Online tricks to get you spending
Supermarkets do it when they make sure milk and bread is as far away from the door as possible. Department stores do it when they position expensive items of clothing next to popular, low-margin specials. Clothing shops are great at it when they use tactically flattering lighting in their changing rooms.
Getting shoppers to spend more than they intended to is one of the key traits of successful retailers.
So far in this series, we’ve considered the ways that supermarkets and other retailers part you from your cash.
But it turns out online outlets have even more tricks up their sleeves. Dynamic pricing
In some cases, you might pay more just because of who – and where – you are. Some online retailers use algorithms that consider all the available data about a buyer to determine what price to offer. That might include where you are, how popular the item is that you’re looking at, the time at which you’re shopping, prices offered by competitors, how often you’ve visited the site and what you’ve bought before. Sometimes a shop will offer a coupon to a customer they think will be swayed by it but won’t offer the deal to a regular customer they think is likely to buy anyway. Low stock alerts
Some websites display warnings such as ‘‘limited stock remaining’’ or ‘‘two items remaining’’ to create a sense of urgency for buyers. Often, another shipment is imminent so there is no real risk of missing out. Saving credit card details
Sometimes having to go and find your wallet to fill in your credit card details is enough to make you stop and think about whether you really want to buy a particular item. Shops get around this by giving you the option of saving your credit card details for next time, so all you have to do is click or swipe to have the purchase go through. Part-payment
Many retailers now offer the option of paying off a purchase over several weeks, through a third-party supplier. This is a free service for customers but before you take the offer, consider why it’s becoming so popular.
Retailers are willing to shoulder all the cost (usually about 5 per cent) because it increases the likelihood that consumers will go through with a purchase, and boosts the amount they spend each time. Special clubs
Many online retailers ask their customers to sign up. This gives the shop access to your details and usually means you are subscribed at least to a mailing list through which you will be sent regular updates about the offers available. It creates the impression that you are part of an exclusive club getting access to great deals. In reality, you’re a captive market for the retailer to promote its wares to. Reminders of forgotten items
Sometimes, if you put something in your cart on a particular website, but then decide not to purchase it, the site will keep reminding you about your ‘‘forgotten’’ purchase. If you still do not go back to buy, you might get discounts or other offers to tempt you. Targeted ads
If you have recently browsed a retail site, you will probably notice ads popping up elsewhere featuring products you looked at but did not buy. I thought about buying a dress that was on special a couple of weeks ago but decided against it. Facebook is still reminding me daily of the price reductions being applied to this item. You can avoid this by regularly clearing your browsing data. Bundling
If items are offered as a ‘‘two-forone’’ or combo deal, customers are often willing to pay more, even if the extra items are things they do not need and would not have bought otherwise. Combos make it hard to pick apart what each item actually costs and what you could save if you left out the items you could do without. Suggested add-on purchases
Some people shop online to avoid the impulse purchases that physical stores like to tempt customers with. But online retailers have their own methods – offering ‘‘things you may like’’ or small items through the checkout process that you can add to your cart.
Sometimes this is done at the same time as a reminder that you need to spend only a little more to get free shipping.