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FEATURE
BUY-
How understanding the psychology of supermarkets can help you become a smarter shopper
// WORDS BY ANNA KATHAGNARATH
// PHOTOS BY RYAN WAGGONER
im Vo entered the sliding glass doors of Dillons Food Stores. 4701 W. Sixth St., with the intention of buying only bread and eggs. Vo.Dodge Citysenior,
saw an array of vibrant colors as she walked past the fruits and vegetables. The enticing aroma of chicken traveled from the deli section and into her nose. She walked past the fresh flowers displayed in a rainbow of colors. She continued down the aisles, placed a pan, drinks, straws and baby food for her 10-month-old daughter. Sadie, in her cart. The rich smell of freshly baked bread filled the air as she headed toward the back of the store. She placed a loaf of bread in her cart, continued browsing the aisles and added milk and laundry detergent. She arrived at the check-out counter and the cashier totaled her items. "I was supposed to grab eggs and bread, but I ended up spending $64," Vo says.
Vo did exactly what supermarkets wanted her to do — she bought more than she originally planned. From the store layout to the placement of products, supermarkets use marketing tactics to get us to buy more and more expensive items. When you're on a budget, being a conscious consumer may stop you from placing that last impulse item in your cart.
Supermarkets study consumer behavior because they want to arrange the store in a manner that's convenient for their customers, says Michael Williams, professor of marketing and director of the Academy of Consumer Excellence and Sales in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Although supermarket layouts vary, most supermarkets generally follow a similar store pattern. Williams says stores are largely focused on making a good impression on the shopper's pyche from the time he or she enters the store.
For example, in the Hy-Vee at 4000 W. Sixth St., the fresh produce is easily accessible and near the entrance. In recently built supermarkets, the fresh produce is generally near the entrance, followed by the deli and bakery section, the frozen meat is adjacent from the food aisles and the dairy section is located near the back.
Supermarkets are intentionally built this way to increase the chance that customers will buy more than they intentionally planned, says Michael Barr, professor of business psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He says retail stores create a "plan-o-gram," or illustrations of where items should be displayed throughout the store.
From the moment you grab a cart at the entrance your visual and tactile senses are stimulated. It's no accident that supermarkets place the fresh produce and floral section near the front. Barr says supermarket planners want an image that the store is fresh, inviting and pleasant. Imagine how uninviting the supermarket experience would be if plungers and toilet paper were near the entrance. The contrasting textures of fruits and vegetables and pleasant aromas of brightly colored flowers can help entice consumers to linger in the store. Barr says, "The more senses that you can engage in a person the more likely they are going to make a purchase," he says.
Barr says supermarkets are also counting on consumers to enter the store hungry. If you shop on an empty stomach you may be more prone to placing additional products in your cart.
Pinching pennies. Shopping on a budget is a difficult task, and falling victim to supermarket tactics can make it even harder. Watch out for the end-cap displays; huge signs and last-chance purchase items that attempt to reel you in.
As you push your cart along the parameter of the supermarket, you are likely to come across the frozen meats section. If you are buying steak, closely examine the meat. Barr says consumers who typically associate the freshness of meat by its red color may be unaware that supermarkets use certain lighting, such as fluorescent bulbs, to distort the true color of meats. Although meat is naturally red, the lights enhance the vividness of the red. Instead of just glancing quickly at the displays, try picking up each package to examine the true freshness and color.
Across from the frozen meats section are the food aisles, but the end-cap displays distract you from even getting into the aisles. End-cap displays are products specially placed at the end of an aisle used to get your attention. You will notice that bottle of pop is not in its regular place on the shelf. An employee has gone to the trouble of arranging the product in an attractive manner.
Barr says people perceive the display as something special and will tend to pick it up thinking that it is on sale. He says sometimes the item is not actually on sale or it is sold only at a small discount. Some end-cap displays are purposefully cluttered next to large-sale signs, which give the appearance that there are more bargains within the store than there actually are.
Jason Kingman, Topeka junior, has become more aware of supermarket strategies such as the end-cap displays because he has worked at the
Dillons Food Store, 1015 W. 23rd St., for two years. He works with store managers on product placement. He says an effective supermarket tactic is the limited-time only sales that create a sense of urgency. "Grocery stores are out to make money." Kingman says. "It's always a profit margin that's the bottom line."
He says that as a consumer he didn't realize how responsive buyers were to a product being prominently displayed at the end of aisles until he started working there. "There will be a product
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