The 12 psychological tricks supermarkets use to make you spend more money.

Techniques and psychological strategies used in the 'hyper' to get a few extra euros.

In previous articles we tried to explain the 10 tricks that restaurants use to make you pay more, and we also discovered, following the discipline of consumer psychology, why you should never order the second cheapest wine on the menu.

How do supermarkets cheat us?

Today we set out to unravel the 12 of the most common psychological tricks used by supermarkets and supermarkets so that you end up buying more than you need.

Regardless of where you live, department stores practice identical techniques to maximize their revenues. More than half of the purchases we make in supermarkets are not planned in advance.This statistic is even higher if we go shopping with a partner or children.

The strategies used by hypermarkets to increase sales are almost as old as the exchange between consumer goods and money, but the discipline of marketing in the sector is always evolving. the discipline of marketing in the sector is always evolving, and new tools are being and new tools are being developed to make consumers more willing to spend more.

1. The cart, bigger is better

Just after parking in the supermarket parking lot, we find the trolleys. But we should start talking about 'trolleys', since their dimensions are getting bigger and bigger.

This invention appeared in the 1930s and caught on quickly, but the size of trolleys has increased over the years. The motivation for this increase in dimensions is obvious: the larger the cart, the more it costs to fill it.The majority of consumers do not feel satisfied if they do not fill their shopping cart.

2. The price, with many nines

This trick is so well known that it no longer seems to have any effect on the customer, but it still works. Consumers look at the first figure but not at the cents, so an item priced at 9.99 euros (or dollars, or any other currency) is displayed as 9 euros, not 10 euros.

This penny difference shades the perception of how cheap or expensive a product is.. In fact, in research at Colorado State University in the US, participants were asked to choose between two identical pens. The first one cost $2, while the second was priced at $3.99. Forty-four percent of subjects chose the $3.99 pen. Thus, it seems that the 99-cent trick has not ceased to be effective.

3. The items they want you to buy are located at your eye level.

The products that the surfaces are responsible for highlighting are those they are most interested in selling, either because their profit margin is higher, or because it is a stock they want to get rid of faster. To achieve this they place them at head height, so that they are more visible..

Other items that could be an alternative purchase are more hidden, more difficult to find, and that is uncomfortable for any consumer. On the other hand, not all eyes are at the same height, and stores know that. They know that children have a great power to convince their parents to buy some particular products, and for this reason they place items such as toys and candy at the height of small consumers.

4. The must-have items are always in the farthest corner of the surface.

Another traditional technique in the organizational layout of hypermarkets is to place basic necessities, such as eggs, milk or vegetables, at the back of the store. As these are products that everyone is going to buy, they will be forced to go all over the store, finding multiple offers of products that they did not plan to buy before.

5. Expendable products are at the entrance

Those items that bring a higher rate of profit, such as flowers, pastries and ready meals, are usually found at the very entrance of the supermarket.

The reason for this strategy is that these items are consumed on the spot, their visual impact is great and consumers tend to indulge in them, even more so if the trolley is still in the supermarket.The reason for this strategy is that these items are consumed on the spot, their visual impact is high and consumers tend to allow it, especially if the cart is still empty.

6. Cash registers are located on the left side of the store

90% of people are right-handed and the natural tendency is for them to walk on the right. Medium and large stores are designed to make the consumer walk in an anti-clockwise direction and go through as many aisles as possible before paying at the checkout.

The longer the walk and the more time the customer spends in the store, the more he/she tends to spend..

7. Change the location of basic products periodically

Once a customer is familiar with the layout of the supermarket and knows where to go to pick up the already knows where to go to pick up the products he/she needs, it is when the supermarket's layoutThe supermarket's layout is then changed.

The supermarket thus ensures that the customer spends more time wandering through all the aisles, coming across items that he may decide to purchase.

8. The figure of the friendly salesperson

Although the friendliness of the sales clerk seems more of a bygone era, and today a much cooler and more professional demeanor is the norm (consistent with the changing nature of labor relations and consumer habits), the fact is that some more sophisticated stores, such as the stores of Apple storesstores, are brimming with knowledgeable employees who do not charge commission on sales and take care of all customer queries or problems without using invasive marketing techniques.

This exclusive and friendly treatment is one more marketing strategy.This exclusive and friendly treatment is another marketing strategy, especially in areas that sell high-priced items with a high profit margin.

9. Plastic bags and pollution

One of the main state supermarket chains announced years ago that it would start charging for plastic bags, as the company was committed to caring for the environment. It was a widely publicized campaign.

However, the motivation of this campaign was not so much the ecologism of the macro-company, but, simply, to monetize an "item" that had previously been given away "free of charge".. They also took it upon themselves to offer reusable bags with which they could obtain extra income, with their logo printed large, thus obtaining free publicity. A guaranteed profit strategy.

10. Discounted products, distributed in a chaotic way

If you want to find truly discounted items, you have to search and rummage. Supermarkets have turned the clearance product areas into a chaos of discarded and scattered items. The technical reason for this practice is that The technical reason for this practice is that the consumer sees the search for these bargains as a game, as if you were trying to unearth treasure.

If you are able to find an item that is not defective or worn out, you will feel the need to buy it. These sections are designed for consumers with low purchasing power and a lot of free time. If, on the other hand, you have a good salary but little free time, you will be able to find all the items perfectly ordered and much more expensive on the main shelves.

11. "We'll bring your shopping home for free".

The service of home delivery of your groceries at the supermarket, free of charge, is booming. This involves making a minimum purchase of, for example, €50.

If your intention was to make a purchase of 30 €, you will have to spend the remaining 20 € on something, probably that you don't need urgently, to have it delivered to your home.

12. The final touch: the products in the boxes

After wandering all over the supermarket and bringing a cart full of items, there is still something they can try to sell you: gum, candy, magazines, energy bars.....

These products are not of great value, but they are the ones that proportionally bring in the highest profit rate to the surface. In the world of consumer psychology, this type of item serves as the icing on the cake: some batteries that I'm sure I'll need; this chewing gum, these candies for when the nephews and nieces come home... The retailer is always on the lookout for these techniques to sell you as much as they can.

And that's not all...

Of course, there are many more tricks that supermarkets use to try to get you to spend more than you had planned. Have you detected any other psychological strategy aimed at encouraging consumption? You can let us know in the comments section.