As the cost of living continues to soar, keen shoppers are increasingly looking for ways to save some money when it comes to their essential weekly shopping.
But despite their best efforts, consumers are falling to a cohort of sneaky supermarket tricks, designed to trigger reminders of impulse purchases and encourage huge spending instore.
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With Australians, more price-conscious than ever, consumer behaviour researcher Nitika Garg from the University of New South Wales Business School said supermarkets were using sneaky tactics to attract customers, “because once they’re in, they will likely end up buying a lot more than expected.”
“It’s best to be aware of consumer psychology that supermarkets use to market their products. If consumers are more aware of these tactics, they can be more mindful of where they want to rely on these and where they want to be wary of such tactics.”
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“It’s also important to note that this is not just relevant to in-store supermarket shopping. Online shoppers should be wary of similar tactics too,” the Professor added.
Here’s what tactics you should be looking out for…..
Locked In Deals
According to Nitika, discount deals often mislead consumers into purchasing a product before a deadline, misleading shoppers into thinking they are taking advantage of a great deal.
This, however, is often not the case, with the price of the “locked-in” deal often the same as the original price of the item.
Store Deals
Another one Nitika says to look out for is “buy two, get one free” deals, which, on the surface seem like a cost-effective means of saving whilst you shop, especially if it’s an item you buy on the regular.
Nitika says that often items will have short expiry dates, making them impossible to use in time, and are actually misleading by implying savings are to be had, even if the price of one item is just its regular price, that is, half of the two.
“Their purpose is to sell more, that’s their job, they are storing lots of goods,” Nitika says.
“They want you to buy more than what you have on your list.”
Store Layout
Commonly you’ll find your staple grocery items located far away from each other in-store, forcing you to walk around the store and spend more time shopping for products that wouldn’t have otherwise crossed your mind!
Music
Nitika says that supermarket chains will often hand-select relaxed, slow-paced music to create a calming atmosphere for shoppers, one where they lose track of time and spend more time browsing the store, where they are likely to purchase additional items.
Bigger Sized Carts
According to research conducted in the US, supermarket trolleys have doubled in size since they were first invented, resulting in consumers purchasing an average of 40 percent more food items.
Unpacking the psychology of it all, Nitika reveals that the idea of the changed design is to trick consumers into thinking their shopping trolley is missing food items.
