Saving money at the supermarket seems like a pretty straightforward task, especially if you have a discount card or coupons. In fact, the goal of any retail network and individual stores is to make a profit, which means that shopping centers make every effort to ensure that the visitor leaves as much money as possible at the checkout. To achieve the result, the consumer is manipulated imperceptibly.
When entering a store, it is worth remembering the favorite phrase of professional marketers: "If it seems to you that you are not being manipulated, then you are in the hands of professionals." Knowing about some of the tricks of the shops will allow you to evaluate your behavior in the supermarket.
Carts and baskets
Have you ever wondered why our supermarkets only have large baby carts and uncomfortable single-handle baskets? The answer to the question is simple: big carts are big purchases. Moving between shelves with a large cart will invisibly entail a larger volume of purchases. After filling the basket, the customer almost immediately finds himself at the checkout.
Psychology and product placement
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A good merchandiser is appreciated in the company for the ability to organize such a design of the internal space of the supermarket, in which the buyer is disoriented and instead of the target purchase begins to consider all the existing offers. At the entrance to the first shopping area of the store, the consumer is greeted by bright color combinations of fresh fruits and vegetables, flashing displays with tempting offers, mouth-watering smells, for example, of pastries and pastries. This psychological attack is aimed at awakening feelings and it almost always works.
Essentials such as bread and milk, which are the most frequently visited by customers, are usually located in the center or at the end of the trading floor and are never located next to each other. This placement means that the buyer has to walk through several aisles in order to achieve his goal.
Standard racks are strategically designed to draw attention to the items on the shelves. Dear ones, brand items are always located at eye level of an adult, cheaper or less well-known ones are placed on the upper or lower shelves, and the layout is done with some degree of disdain.
Even children are not safe - marketers are tricked by placing candy, cakes, toys and other goods on the lower shelves - at the level of the child's eyes. At the same time, expensive and low-cost products can be placed side by side, prompting an adult to purchase several items.
Comfort, happiness, promises
The most successful supermarkets are comfortable, with large retail space, light and airy. Music always plays on the territory of the store, creating an atmosphere of ease and fun. Nobody will spend much time in a dark, stuffy space. Therefore, most supermarkets strive to enlargement, equip the space around the store, attracting the buyer to an atmosphere of happiness. As you know, a satisfied person easily agrees to generous spending, without assessing the need for one thing or another in his daily life.
Offers to save money on purchases always generate keen interest, and stores try to use this trump card, often manipulating prices. Some of the suggestions are so good that they can hardly be true. In reality, a discount on a particular product can be very profitable, but the seller provides a reduced price only on certain conditions, most often the purchase must be large, which stimulates product turnover. For example, instead of buying one loaf of bread, the buyer buys three, but at a reduced price.
There are always sales and promotional offers in supermarkets, but the buyer needs to check the prices. The declared decrease in value is sometimes not supported by anything - the price per unit of goods can remain at the same level, and sometimes even increase. The magic word “Promotion” or “Sale” next to the price allows manipulating the consumer almost limitlessly, convincing many people to make many rash purchases.
No retreat
In stores, the system of passageways to the exit or to the checkout is arranged in the same way. The buyer with the cart is unobtrusively shown the direction. Sometimes complicating the quest - you need to go up or down the escalator to the exit or ticket offices. The space near the ticket offices is strictly limited and leaves no room for maneuver. Standing in line for the checkout, many begin to realize that there are many more purchases in the trolley than planned and there is a desire to refuse part of the goods.
It is problematic to do this - a queue has already lined up behind the buyer, to get out, and even more so to leave with a clumsy cart, means to incur at least perplexed glances, but more often - conversations and discontent. This is not all the pressure on the consumer in the settlement area - there are trade shelves and chests nearby, where sweets, little things for the house, bright magazines are beautifully laid out. This next trap will surely catch an adult or a child in the net.
Are there any benefits?
Can guerrilla marketing be used to benefit buyers? Yes, people just need to be nudged to buy healthy foods. Some researchers, conducting an experiment, believe that if an outdoor advertisement with text containing the words “healthy”, “low-calorie” is placed at the entrance to a shopping area, then people concerned about their health or suffering from overweight will subconsciously buy fewer snacks. Such words activate their personal goals in the subconscious of buyers.
Another trick for encouraging the consumer to make more healthier purchases is to split the basket or cart into two parts, one for storing vegetables, and the other for milk, meat and other simple goods. Shopper behavior research has shown positive results with this approach.
Lowering the prices of healthy foods has been an effective trick, but there is a catch - someone has to pay to lower the cost. Promotional products often end up on the lower or upper shelves of stores, and products in spectacular packaging with low nutritional value remain before the eyes of the buyer.
In addition, people with low incomes rarely respond to calls to buy healthy food, their only incentive to buy is the low price. Some large grocery supermarket chains in the United States practice product descriptions, which indicate not only calorie content and country of origin, but also the complete composition. This approach has had some success, but is more suitable for people with a high level of income who have the opportunity to purchase wholesome food and take care of their health.
It is quite easy to minimize the impact of marketing manipulations - you need to make a list of products and in the store be guided only by it, rejecting all tempting offers. It is worth using discount cards or coupons, but only if you are confident that you will really save on your purchase.
Author: Politikova Tatiana