearance working for you:
- Check the date before the price. On anything with a best-before or expiry, make sure it comfortably outlasts the time you will take to use it.
- Set a hard cash limit for the clearance run, say CHF 50, and stop when you reach it. Deep discounts make overspending feel like saving.
- Buy to your storage, not to the discount. Measure the cellar or freezer space you actually have and let that cap the haul.
- Freeze the perishables that qualify. Marinated meat and end-of-line glace go straight in the freezer; label them with the date so nothing is forgotten.
- Write down what you stashed. A stockpile you forget is money left in a cupboard. Knowing when the cuts arrive is half the game, and our guide to timing Swiss supermarket markdowns covers the weekly rhythm.
How the clearance fits the wider promotion year
The late-August wind-down is one turn of a wheel that never stops. Every season ends with the same clear-out: winter-sports kit in March, Easter chocolate the week after Easter, garden furniture in September. Swiss chains run on predictable promotion cycles, and the end-of-season clearance is simply the deepest, most reliable dip in the summer half of that wheel.
Watching all of it by hand means flipping through six sets of flyers a week. That is the job Eini's algorithm does instead: it tracks current promotions across Coop, Migros, Lidl, Aldi, Denner and Aligro and matches them to your meal plan and list, so a 45% charcoal markdown or a cleared crate of ice tea shows up the week it lands. Eini is free to download, with an optional premium tier at CHF 1.00 per week for households that want the full planning tools. The clearance stops being something you must remember and becomes something you are simply told about.
Frequently asked questions
When do summer clearances start in Switzerland?
Most chains begin clearing their summer ranges from around the second week of August, once the 1. August rush is over. Coop, Migros and the discounters mark down charcoal, sun care and grill non-food through late August and into early September, when shelves are reset for autumn.
What is worth stockpiling in late August?
The five categories that reward stockpiling are charcoal and briquettes, sun care, grill accessories and seasonal non-food, long-life summer drinks, and end-of-line glace for the freezer. Each keeps for many months, so buying at a 30–50% clearance simply locks in next summer's supply at a lower price.
How deep are end-of-season discounts?
Food items with a best-before date usually fall 30–50%, since chains prefer a small margin to a write-off. Pure seasonal non-food such as grills, coolers and garden kit can drop 50–60% once a store wants the shelf space. K-Tipp price checks regularly track these late-summer cuts.
Does charcoal keep until next year?
Yes. Charcoal and briquettes keep almost indefinitely if stored dry, as moisture is their only enemy. A sealed sack in a cellar or garage will light just as well next June, which is why charcoal is the single best late-August stockpile buy.
Does Eini flag clearance deals?
Eini's algorithm tracks current promotions across Coop, Migros, Lidl, Aldi, Denner and Aligro, so end-of-season clearances surface automatically alongside your usual list. You see the markdown the week it lands, without checking every flyer.
Plan smarter, spend less with Eini.
Real prices from Coop, Migros, Lidl, Aldi, Denner & Aligro. Smart meal plans. Automatic grocery lists.
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