Supermarket sales tactics

Introduction


In brief

Be aware of the tricks and traps supermarkets use to get you to part with your cash.
Impulse buying accounts for a significant proportion of supermarket purchases. Planning your shopping beforehand and making a list will help you resist. Our tips can save you money.
Don’t let discounted petrol or other loyalty schemes control where you buy – consider how much you're really saving.
Major supermarkets are just about everywhere, and according to the market research company ACNielson, the primary appeal is "one-stop shopping" — everything you want under one roof. Apparently we love them, but how well do we understand the modern supermarket and its sophisticated sales strategies?

Setting the traps

Consumer research shows that we’re vulnerable to subtle — and even not-so-subtle — marketing techniques. Impulse buying accounts for a significant proportion of supermarket purchases.

Here are some of the tactics used by supermarkets to encourage you to spend more than you might have planned to:

In your face: More expensive items tend to be right in the line of sight of the target consumer. Cheaper or supermarket own-brands tend to be located on the higher or lower shelves.
Sensory delights: It’s very common to position attractive fresh produce or a bakery at the entry. Does the deli section with its medley of colours and tasty offerings then follow? The aim is that the sights and smells grab your interest and put you into shopping mood as you’re led through the labyrinth to the less interesting packaged dry goods and the strategically placed impulse-buy items.
Where are the eggs? Probably nowhere near the milk or bread. Separation of popular staples is a common element of supermarket design. Why? So you’ll spend more time in the store negotiating your way past all those flashy and tempting impulse-buy items.
Sacrificial lambs: Supermarkets, particularly those with strong local competition, offer "loss leaders" — heavily discounted and advertised goods that are designed to get you into the store. The idea is that you’ll pick up a few more items while you’re there. And don’t be surprised if you find them near high-cost glamour products.
This goes with that: Positioning natural combinations like chips with dips or biscuits near tea and coffee may seem logical, but is it any wonder that it increases the sales of both?
The trouble with trolleys is that it’s very easy to fill them up. If this is you, consider carrying one or even two baskets instead — you’ll find the weight of all those impulse buys good for discipline.
Super specials? Appearances can be deceptive. Are those cosmetics in the bargain bin at the end of the aisle really discounted?
Checkout tempters: Magazines and confectionery live here. How many times have you succumbed to the temptation or been nagged into buying by your kids?
What the research says

Research also suggests that grocery shoppers are heavily influenced by instore displays, particularly at the end of the aisles and at the checkout. Keep this in mind when navigating through the store. Don’t assume they’re automatically a special offer — compare their price with the same items that aren’t being promoted.
At the Food and Brand Lab, University of Illinois, researchers found that promotions using multi-unit pricing such as three for $3, purchase suggestions such as "stock up for Easter", or with purchase limits such as "limit three per customer" increased the amount consumers purchased. “All three types of promotion increase purchase amounts by 30% to 105% over what consumers would normally plan on buying,” it said.
Other research showed that more than 50% of shoppers couldn’t resist a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. But did you even need one in the first place, never mind two?
A study published by the American Psychological Association showed that even the choice of instore music influenced shoppers’ wine selection. Over a two-week period in an English supermarket either French or German music was played from a display of wines from these countries. When the music was French, sales of French wine increased; when it was German, sales of German wine increased. When questioned, shoppers seemed unaware of the effect the music had had on their wine purchasing. more to read here.http://www.choice.com.au/Reviews-and-Tests/Food-and-Health/Food-and-drink/Supermarkets/Supermarket-sales-tactics/Page/Introduction.aspx