Supermarket Psychology: Psychology of Spending Money

Today, we’re going to talk about all the sneaky little tricks supermarkets use to get you to spend your money! Everything from the layout of the store, to the way things are stacked is just preying on the psychology of you spending your hard earned cash!

I’m going to tell you 5 things that stores are manipulating to make you spend more money! Once you know to look for them, you can cut through the noise, and make your OWN purchasing decisions. Or, just feel guilty about buying your favourite snacks, because THAT MARKETING REALLY WORKS!

Introduction:

Did you know that supermarkets are just stocked full (ha stocked...) of crazy tricks and schemes to keep you in the store, spending as much as possible?

I think all of us know we’re being swindled by marketing. We’re bombarded by facebook and instagram ads, billboards, ‘sponsored posts’, whatever. But I don’t think any of us actually think we’re BEING swindled. It’s like, oh yea, I know they’re doing this to get me to buy, but I KNOW it’s an ad. I make my own purchasing decision and I don’t care about the marketing.

That’s the crazy part. THAT’S WHY IT WORKS. They make us think that it’s OUR independent decision. When really, we’ve been primed and funnelled into making the choice that’s best for the store.

So, how the heck do they do this?! Let’s get right into the details.

Store Entrance:

First, Let’s talk about the store entrance.

The goal of the store entrance is to make you feel comfortable, and nice and happy. When you walk in usually one of the first things you’ll see is the flower section. They put this there because flowers are fresh, and beautiful. They smell great so it lulls you into this sweet sense of happiness, like you’re so glad that you chose to walk in the store.

In my local store, they also have the bakery right up front. Again, who can resist the smell of freshly baked goods?

The entrance is also usually laid out to be ‘one way only’ so you have to walk through the entire store (or, at least the checkouts) to get back OUT of the store.

Another thing I want to mention here is a super pet peeve of mine, and it’s the HOT AIR that they BLAST as soon as you walk into the store during the winter. I have always been SUPER annoyed with this because of course it’s lovely to get a blast of heat when you’ve just been in the blistering winter winds, but leaving that store?! That’s a nightmare. I’m going to disappoint a lot of you, because I disappointed myself looking this up but apparently this is NOT a tactic stores use to keep us comfy and happy.

It’s called an ‘Air Door’. and it essentially is used to regulate the temperature of the store during times when the outside environment is a very different than the inner environment (so, this also works with air conditioning in the summer). Here’s a diagram I found explaining how it works from ‘scienceabc.com’

You can see the blast of air sort of works as a ‘wall’ to keep everything where they want it to.

Anyway, not really the conspiracy you’re here for, but thought I’d debunk that one because it’s definitely something that bothers me a lot!

Let’s move on, and talk about: store layout.

Store Layout:

Ever notice that mostly all the stores are laid out the same? The fruit and vegetables always seem to be the first section, and the milk and eggs always seem to be hidden at the back of the store?

If you’ve never noticed this before I bet I just blew your mind.

Stores are laid out to make us STAY IN THE STORE.

I already mentioned the one way in and one way out trick, but it goes much deeper than that.

Fruits and vegetables are kept in the front of the store, because we react well to colour. The bright and fresh views of that section make us feel really great and triggers our appetite which makes us ready and willing to shop!

‘Essentials’ like milk and eggs are kept way at the back of the store. So if you want to go in just for a few things, you’re forced to walk through all the aisles to get to them. Tempted by all other sales and items you did NOT come in the store for!

I’ve read some conflicting data about this one. There’s also a claim that they keep the milk in the back because milk needs to be refrigerated the quickest, so it has to be close to where the trucks unload. But either way I think it’s super convenient that stores just have to do that.

There are also not usually windows in grocery stores. Now, to me this one seems a little far fetched, but as I think about it, it IS true! The grocery stores I visit almost never have windows! Now, you can think about it like ‘well they want to use the wall space for product’ OR you can think about it like ‘they block out all the light because they don’t want you to KNOW how long you’re spending in the store’! Crazy right?!

Let’s talk about the actual product placement.

Product Placement:

Did you know that shelving is ALSO set out in a very specific way?

More expensive brand names are placed at eye level, so they are the first thing we see when we look at the shelf. Generic items are placed lower so you need to make the extra effort of bending to get them.

Products trying to attract children will be placed at THEIR eye level, because it’s much more effective having a child grab an item and beg to have it than it is to convince a parent that children need sugary snacks!

Popular items are placed in the middle of the aisles, so even if you’re going down the aisle for a specific product, you’re tempted all the way down and back by other items on the shelves!

(Oreos are never at the beginning of the cookie aisle are they?!)

Aisle ends, or ‘End caps’ are PAID FOR SPOTS. I mean, most all shelving is paid for, but end caps specifically are a hotspot for ‘impulse purchases’ they’re very high traffic, and get seen by a lot of people. Companies will pay extra fees to get their products shelved there, that’s why you’ll often see specialty, new, or limited-time-only items sold there.

Alright, this post is getting a little long, so let’s do a speed round!

Loyalty Cards:

Think the store is just being super nice to thank you for shopping with them? NOT SO! Loyalty cards keep you choosing THEIR company over competitors. They also track your purchasing data, which they can use to advertise back to you more efficiently!

Baskets:

Ever notice why there never seems to be enough baskets? It’s because having a big cart makes you spend more! Empty space in your cart is a visual trigger that you haven’t shopped enough. When you have a basket, you fill it up quicker and are satisfied sooner. That’s also why stores opt for those wheely carts instead of the handheld ones, they’re more convenient for the customers, but they’re also BIGGER!

Vegetable Misting:

Ever notice that weird misting that goes off every 15 minutes in the vegetable section? You thought it was because they needed to be ‘kept fresh’ right? WRONG! It’s actually a psychological trick that makes us THINK they’re fresher! Spraying these vegetables actually does little to nothing to ‘hydrate’ and can often bring the opposite effect as too much moisture can fester mould. BUT, the appearance of glistening juicy veggies is much more appealing than dry dull ones. PLUS, most of these vegetables are actually sold by weight. Which means, the water that stays on them can actually add to the PRICE! So always remember to shake your soggy vegetables!

Music:

Studies have shown that slower paced music keeps us calm and moving through the store at a leisurely pace. While loud energetic music makes us want to MOVE and get sh*t DONE! That’s why when you go into grocery stores, they’re usually playing subtle oldies instead of poppy radio hits. (Remember, the more time you spend in the store, the more opportunity they have to sell to you!)

Free Samples:

I love a good free sample. But even THOSE have consequences! Free samples make us feel indebted to pay back the store, especially if it’s a good sample. It’s probably not what you went in for at all, but I bet you’re going to buy it.

Sales:

How many times have you tried to justify a purchase to yourself by saying ‘oh but it was on sale’? For me, it’s way too many to count. So let’s look at some of the top psychological sales tactics:

Sales with Limits:

Sales with ‘limits’ create scarcity. Even if you went in wanting 3, you say to yourself: oh, well if there’s a limit of 4 I better get all 4 then, I don’t want to miss out!

Red and Yellow Sale Tags:

Red and Yellow sale signs trigger our mind for action. They’re brighter than the regular price signs, so it triggers our brain to something important. We’ve also been conditioned to understand that red or yellow ‘means sale’ so our eyes are directly drawn to products with these labels, even if there’s no sale at all.

Sale stickers are often placed between sizes or brands. Customers will grab the wrong product, thinking they’re getting a deal, and paying full price anyway.

How to Combat This:

To get around all of this: start saving your receipts. Maybe for a month or so, just to see all the things you purchase on a regular basis. Know the regular prices of those items so when they ‘go on sale’ you’ll know whether it’s actually good deal or not. You can also calculate the ‘unit price’ of items based on how many is in the package, to see if sales on the smaller items are actually worth picking up instead of going with the larger pack.

Let me know in the comments down below if you found any of this super interesting like I did. Are you going to look at your grocery shopping experience differently now that you know everything going on behind the scenes?