loss leader

noun

1. a popular article that is sold at a very low price or at a loss for the purpose of attracting customers to a retail store. Compare leader ( def 4 ).

loss leader

noun

1. an article offered below cost in the hope that customers attracted by it will buy other goods

Other Words From

• loss-leading adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of loss leader¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Experts told the Pepperoni team it was a loss leader; only supermarkets could turn a profit by bringing in bananas from South America.

From BBC

“Dairy is a ‘loss leader’ at the grocery store,” she said, and is often the major incentive for other items in the store.

From Los Angeles Times

In the early decades of the TV, it was acceptable for news to be a financial loss leader.

From Los Angeles Times

A loss leader and a billboard food for nearly every casino on the Strip, prime rib became the perfect dish for a town branding itself as the vacationland of middle-class luxury.

From Seattle Times

Instead, carrots are a "battleground for supermarkets", where they use them as a loss leader, he says.

From BBC