We have all experienced a shopping experience where we stepped into a supermarket with the intention of buying something as simple as an egg but ended up buying stuff worth thousands and later questioning ourselves about the purchase.
But why does this happen so often? Well, this is because supermarkets use a number of different strategies that subconsciously force us into buying more and more things as we enter them.
Psychology experts over the years have studied the different tactics used by supermarkets, here is a list of 5 tricks supermarkets use to make you spend more money.
- Big Shopping Carts
As soon as you enter the parking lot of a supermarket, the first thing you notice is the long line of shopping carts parked by the side. While ease of buying is one reason behind these carts being so huge, there is also another hidden reason.
Whenever you pick out a shopping cart, your brain subconsciously focuses on filling it up. So if you step inside to buy a select group of items, your brain would be inclined towards buying more and more until the cart fills up or at least looks as if it’s filled.
- Bigger Price Tags
What’s the first thing we notice as soon as we enter a supermarket aisle, the price tags right? Supermarkets realize that money is a key physiological factor and can influence buying patterns which is why the prices for each product or a group of products are mentioned on large tags placed above the shelves.
Noticing the prices at first, the buying decision becomes a lot quicker and more impulsive thus increasing the number of items you are putting into your basket per minute.
- Clever Placement
Ever thought about why items belonging to the same group are kept meters apart? Well, this is a classic supermarket trick that forces buyers to view more and more products they can potentially buy before they reach their desired product.
Imagine you enter a supermarket to buy milk and eggs, but soon as you grab the milk you notice the eggs are kept far down the aisle and while walking down to grab the eggs, you notice the chocolates that your wife loves or the chips you were so heavily craving for.
- Odd Even Pricing
Ever noticed why almost anything you buy is priced to be a digit lesser than what you end up paying for it? Mobile phones for example are priced at $499 when they could have been priced at $500.
This is because each time you read the number $499 it seems as if the product you are buying is in the 400s category whereas a plain $500 would seem to fall in the 500s category thus subconsciously making you think that you are spending more.
- Discounted Prices Sign
Supermarkets working at large scales have the ability to be a direct purchase thus giving them the ability to buy items at a much lower rate and sell them cheaper than smaller retail stores.
Supermarkets cash in on this and constantly remind you of the fact that whatever you buy here is cheaper than your local store. They do this by constantly putting up discounted price tags or low-price banner that obviously attracts you into buying more.
