Supermarket mind games that make you spend MORE
From floor tiles that slow your trolley down to beer next to the nappies, we reveal the . . .
AS anyone who has visited a supermarket will know only too well, what you go in for rarely matches what you come out with. So why is it that, even when armed with a list, shoppers end up cramming their trolleys with all those extra items — and being hit in the purse as a result?
according to consumer watchdog Which? it is all down to a battery of mind games employed by superstores to encourage customers to buy more.
To highlight some of these tactics, it fitted shoppers with advanced motion eye-tracking technology and sent them to stores such as Tesco, asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.
By monitoring their subconscious eye movements, Which? showed how certain psychological tricks could influence shoppers to buy twice as many items as they actually intended to.
These included stacking shelves in a certain way to exploit how our eyes automatically read displays and using coloured signs and stickers can influence our decision making — even when not actually offering a discount.
But the fact of the matter is that the supermarkets’ hard sell begins before we even get into the store — and doesn’t finish until we reach the checkout.
Here, with the help of three leading retail experts, we point out the full range of tactics deployed against the unsuspecting shopper — as well as a few tips on how to avoid being caught out.
SOFTENED UP IN THE CAR PARK
The mind games begin even before you even enter the supermarket.
Red signs in the car park flag up discounts and bargains that are on offer inside. In this way, we become familiar with the format and associate the colour red with savings. once inside, the customer will be bombarded with red signs and labels, some of which won’t denote a price reduction at all.
SLOW DOWN AND SPEND BIG
‘Every square foot of retail floor space costs money, so retailers want to get us shopping as much of it as possible, as soon as possible,’ says Phillip adcock, a leading authority on shopper behaviour and author of Supermarket Shoppology.
‘The trouble is if you have driven to the supermarket at 70mph, your mind will be working at that speed.
‘They want you to slow down and to get you in the right frame of mind to shop and spend money.’
For this reason, shoppers are channelled through an airy ‘decompression’ or ‘deceleration’ zone on their arrival. Slowly-opening electronic doors and pallets of seasonal goods all obstruct the way in. If music is being played, it will be of a slow beat and tempo.
KEEPING IT COSY
People want anything from a week’s shopping to a sandwich for lunch.
For this reason, the front of the shop must cater for everyone. Flowers, newspapers, tobacco and sandwiches are conveniently on hand and also give the impression of a smaller, local store.
The more comfortable a shopper feels, the longer they are likely to stay. So that’s why fruit and veg are near the entrance — however impractical that may actually be.
‘you put your tomatoes in the trolley and then you squash them through the course of your shopping. It makes no sense,’ says Dr Jeff Bray, senior lecturer in retail consumer behaviour at Bournemouth university.
‘But what it does do is to present an image of freshness, quality and healthiness — it is all about creating the right type of feelings.’
Supermarkets also know that if you buy healthy food at the beginning of your shop, you are more likely to reward yourself with junk food later.
THE HIDDEN STAPLES
Have you ever wondered why staples such as meat, dairy, eggs and bread are situated so far apart from one another? Supermarkets make you walk through the whole store, and know you are likely to be tempted by other goods on the way.
‘generally, customers will avoid narrow aisles because they look like dead- ends, so supermarkets put necessity products there, ones that aren’t as prone to impulse buying or bulk buying,’ says Dr charles McIntyre, an academic who specialises in retail design.
‘Where they have wider aisles, there will be more scanning and more dawdling, so you move slower and are more prone to be tempted to buy things you wouldn’t normally.’
Some stores even vary the size of the floor tiles, installing smaller ones in aisles where expensive goods are on sale. Shoppers are fooled into thinking they are moving more quickly than they really are and slow down as a result.
EYE-HEIGHT IS BUY-HEIGHT
There is an old saying in the world of commerce that ‘eye-height’ is ‘buy-height’. Brands often pay supermarkets fees, which vary according to the prominence of the desired shelf.
confronted with a shelf of identical products, we look straight ahead and then start to read it from left to right, like a book.
‘If a retailer presents a range of options in fairly manageable price increases from left to right, the customer is more likely to buy a more expensive product,’ says Dr Bray.
‘even if the customer doesn’t end up buying the most expensive product, the presence of these more expensive products will lead them to spend more than they would have done.’
The prime bits of shelf real estate go to brands or premium items, which will bring the retailer most profit. value lines are often located at the bottom or the top of the shelves, which are harder to spot.
PERFECT PAIRS
Retailers and brands group products according to how, when and where they are used. For example, the apple pie sits next to custard, and cheese next to butter. one retailer famously began placing beer next to nappies.
‘observers had identified that it was often men buying nappies,’ explains Mr adcock.
‘ The mother would dispatch the man to buy nappies if she ran out. When arriving at the nappy section, he would also see a nice stack of lager. Feeling suitably justified, he would pick up the cans and buy them along with the nappies.
‘The retailer sold an extra item, the man was happy because he had beer and the mother was content because the man had bought nappies. Truly a win-win situation.’
While these arrangements can be convenient, there is a danger that you end up spending money on things you don’t actually need.
THE ACTION AISLE
Supermarkets know that humans behave differently in crowds and that by inducing a mild form of mass hysteria — such as in the new year sales — competitive shoppers can be encouraged to make snap decisions.
The ‘action aisle’ or ‘power aisle’ runs across the centre of the store where shoppers converge.
Brand owners will pay extra for ‘gondola ends’ that face this aisle — while one-off promotions such as Tvs and DVD players will be piled high here. Because they are not surrounded by similar products, there is nothing for shoppers to compare their price with.
‘SPECIAL’ OFFERS
Shopper surveys repeatedly show how easy it is to confuse shoppers. customers are unlikely to recall the price they normally pay for more than a handful of staples, so supermarkets exploit this by using a range of hard-to-compare offers — BOGOF, threefor-two, 50 per cent free.
‘People are obsessed with saving money,’ says Dr McIntyre. ‘But quite often they try to save money by actually spending more, which is illogical. They will see an offer for two cans of, say, soup for £2, instead of £1.20 for one, and think by buying two they have saved money.
‘But they have actually spent more. and the truth of the matter is that if you buy more, you probably consume more.’
TREATED TO A TIPPLE
‘Alcohol is the aisle you end up in after you have got all your provisions,’ says Mr adcock.
‘We know that the more time you spend in a supermarket, the more selfish your purchases become. So you go in thinking about others and come out thinking about yourself: “I’m having that bottle of wine and those cans of lager.” ’
Wooden floors and different lighting may also be employed in this section while the use of classical music has been shown to increase sales of more expensive wines.
Supermarkets know that few shoppers will want to buy the most expensive bottle of wine, but are much more likely to buy the second most expensive — and stack shelves accordingly to put their most profitable lines at eye-height.
GOLDEN ZONES
Traditionally found near checkouts, these grab zones are designed to pander to the sense that we deserve a reward after completing our shop.
Magazines, sweets and chocolate often predominate in these areas. Shelf heights are often targeted towards children, whose patience may now be running out.