An Economic Minefield: The Supermarket

In class we discussed the economics behind why there are multiple parallel check-out lines in supermarkets as opposed to one long snaking line that branches off. I was curious as to what other tactics supermarkets use to increase consumerism that we encounter everyday. To understand these techniques, let’s walk through a fictional scenario:

You have just arrived at a supermarket and have a grocery list that reads “milk, chips, Cheerios.” You take a cart, enter the store, and the aroma of flowers and baked goods wafts over you. Those pastries look delicious; it wouldn’t hurt to get a few, you think, and add it into your cart. You walk down the cereal aisle and see that Cheerios are on sale for buy two get three. Let’s get three then, you think, and add it into your cart. As you continue down the cereal aisle, you notice a kid pleading to his mom to buy him Lucky Charms. You walk down the next isle where the chips are usually located, but you can’t find them. Instead of chips, you see Oreos. Those look good, you think, and add it into your cart. When you finally find the chips you were looking for, you notice that it’s right next to jars of salsa. Chips dipped in salsa sounds nice, you think, and add it into your cart. Finally you make it to the back of the store and find milk, adding it into your cart. You walk back to the front of the store for check out, and after loading the items in your cart onto the conveyor belt, quickly add on a pack of gum. After purchasing all of your items you notice your receipt included four extra items than what was included on your original grocery list. How did this happen?

It all started as soon as you took a cart. Grocery store carts are oversized for a reason — it encourages you to keep adding items to the cart so it doesn’t look empty. As soon as you walked through the doors of the store, you were surrounded by high margin departments, such as flowers, fresh baked goods, and rotisserie chicken. Because your cart was empty, you were more likely to buy these items, and because these items smelled good and activated your salivary glands, you were more likely to make impulse purchases. When you saw the Cheerios on sale, you bought two more boxes of cereal than you originally intended to. The deal of buy two get three increases sales by over 150 percent. The kid who wanted Lucky Charms was tempted by the cereal because sugary kids’ cereals are placed at a kid’s eye level. In a similar manner, more expensive products are placed at adult eye level, since products at eye level sell twice as much. Locating the chips in a new location in the store was an intentional move to make you look through other items, such as the Oreos you bought. Placing items that go together, such as the jars of salsa next to the bags of chips, encouraged you to buy both. Stocking essentials, like the milk that was on your grocery list, in the back of stores made it so you had to walk through aisles of non-perishable packaged foods, such as chips, cookies, and cereals. And finally, placing candy next to the checkouts promotes impulse purchases, such as that last-minute pack of gum.

All of these methods increase consumerism by encouraging you to buy items you don’t really need. What other marketing techniques are used to encourage shoppers to increase their spending?