15 Ways Grocery Stores Are Manipulating You

Mizuka Ishiwatari Published 03/10/2015

Incredible ways grocery stores manipulate you into spending way more money than you thought possible.

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1.
Big margin product pairings - Grabbing some chips? Sounds good. But why not get some salsa with it, too?
2.
Retailers pay big bucks to have food placed at eye level. Also, they "conveniently" put food for kids on the low shelf for wandering little hands.
3.
Ever wondered why the milk and bread are placed in random spots? It's forcing you to look at a ton of other products before you finally get that gallon of 2%.
4.
Reward programs track your spending - You'll "conveniently" get coupons for just one more needed item.
5.
Termed "price anchoring," just because something's half off doesn't mean they ever intended to sell it at full price. Don't forget, "Buy One, Get One Half Off" sale is actually only 25 percent off each.
6.
Slow music is played to in order for you to want to stroll through the store, take your time, and spend more money.
7.
Smell's nice? At the very least, you'll now want to buy a baked good. Even worse, you'll find that you suddenly have an appetite and buy more groceries.
8.
Veggies look nice and wet? The added weight also increases the per pound cost at the register
9.
Why are the carts so huge? Is it for bigger convenience? Nope. As a test, researches doubled the size of grocery carts. The result? Consumers purchased 19% more items.
10.
Waiting in that long line deserves a reward, right? The grocers certainly think so.
11.
Pre-cut fruits and veggies have insane markups. - for example a six-ounce bag of shredded carrots costs about five times more than a similar amount of whole carrots.
12.
Creative displays and endcaps on full-priced food - it turns out they're not on sale. But you suddenly want to buy them for some reason.
13.
Free samples - These often create an obligation in taste testers to buy something since it was free. Or at the very least, you'll check out the displayed items near the food you would have otherwise missed.
14.
Buying in bulk - Look at the labeling. Chances are the individual items like pepper are cheaper at Sam's Club than the 3-packs also sold there.
15.
Stores make their aisles narrow to force you to go down the whole thing. No U-Turns here!

1.
Big margin product pairings - Grabbing some chips? Sounds good. But why not get some salsa with it, too?
2.
Retailers pay big bucks to have food placed at eye level. Also, they "conveniently" put food for kids on the low shelf for wandering little hands.
3.
Ever wondered why the milk and bread are placed in random spots? It's forcing you to look at a ton of other products before you finally get that gallon of 2%.
4.
Reward programs track your spending - You'll "conveniently" get coupons for just one more needed item.
5.
Termed "price anchoring," just because something's half off doesn't mean they ever intended to sell it at full price. Don't forget, "Buy One, Get One Half Off" sale is actually only 25 percent off each.
6.
Slow music is played to in order for you to want to stroll through the store, take your time, and spend more money.
7.
Smell's nice? At the very least, you'll now want to buy a baked good. Even worse, you'll find that you suddenly have an appetite and buy more groceries.
8.
Veggies look nice and wet? The added weight also increases the per pound cost at the register
9.
Why are the carts so huge? Is it for bigger convenience? Nope. As a test, researches doubled the size of grocery carts. The result? Consumers purchased 19% more items.
10.
Waiting in that long line deserves a reward, right? The grocers certainly think so.
11.
Pre-cut fruits and veggies have insane markups. - for example a six-ounce bag of shredded carrots costs about five times more than a similar amount of whole carrots.
12.
Creative displays and endcaps on full-priced food - it turns out they're not on sale. But you suddenly want to buy them for some reason.
13.
Free samples - These often create an obligation in taste testers to buy something since it was free. Or at the very least, you'll check out the displayed items near the food you would have otherwise missed.
14.
Buying in bulk - Look at the labeling. Chances are the individual items like pepper are cheaper at Sam's Club than the 3-packs also sold there.
15.
Stores make their aisles narrow to force you to go down the whole thing. No U-Turns here!

Big margin product pairings - Grabbing some chips? Sounds good. But why not get some salsa with it, too?

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15 Ways Grocery Stores Are Manipulating You

1.
Big margin product pairings - Grabbing some chips? Sounds good. But why not get some salsa with it, too?

2.
Retailers pay big bucks to have food placed at eye level. Also, they "conveniently" put food for kids on the low shelf for wandering little hands.

3.
Ever wondered why the milk and bread are placed in random spots? It's forcing you to look at a ton of other products before you finally get that gallon of 2%.

4.
Reward programs track your spending - You'll "conveniently" get coupons for just one more needed item.

5.
Termed "price anchoring," just because something's half off doesn't mean they ever intended to sell it at full price. Don't forget, "Buy One, Get One Half Off" sale is actually only 25 percent off each.

6.
Slow music is played to in order for you to want to stroll through the store, take your time, and spend more money.

7.
Smell's nice? At the very least, you'll now want to buy a baked good. Even worse, you'll find that you suddenly have an appetite and buy more groceries.

8.
Veggies look nice and wet? The added weight also increases the per pound cost at the register

9.
Why are the carts so huge? Is it for bigger convenience? Nope. As a test, researches doubled the size of grocery carts. The result? Consumers purchased 19% more items.

10.
Waiting in that long line deserves a reward, right? The grocers certainly think so.

11.
Pre-cut fruits and veggies have insane markups. - for example a six-ounce bag of shredded carrots costs about five times more than a similar amount of whole carrots.

12.
Creative displays and endcaps on full-priced food - it turns out they're not on sale. But you suddenly want to buy them for some reason.

13.
Free samples - These often create an obligation in taste testers to buy something since it was free. Or at the very least, you'll check out the displayed items near the food you would have otherwise missed.

14.
Buying in bulk - Look at the labeling. Chances are the individual items like pepper are cheaper at Sam's Club than the 3-packs also sold there.

15.
Stores make their aisles narrow to force you to go down the whole thing. No U-Turns here!

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4.

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9.

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11.

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13.

14.

15.

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eBaum's Picks

1. Big margin product pairings - Grabbing some chips? Sounds good. But why not get some salsa with it, too?

2. Retailers pay big bucks to have food placed at eye level. Also, they "conveniently" put food for kids on the low shelf for wandering little hands.

3. Ever wondered why the milk and bread are placed in random spots? It's forcing you to look at a ton of other products before you finally get that gallon of 2%.

4. Reward programs track your spending - You'll "conveniently" get coupons for just one more needed item.

5. Termed "price anchoring," just because something's half off doesn't mean they ever intended to sell it at full price. Don't forget, "Buy One, Get One Half Off" sale is actually only 25 percent off each.

6. Slow music is played to in order for you to want to stroll through the store, take your time, and spend more money.

7. Smell's nice? At the very least, you'll now want to buy a baked good. Even worse, you'll find that you suddenly have an appetite and buy more groceries.

8. Veggies look nice and wet? The added weight also increases the per pound cost at the register

9. Why are the carts so huge? Is it for bigger convenience? Nope. As a test, researches doubled the size of grocery carts. The result? Consumers purchased 19% more items.

10. Waiting in that long line deserves a reward, right? The grocers certainly think so.

11. Pre-cut fruits and veggies have insane markups. - for example a six-ounce bag of shredded carrots costs about five times more than a similar amount of whole carrots.

12. Creative displays and endcaps on full-priced food - it turns out they're not on sale. But you suddenly want to buy them for some reason.

13. Free samples - These often create an obligation in taste testers to buy something since it was free. Or at the very least, you'll check out the displayed items near the food you would have otherwise missed.

14. Buying in bulk - Look at the labeling. Chances are the individual items like pepper are cheaper at Sam's Club than the 3-packs also sold there.

15. Stores make their aisles narrow to force you to go down the whole thing. No U-Turns here!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Share This Image

0 Comments

eBaum's Picks

1.
Big margin product pairings - Grabbing some chips? Sounds good. But why not get some salsa with it, too?

2.
Retailers pay big bucks to have food placed at eye level. Also, they "conveniently" put food for kids on the low shelf for wandering little hands.

3.
Ever wondered why the milk and bread are placed in random spots? It's forcing you to look at a ton of other products before you finally get that gallon of 2%.

4.
Reward programs track your spending - You'll "conveniently" get coupons for just one more needed item.

5.
Termed "price anchoring," just because something's half off doesn't mean they ever intended to sell it at full price. Don't forget, "Buy One, Get One Half Off" sale is actually only 25 percent off each.

6.
Slow music is played to in order for you to want to stroll through the store, take your time, and spend more money.

7.
Smell's nice? At the very least, you'll now want to buy a baked good. Even worse, you'll find that you suddenly have an appetite and buy more groceries.

8.
Veggies look nice and wet? The added weight also increases the per pound cost at the register

9.
Why are the carts so huge? Is it for bigger convenience? Nope. As a test, researches doubled the size of grocery carts. The result? Consumers purchased 19% more items.

10.
Waiting in that long line deserves a reward, right? The grocers certainly think so.

11.
Pre-cut fruits and veggies have insane markups. - for example a six-ounce bag of shredded carrots costs about five times more than a similar amount of whole carrots.

12.
Creative displays and endcaps on full-priced food - it turns out they're not on sale. But you suddenly want to buy them for some reason.

13.
Free samples - These often create an obligation in taste testers to buy something since it was free. Or at the very least, you'll check out the displayed items near the food you would have otherwise missed.

14.
Buying in bulk - Look at the labeling. Chances are the individual items like pepper are cheaper at Sam's Club than the 3-packs also sold there.

15.
Stores make their aisles narrow to force you to go down the whole thing. No U-Turns here!