We don’t tend to think of a grocery store in the same way that we would think of a department store or a shop at the mall because they are so necessary to our daily lives. However, grocery stores are money making operations just as any other type of store is. In order to make money, grocery stores try to trick their customers into spending as much money as possible. If you can learn these tricks, you can save yourself and your family some much needed money.
One of the most common ways that grocery stores trick you is by putting small, inexpensive items that are flashy at the register. That way while you’re waiting in-line you will notice them and hopefully make an impulse purchase. The reason that magazines are always by the register is so that you will read the headlines and get so hooked that you buy the magazine in order to read more. But you don’t need to find out all the latest celebrity gossip, and if you feel as though you do you can probably find it online for free.
Almost every grocery store puts the milk in the very back of the store, typically in the corner farthest from the entrance. Milk is one of the most frequently used groceries by most families. It also quickly expires.
The combination of frequent use and quick expiration means that you will have to buy milk almost every time you go grocery shopping. It also means that you will often have to go to the store simply to buy milk. Grocery stores put the milk in the back to force you to look at all of their other inventory on the way. Chances are that you will remember something else that you need or just something you want. You need to learn to focus on your goal of getting milk and ignore all of the tasty and useful distractions along the way.
Grocery stores put the most visually appealing products at a height that will be at eye-level for children. They do this because children are more likely to be convinced by a flashy appearance than adults will, and are also much less likely to be influenced by other factors such as price or quality.
This comes into play in many products. For example, if you want to buy plastic plates and are deciding which ones to purchase, your child may see ones with a popular cartoon character on them that are twice the price of plain ones. Naturally, your child will want the fancier plates.
Another reason that grocery stores put products that are likely to appeal to children where they can see them is that children are likely to make a fuss if they don’t get what they want and frustrate their parents into buying it for them. This is a difficult trick to get around unless you don’t have kids or don’t take them shopping with you. You are best served by explaining to them that they cannot have whatever they want, or for a quicker fix, put them in the cart so that they don’t see as many fancy boxes.
Grocery stores also will place items on end-caps and in their flyers so that customers will think that they must be on special, even if they aren’t. Don’t assume that words like “low price!” means that you need to pounce now before the deal goes away – it might very well be the every day price.
Buy what you need and don’t get tempted into spending extra by fancy displays and promises of bargains. Grocery stores have a regular sales cycle and it’s almost guaranteed that something that’s on sale today will go on sale again in the near future.
Have you noticed any tricks that your grocer uses to get you to buy more than you need?
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