5 Psychological Tricks Retailers Use To Get Us To Buy More!
Retailers work a living trying to make money out from you. It’s a job they’re skillfully good at it and time we understand their tricks and games to avoid being trapped whenever we’re out shopping.
Here are some ways they deceit us:
1) Pricing:
It is not an uncommon practice where retailers play with numbers to make sales. Therefore, it has been proven one of the famous and successful marketing strategies until now.
Decoy Pricing:
A common tactic where companies push customers who buy the cheapest items towards more expensive items.
How do they do this?
Let me explain this with a simple example:
Company X launches two new coffeemakers: A and B. Coffeemaker A is retailed at $70, while Coffeemaker B retails at $150. The goal here is to maximize sales of Coffeemaker B by introducing another Coffeemaker — The Decoy. The Decoy item is set at a price as high as $270 to minimize the effect of Coffeemaker B and make it seem less in comparison.
Therefore, the decoy acts as a compromising effect between Coffeemaker B and D, and customers think, “This is pretty reasonable compared to Coffeemaker D.”
As a result, sales for Coffeemaker B shoot up.
Another famously used tactic where: Apple recently introduced an Apple watch that cost for $10,000, a costly price indeed. But only so the standard Apple watch — for $1000, could stand out in comparison. Which it did and which got the most sales.
Exclusivity:
Some customers take pride in owning high-end items and are often drawn to the most expensive item.
For them, the Decoy product often introduced is another luxury to get their hands on.
The exclusivity principle states that definite customers will buy the $270 Coffeemaker and are always willing to pay the price, no matter how high.
These customers are status-bound and bask in the luxury of goods. As a result, retailers often increase the cost of these items to increase the high status and exclusivity, leading to an increasing number of sales.
Sales/Deals:
Retailers allure customers with big sale signs to catch their attention and draw you to stores you never even planned on going to the first place.
In fact, some of the sale signs can be so enticing. A shop that claims to have 50% off ends up only having one small item off on 50%!
Some stores even label the sale price on tags with a smaller font size to emphasize the price difference after discount.
Retailers can be tricky. It’s always better not to get caught up in the hype of these “Once in lifetime deals.”
Left digit effect- The Magic 9:
You have probably noticed by now how often everything is priced at $49.99, $19.99, $89.99, or more specifically ‘.99’. Why is that?
Research has investigated that the use of 99 endings creates the impression that the price is relatively lower and representing a discount.
This is because we read from left to right, so when we encounter a new price at $5.99, we see the 5 first and perceive the price to be closer to $5.00, than it is to $6.00.
2) Slow, calming music:
Another thing besides pricing, retailers keep in mind is Ambiance. Calming music slows customers down and allows them to explore the shop even more. Eventually, this leads to buying way more than needed and you end up losing track of time!
3) Carts:
Grocery stores, in particular, make sure to keep carts in the entrance. Having one to put items in not only makes it easier but makes you put more in and you end up splurging.
It doesn’t help that the carts are made so big that going in to grab a few things and putting them in, makes it seem so empty. Jealousy arises too from seeing other people’s carts full and the need to fill your cart takes over.
4) Arrangement/placement of items:
Retailers have already designed the entire layout of the store to please customers and boost sales.
Entrances are made larger; items are kept at eye level.
Essential items such as milk and eggs are made sure to put in the very back so that customers have to go through aisles and aisles to get what they need. Even kid items are placed at eye-level to appeal to them. Cereal boxes, for example, make the most sales because they are being made visible to kids.
High-profitable items are kept at the front of the store where they can be viewed by everyone.
Individual shelves are also designed to contain full ingredients to pack up for dinner if needed. The cheese will be kept next to pizza sauce, next to pizza dough. All fit to go!
5) False sense of urgency:
One of the best ways to attract customers is by making your store stand out.
Large sale signs can make you feel — if you don’t buy now, you’ll never be able to. This creates a false sense of urgency whereby you go off sprouting into shops, in the fear that you’ll never get a chance like this again.
Often these types of sales occur once or twice every month but you’re made to feel like it’s “a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Conclusion:
Large sales aren’t the result of nothing. Retailers have been consciously influencing our minds for as long as we can remember. From knowing how these tactics work, we can be more careful about spending money.
