Money Glue Even Exists At the Grocery Store
Exploring Some Supermarkets’ Mental Tricks To Lure You Into Spending More
Medium, like so many other internet sites and platforms, offers numerous articles about how to avoid money traps. Unfortunately, money traps can be found all over the place — from various types of loans to overspending on leisure to credit cards. In fact, money traps can even be found in essential places like the supermarket. Many retail outlets, including supermarkets, use quite a few tricks (many psychological) to get individuals to buy more products and shell out more cash. Just knowing some of the tricks supermarkets use, then implementing strategies to avoid spending more than needed can help one to save a lot of green.
Supermarkets are set up to lure customers into buying more.
Studies show people like to walk in a counterclockwise direction when visiting an outlet. So, many supermarkets take advantage of this by setting up the store to lure shoppers on a counterclockwise tour of items they aren’t really after but might end up using. The ideal setup even points out select spots on this tour to put “top-sale” items that will capture shoppers’ eyes.
When I worked at a grocery store for many years, I would often hear the phrase “I found more than I came for” when customers came through the line — showing the store setup was ideal for more sales. Certainly, awareness of a store’s design may be hard(since each store is obviously slightly different). But some simple strategies to avoid “touring” the store might include the timeless process of making a shopping list before visiting the store and sticking to it. Also, if the store makes it hard to find certain items, then make efforts to ask store personnel about secret locations to avoid pacing through extra aisles.
Supermarkets like to play with your senses.
In addition to the physical layout, grocery stores also are designed to lure customers’ senses. The full visual array of fruits and vegetables in the produce department is a common eye-catcher when customers first walk in the store. And what is it with the smells of fresh bread or fully seasoned meats you can’t wait to get home and cook? As customers used to tell me when they came through the checkout line, “it’s a bad idea to come to the store hungry.”
A couple of strategies here may help alleviate stores’ sensual appeal. Again, making out the traditional list and sticking to it will help one to resist picking up extra stuff. Also, there is nothing wrong with shopping before home inventory gets low. Filling half-full cupboards, refrigerators, and produce bins at home(and making sure to put older staples on top) certainly costs less than overstocking when the house is bare and letting a lot of excess food go to waste.
Positive reinforcement
The basic psychology of classical conditioning is often fully implemented by grocery stores. Tricks have been around in grocery stores for ages, including the classic positive reinforcement measures of “buy one get one free” advertisements.
The luring “free” signs reward positive behavior for shoppers to buy an item they normally wouldn’t and receive a second or third at no additional cost. This seems like a nice deal, but really it is the supermarket getting more rewards. Since profit margins are so slim in the grocery industry, higher bulk sales are how stores make more money. Think of the rates of sales increases if customers are buying more items they normally would have just walked past. To save money, shoppers really have to ask themselves the tough question — do they need that extra couple bags of chips? The only shoppers who should buy extra are those who are super-consumers of such products.
Grocery stores are also using “rewards” programs more and more to offer extra incentives to loyal customers. This might include certain items offering rewards or points to use on special products like gas, or just an additional membership discount. In this digital age, many stores are even offering apps to post the greatest and special rewards. All of this is wonderful for the money conscious shopper(especially families on a budget). However, many times the items drawing extra rewards are not the necessities on shoppers’ lists — obviously leading to more shelled-out green. Shoppers can be smart and take advantage of multiple stores’ discounts and rewards programs, regularly scaling deals for items they genuinely need. And in this digital age, there are numerous apps to help shoppers earn money back and even find the old-fashioned coupons to supplement smart rewards program use.
Supermarkets use many alluring pricing strategies.
Like other retail establishments, grocery stores use a lot of psychological pricing strategies. This includes the “buy one get one free” sales, but also includes the left digit effect. What is this, and is it really a thing? Yes.
Studies show if shoppers see a price ending in .99, or .97 or .95 for that matter, they are more likely to mentally round that price down to the lower dollar to the left of the decimal than to the higher dollar that is closer value. So, if I see a product on sale for 1.99, I will be more likely to think “it is under $2” than “it is over $1.” As the popular saying goes, “a penny saved is a penny earned.” But in this case, it might actually be 1.99 lost because if the price was $2.00 many shoppers might walk by the item altogether. Again, smart shopping here is critical. If your eye stops at a $1.98 price tag for an item you actually need then take the time to scale the other prices and brands around it. You might settle for a cheaper sale that is maybe just a slightly smaller size. Or, you might find a higher quality brand that although costs a little bit more you know will last longer.
Even be careful with grocery order and delivery apps.
With all of these classical mechanisms in place to snake extra money from shoppers, one reasonable practice might be higher use of order and delivery apps. There are numerous to choose from including the grocery companies that do their own delivery like Wal Mart and Amazon. You can easily stick to your list and more easily complete a home inventory before you place an order.
But delivery apps bring unwanted costs of their own. In fact, many estimates show additional fees can add more than 35% to an app order’s cost. They often add service fees, delivery fees, and a tip. This leads to an obvious question — does an average family already struggling to make ends meet want to increase their grocery bill by 35%? This might make sense if someone lives many miles from the closest physical store or if they are severely pressed for time and appreciate the convenience. But these food and grocery delivery apps remind us of the age-old economic maxim “there is no such thing as a free lunch” (or in this case, no such thing as free delivery service). Just like with physical shopping, shopping through apps must be practiced with sensibility and care.
These are just a few ways grocery stores get shoppers to buy more. The psychological tricks are quite subtle. Think about how many times shoppers might double or triple their amount owed in great part because of them. Shoppers must practice greater efforts to recognize and circumvent these mechanisms. Such efforts may need such regular practice that they become additional habits in one’s overall lifestyle of better thriftiness and financial intelligence.
