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Marketing tricks of grocery stores, and how to beat them at their game
The Marketing Tricks Of Grocery Stores
By Sidney Stone
Grocery stores rely on the fact that most shoppers will always spend more than they intended to, buy more items than are on their shopping list, and be duped into buying sale items because they appear to be on sale. They have invested tons of money, resources, and research into their repertoire of devious marketing tricks that are specifically designed to help you part with more of your money. And their tricks work like magic on many people.
Back Against The Wall
You will find some of the most frequently purchased products at the back of the store, like milk, eggs, butter, bread, and beer. This type of product placement ensures that you will have to walk past many other products in order to get what you came for and significantly increases the likelihood of impulse buying.
Checkout Line Cash Cow
Every single checkout line is surrounded by displays of sweets and magazines. These items are the ultimate of impulse buys. On average, you will have to wait 5-7 minutes to checkout. During this time, your eyes will likely be tempted by the headlines of the latest magazines and your children will be tempted by chocolate and candy. Every single grocery store in America makes money hand over fist from checkout line impulse buys.
Convenience Costs More
Pre-cut vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and meats can cost you twice as much as the uncut product. Granted, these types of products are intended for the shopper that is in a major hurry or has no desire to prepare food. However, if you want to save money, chop the vegetables yourself, portion the fruit yourself, slice the cheese yourself, marinate the meat yourself, and cook for yourself.
Dating Game
Everyone knows that the expiration dates on dairy products mean that you must consume the product by the given date to avoid the product going bad. Many other products like canned goods and boxed foods now include similar dates described as "best if used by" and "sell by". These types of dates are usually just recommendations and not warnings of when the product will go bad and no longer be safe to consume. In fact, the FDA does not require expiration type dates on any food products except drugs and baby formula. "Best if used by" dates indicate how long a product will be at its peak flavor, appearance, or aroma. "Sell by" dates indicate how long a store should stock that item on its shelves, essentially a stock rotation guideline of when certain items will likely need to appear on sale.
Eye Spy
Food manufacturers pay exorbitant amounts of money for premium shelf space, which is usually eye level; the middle shelf and the one above it. This is where the most popular and expensive food products live. On aisles that will appeal to kids, such as the cereal aisle and the cookie aisle, you will likely find the most popular sugary products on lower shelves, which is at the kids' eye level. Having these products at eye level increases the likelihood that you will buy them or your kids will convince you to buy them, and it works exceptionally well.
Face The Music
The music you hear in the grocery store is meticulously selected with the intent to slow down your pace and have you spend more time in the store. Usually, it will be familiar mellow music that makes most shoppers feel comfortable, stay longer and buy more.
I'm Floored
Some grocery stores like to use strategically placed carpets and rugs to slow down cart traffic in certain areas where they want to boost sales.
It's The Order Of Things
To prolong your time in the store and increase the odds of you shamelessly shoving another item into your cart, they place popular major brand products halfway down the aisle so that you have to walk further to reach the products you likely want.
Lost In The Shuffle
Most people are pretty familiar with the layout of their grocery store and know where to find the products they regularly buy. Grocery stores take advantage of this by moving popular products up/down a shelf, over a few feet from where they had been located, or to a new aisle altogether. This serves to increase the time you spend in the store while you look for your product and increase the chances that you will put more items in your cart. It also serves to get you to try new products.
Sales Pitch
Many grocery stores will create attractive end caps and strategically placed displays promoting products that appear to be on sale. Frequently, these products are not really on sale, rather they are merely made to look so. This is to encourage you to buy them right now and help them rotate their stock more efficiently.
What's That Smell?
The wafting smells of fresh baked breads, cookies, and roasted chickens stimulate the appetite and make it more likely that you will spontaneously buy a loaf of bread to go with your dinner. Some grocery stores that do not have active bakeries will actually pipe synthetic bread (or other food) smells into the air to stimulate your appetite and make you more susceptible to impulse purchases.
So Don't Be A Sheep
You can easily circumvent their intentional trickery and avoid being one of the overspending sheep. Make a list of what you need and stick to it. Have a budget and stick to it. Don't go grocery shopping if you are hungry. Don't shop with your kids if you can help it. If you must shop with your kids, either educate them or learn to say no. Learn to cook for yourself and stay away from heavily processed foods and convenience foods.
We are all constantly bombarded by marketing messages from retailers and manufacturers 24/7; on TV, on the radio, on the internet, on the interstate, everywhere. Grocery stores are in business to make money, nothing shocking about that. However, being aware of how they go about it can keep you from spending more than you intended and save you money in the long run. Whether you succumb to their bag of tricks willingly or not is ultimately your decision. Just be aware and beware!
Sidney Stone is the editor of FoodRap.com and an enthusiastic personal chef that specializes in artisan breadmaking and pastries.
