It is that time of the year again: lots of gifts, lots of happiness, and of course, lots of last-minute shopping. However, have you ever been in the situation of getting out of the mall/supermarket and shocked, saying to yourself, “holy cow, why did I spend so much money on this this and this which I don’t need and did not plan to buy? Now I’m REALLY tight on cash!” You may later forgive yourself by saying that it is Christmas time and so on, but you really do not need to spend that much money on things you do not need. But why, you may ask me, is it that you turn into a shopaholic the minute you step into a supermarket/mall, even though you have the shopping list right in your hand? Well, it is not entirely your fault. Here are some methods the stores use to boost up your desire for shopping:
1. The merchandise placed at your eye level are the ones with the most profit. The rule of thumb “where to place what” for most of the stores is that things the customers can reach the most easily are the things the stores want to sell the most. Therefore, a lot of stores place the most profitable goods or the goods that are about to expire at a height between 1.5m to 1.7m for the customers to grab and pay for.
2. When you step into a supermarket, the odds are you will see a bunch of items marked “special” or “on sale”. Now, try not to lose your discipline about shopping, and think to yourself, why are these things here and not others? The answer is simple: the goods placed near the entrance are the goods they want sold the fastest. A little different from the first “trap”, these goods are usually not as profitable. Instead, they are usually your everyday items (shampoos, groceries, etc.)If it is during the holiday season, these items are generally holiday related. When you see them, you would probably say to yourself, “oh I will need them anyway!” and throw some into your shopping cart. The stores use this mentality to try to sell more of the “cheap” things by putting things near the entrance to attract your attention, so that they can get more profit.
3. You might have seen words like “the lowest price guaranteed” on the wall of quite a few stores. The stores are trying to set an impression of low prices for the customer, so when they look at things like groceries they would find that yes, they are actually quite cheap. The ideal is customers will have the impression that “the other things must be cheap as well”, which may not apply. Supermarkets may keep their profit decent by raising the prices on other items to cover the loss in profit from reducing the prices on your everyday essentials.
4. Bigger is not always better. Supermarkets expect many customers to assume that there is value in the larger package because “more is cheaper”. How many of us actually take out a calculator to compare the unit prices based on volume?
5. Have you ever been in the “longest checkout line-up ever”? This is an obvious one but, in case you do not know, when you are trapped in a long line-up, you would start to look sideways. What are usually on the racks beside the checkout line? Gum, chocolate, snacks. Research has shown that when people are trapped in line-ups, 25% more of them will reach for the snacks on the side, even though they have not intended to buy them when they start shopping.
Now you have a good idea of why you might buy more than expected, and you probably are all pumped about starting another round of shopping and try to restrict yourself accordingly. However, these “traps” are not all that evil. There are times I forget to get my bread at the bakery, and I would sing hallelujah when I see some cheap bread being displayed beside the entrance. The bottom line is, shop moderately and wisely, without sacrificing the “needs and wants” list, as well as your satisfaction and happiness.
Happy shopping and happy holidays!^^
its been sometimes since i shop until u drop.
i guess it has do to with the differently generation.
i bought an iPad for my partner. She plays with it all the time, i thought it was worth it.
Sometimes, i though we buy things for the sake of it but so long we are spending for that we can afford and thinking of 5 points u listed, u would be ‘fine’?!!
-Da yi Ma
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