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how they cheat us in supermarkets
In the pursuit of profit, sellers deftly set traps that gullible buyers can easily fall into. Let’s take a look at the top tricks of supermarket sellers.
Anything marketers come up with to fool customers and lure them out of several thousand rubles a month (that same stash, postponed for a vacation). You do not attach any importance to many tricks. American Martin Lindstrom in the book “Brain Removal! How marketers manipulate our minds and make us buy what they want ”believes that the buyer is easily hypnotized by music. For example, a rhythmic composition spreading through the sales area makes you make spontaneous purchases. Shrill melodies contribute to a long stay in the store. The longer you stay here, the fuller your basket will be. But these are not the only ways to get us to make unnecessary purchases.
Quest “In search of freshness”
Products that have expired are brought closer. But it will not be easy to reach fresh kefir: it, as a rule, is hidden in the depths of the shelves. You should be wary of cuts of sausage. In one package, next to a cut from expensive salami, some ordinary sausage from paws and feathers may be adjacent. The buyer may not pay attention to such a trifle, but for the trader it is profit: they managed to sell cheap sausage at exorbitant prices. Plus, you will also be charged an extra charge for cutting and packaging.
Fresh products are definitely not to be found in the “Gastronomy” section. Here you can easily be offered a salad with sausage, which expired yesterday, and croutons are made from moldy bread on the shelf. Avoid the enticing signs that adorn the mouth-watering grilled chicken. It is definitely not worth buying it in the store, since it is very difficult to check the quality of the ingredients. Delicious chicken is easy to make at home.
The larger the cart, the larger the purchase
You only need to go to supermarkets with a list of groceries. If you only run into the store for butter and yogurt, don’t grab the huge cart. Marketers conducted a study that found that the larger the shopping cart, the longer the check. And, oddly enough, to save the family budget, avoid large packages. Even if, at first glance, it is more profitable to buy a huge packet of cookies. It is this purchase that will change your taste preferences. It has long been proven that the fuller your refrigerator is, the more you eat. If before you were limited to two cookies for breakfast, now you will eat twice as much.
“Buy a shampoo and get a conditioner as a gift” is a common trick. But it often happens that you buy two products for the price of two. The only exceptions are cases when you know exactly how much this shampoo, mouthwash or coffee should cost. Otherwise, the gift will work for your money.
Another vendor trick is how supermarket space is organized. Do not fall for the aromatic smells of freshly baked buns (it is better not to go to the shops hungry at all). Start your route immediately from the middle of the hall. The most beautiful things (vegetables, fruits, sweets) are usually located at the very beginning of your journey. The temptation is great: how to give up apples of such a rainbow salad green color or your favorite chocolates, which are now on sale. Determine clearly for yourself which departments you need, and bypass unnecessary racks. Of course, any supermarket is a labyrinth in which it is easy to get lost. Essential goods (bread, milk, meat) are located far from each other, and, often, as far as possible from the entrance. While you are looking for a loaf, there is a chance that you will come across such an attractive product that you cannot refuse to buy. By the way, according to research by American marketers, you can spend less money if you travel counterclockwise around the supermarket.
“Verified by the Union of Pediatricians of Russia”, “Buyers’ Choice” – agree that such inscriptions on the label make the product more attractive. Only the manufacturer, and not the seller, is responsible only for the information on the packaging. Better study the composition of the product, not its wrapper. Everyone has long known a classic experiment: water sold in beautiful glass bottles seems tastier than the same water, only in plastic packaging. Another trick is farm fruits and vegetables. You can find them only in small shops, supermarkets work only with large suppliers. And all these “eco”, “organic” and “bio” on the labels – a common marketing ploy.
The date of packing is not the date of manufacture
Study the packaging of the prepackaged goods carefully. According to the law, it must indicate: date of packing, expiration date, weight, price per kilogram, cost of this package. Often there are serious violations here: they write not the date of manufacture of the product, but the date of packaging, which can change daily. In general, it is best not to buy store-weighed products. Factory packaging is safer, albeit more expensive.
Today, it is stocks, not advertising, that become the engine of trade. Discounts are just a promotional move. Usually, a week before a product is made a promotional one, its cost rises sharply, and then it simply becomes the same. Often, goods that are nearing the end of their expiration date are sold at discounted prices.
And also promotional price tags are often “forgotten” to remove. At the checkout you will find a surprise like “oh, the promotion has already ended” and all you have to do is wait for the sorceress Galya with the key for the checkout to cancel the purchase, or pick up the goods at full price. By the way, if the cost of the goods does not correspond to the one indicated on the counter, then you have the right to demand that the goods be sold to you for the indicated price.
Children are the engine of commerce
The child is a real assistant to all marketers. Children fall into all the traps that the sellers have set for them. The kid will definitely not pass by the sweets and bright toys that the cunning merchants have laid out so that the child will surely notice the bait. And then extortion begins. Parents are ready to give their last money, if only the beloved child would calm down. Yes, and a woman with children is easier to fool at the checkout. She will definitely not recalculate the change and check the fulfillment of the conditions of the shares.