Supermarkets are under continual pressure to retain customers and maximise the value of each basket that passes through the checkout. Here are a few ways in which supermarkets go about meeting these challenges.

Attracting Customers

The most obvious way supermarkets bring customers through the door is by offering cheaper prices. Tricks supermarkets use to compete include tapping into the ‘discount store’ mentality by offering deals on everyday items with the aim of encouraging consumers to splash out on non-essentials.

Keeping Customers in the Store

Once you’re in the store, supermarkets want to keep you there and, more importantly, encourage you to pile your basket high with extra items! Tricks supermarkets use include putting the essential items at the back of the store and changing the location of products every few weeks, forcing you to wander around until you find what you want.

A further trick is to play music that makes customers want to stay in the store. In fact, supermarkets put a lot of effort into in store music selections, even using specialists such as https://moodmedia.co.uk/in-store-music-for-business/ to ensure what they play keeps customers shopping for longer.

Influencing Customers’ Spending Habits

The layout of the supermarket also plays a part in guiding what we buy. Aside from the obvious end-of-aisle offers, tricks used include putting higher-priced items at eye level and hiding cheap products behind pillars. If you notice the aroma of freshly baked bread, that’s the supermarket encouraging you to make an impulse buy of this high-margin item.

In store music plays a part here, too, as it has been suggested that classical music can encourage customers to buy expensive items. So if you hear Mozart and find yourself lingering by the vintage wines, you’ll know why!

Encouraging Loyalty

Of course, supermarkets want you to keep coming back. Loyalty schemes are the main way supermarkets encourage this, while also engaging in some targeted marketing. By collecting data on customers’ spending habits, they can send out coupons offering discounts on the very items you buy.

So the next time you visit a supermarket, pay attention to all the ways in which you’re being ‘influenced’, from the route you take around the shop floor to the extra items that you put in your basket. It may not be immediately obvious, but there’s plenty of psychology at work.