SUPERMARKET TRICKS

[Guest guest]

I just jotted down some highlights from one article in the latest Ecologist

magazine. The entire issue is devoted to what the SUPERMARKET has done

to our culture.....the issue is sub-titled:

SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY--OR SHOP IN A SUPERMARKET--YOU

CAN'T DO BOTH

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21 Tricks of the Supermarket Trade

How Supermarkets Manipulate You Into Buying More Than You Need

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Extracted from The Ecologist Magazine, September 2004

1) GIVING YOU A BASKET If they hand you a basket it's not necessarily

because they think you are swell, it's so you will buy more. 75% of basket

carriers buy something as compared to only 34% without a basket.

2) " RIPE AND READY " FRUIT Now that the public is conditioned to accept

green-picked, flavorless fruit they now can charge a premium for ripe fruit.

3) IRRATIONAL PRICING When your brain sees $4.99 it doesn't register $5

it " sees " $4.

4) BUY ONE GET ONE FREE Has been shown to increase purchases up to

150%. We buy more than we really need and they unload excess stock that's

not selling

5) CHILDREN- From kiddie carts to give-away products, it works. They now

have " cooking " classes for kids (for which you pay) where the kids are taught

to recognize special child brands which are healthier versions of junk food like

chicken nuggets and pizza. The kids are also taught which deli and

ready-made foods to ask for.

6) " EYE LEVEL IS BUY LEVEL " Products at eye level sell 2X as well. Guess

where they put the most expensive, most profitable stuff? Except for

CHILDREN'S snacks and junk (pester food) which is at their eye level.

7) HARD TO COMPARE WEIGHTS Notice that some things are by the

pound, some by the ounce, and some are even in grams. You don't notice

price bumps that can be 10X that of the normal stuff. Many fruits are

pre-packaged in plastic trays making it hard to compare

8) CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT Particularly famous chefs. They lend

credibility to store claims.

9) KNOWN-VALUE ITEMS such as bred, butter, milk and sugar are sold

below-cost to lure customers in to beat the competition. Loss leaders enable

them to raise the prices on other items we can't remember the prices of.

10) NEW BOX, OLD PRODUCT The same " Chicken massala " becomes

" Keralan Massala chicken " but it's still the same bad chicken.

11) FREE SAMPLES It's not to get you to buy that product, it gets your gastric

juices flowing, you feel more hungry and buy more, especially expensive

" eat-in-the-car " deli stuff

12) READING HABITS People who read left to right also scan shelves left to

right. The expensive stuff is on the left.

13) MUSIC has an unbelievable power on shopping. Since walk at about 90

paces per minute, slowing the tempo below 90 slows us down in the store.

Tests show that if they played German music people bought German wine,

when they switch to French music they bought French wine.

14) FAKE BARGAINS Note the huge mountain of product at a reduced price

right next to the same product at the " original " and higher price. It was never

really that high price but you think it was and pick up the " bargain " .

15) VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS A sliced apple sells for 7X what an apple

sells for. Who is really so busy they can't slice an apple?

16) WALKING DISTANCES The most popular items are in the middle of the

aisles and the essential foods like bread and milk are always in the very back

of the store so you have to walk by all the tempting stuff.

17) SAVINGS SCHEMES Such as the computers for schools programs

would require you to buy over $10K in groceries to get one computer.

18) FRESHLY BAKED BREAD (THE SMELL OF) They really don't bake

bread in the stores but they haul out, defrost and heat up a few loaves to get

the smell going.

19) LOYALTY CARDS Are supposed to give you a discount but they never

cost the chains a penny. Card holders buy 42% more groceries. The discount

vouchers cause you to merely buy products you don't normally buy.

20) ZONE SPECIFIC TELEVISION Since 75% of shopping decisions are

make in the 10' before the product, this new technique will be quite powerful

21) PESTER POWER What do you find when you get to the checkout line?

Huge rows of sweets and toys. Not only are adults tempted but children can

begin the whining and pestering and it usually works on the parents who are

frazzled from the long journey through the store.