Today, the consumer’s basket with the most necessary things increasingly resembles a luxury item. Prices grow not by the day, but by the hour, but salaries mostly stand still, or only manage to get tired of inflation. Ukrainians don’t just save, but are forced to get out of their way, looking for discounts and counting every hryvnia. In this financial acrobatics, supermarkets turn into sophisticated magicians rather than allies. A bright sign promises a promotion, and the product on the shelf is attractive at the “old” price, only in smaller print. In practice, the product “with a discount” today turns out to be more expensive than yesterday without a discount. Here, every purchase turns into a mini-scenario, where marketing tricks play the main role, and the buyer is left with a long check and an empty wallet.
Theater of consumption with tricks from retail
Modern trade networks have turned into complex systems of psychological influence, where even the color of the net or the smell of fresh baked goods works to achieve the main goal: to increase the average customer’s check. These strategies become so habitual that we do not notice how we fall under their influence every day.
One of the most striking examples of the effect on the consumer is the red net for oranges. It creates the illusion of a brighter and riper fruit due to the effect of color assimilation. The brain interprets information not in absolute, but in relative terms. The red mesh enhances the orange color of the peel, making the oranges more visually appealing. The color lighting system works separately, because warm light makes products cozier, and red – more appetizing. Above the meat counters, red lamps add color saturation, making the products look fresher and therefore more expensive to look at.
The organization of space in supermarkets is also not random, but has a clear logic. The so-called “golden triangle rule” works here, which provides that basic goods (bread, milk, meat) are placed at different ends of the store. To get to them, the customer involuntarily walks past the shelves with other products. This increases the likelihood of impulse purchases, and the space around this triangle becomes the arena for the most profitable sales.
At the same time, a significant emphasis is placed on the location of goods on the shelves: the most popular brands are always placed at eye level, and less well-known or cheaper – higher or lower. Even “related” products (for example, beer with chips) are deliberately placed next to each other to encourage “cross-buying”. Statistics shows, that 60% of customers will grab something on the way to milk.
Music in supermarkets is also not chosen just to entertain customers. A slow, calm melody extends the dwell time and allows you to make decisions without rushing. As a result, we, without noticing it, make much higher expenses. By research Ronald Milliman, calm music makes people stay in the store longer, which adds +38% to the revenue. Aroma marketing works no less effectively. The smell of fresh bread or coffee creates a sense of comfort and stimulates the appetite. In the baking departments, open ovens are not only for cooking, but also for spreading the aroma. The aroma of grapefruit, for example, can increase fruit sales by 7%.
As soon as the brain gets used to the space, smells and sounds, the number comes into play – the most subtle tool of influence, which seems objective, but does not work in favor of logic at all. Prices ending in 99 are not just a psychological trick, but a deliberate violation of rational thinking. Yes, research, conducted in 1997, found that most prices in advertising materials ended in 9. This number was chosen six out of ten times. In second place was 5, which was used in three out of ten. Zero occurred much less often, only 7% of the time, and the rest of the digits were effectively left out of the game, appearing in only 3% of the prices.
In the same year, economist Kaushik Basu offered an interesting explanation for this phenomenon based on game theory. In his opinion, even consumers who consider themselves rational do not spend energy on accurate calculations. A person reads the price from left to right, and as soon as he sees that the product costs “99”, his brain automatically perceives it as “less than a hundred”. All these ninety-nine pennies dissolve in general informational noise. At the scale of a large market, this allows the seller to deliberately choose the “hardest” price, that is, the one that is almost equal to the next whole number, but looks like a good offer without causing resistance from the buyer. According to statistics, about 90% of people are more willing to buy goods with a “discount”, although in reality this is all just a fiction. Increasingly, stores resort to using red price tags without a real discount, but only to create the illusion of a promotion. Under such conditions, buyers respond not to numbers, but to signals.
Interestingly, even the size of the cart can play an important role when shopping. When it’s almost empty, it looks like you haven’t bought anything yet. And when it’s even a little full, it’s easier to go to the checkout. In some research doubling the size of the cart led to a 40% increase in purchases.
Supermarkets not only know how to convince us to buy more, but also constantly test what exactly we are ready to buy. And if earlier the shelf could belong to the same brand for years, now only those who pass the sales test get on it. Retailers refuse long-term contracts with manufacturers if the product does not show stable sales. Increasingly, the testing model is used, during which a new product is launched in a limited number of stores or regions. If the product is in demand, it remains, if not, it gives way to a new one. This accelerates the rotation of goods, changing the buyer’s habits and increasing his interest.
It is interesting that in the conditions of a full-scale war with the Russian Federation, some Ukrainian supermarkets have adapted to the new reality. So, for example, in the shopping center “Gulliver” in Kyiv or “Nikolsky” in Kharkiv, the trading points are located underground, where you can stay even during an air raid. Such stores create an atmosphere of safety and trust, which stimulates consumer loyalty.
Invisible costs: how supermarkets profit from our inattention
Now let’s talk about more hidden mechanisms of consumer manipulation. Most of these techniques are not outright fraud, but their systematicity and scale call into question the integrity of the interaction between the retail network and its customers.
One of the most common ways of making hidden money is to refuse to return small coins. In stores, situations are regularly recorded when cashiers “forget” a few pennies, referring to the lack of coins. However, the mass of such cases turns small amounts into a tangible source of additional profit. For example, if only 200 customers “lose” 5 kopecks a day, this figure turns into UAH 3,000 profit from each cash register in a month.
But the story of a broken bottle or an overturned product often happens in large shopping centers. The staff immediately tries to shift the financial responsibility to the buyer, appealing to “your fault”. Legally, the buyer is not the owner of the goods until the moment of payment at the cash register. Even more, if the spoilage occurred due to poor-quality placement or overflowing of shelves, the responsibility lies entirely with the supermarket employees. But the lack of information does not play into our hands, because we immediately rush to pay compensation, admitting our guilt without guilt as such.
There are rare cases of excess weight by 20-100 grams on each product, which may seem insignificant at first glance. However, with daily turnover, it is thousands of hryvnias. Electronic scales do not always provide accurate information, and it is almost impossible to prove the fact of weighing after purchase. At large chains, this often becomes part of the hidden policy.
Goods with an expired or critical expiration date are usually located at the forefront of the shelves, and fresh ones are hidden in the depths. At the same time, you can often see products without a discount, although there is only a day left until the expiration date. And sometimes we are talking about gross falsifications with repainted dates. Therefore, it should be remembered that in both cases the buyer risks not only money, but also health.
Behind the facade of smiles and bright price tags sometimes lies the banal arithmetic of deception. And while you are considering whether to take promotional puree or expensive fish, the cash register can “treat” you with another surprise. Especially when the cart is full and vigilance dissolves in a long shopping list, the risk of double punching the same product increases. It is difficult to notice at the time of payment, and only a careful check of the check allows you to detect manipulation.
Such cases are often attributed to “accident”, although the reality is that this “accident” can be repeatedly used by the employee for personal gain. Also, a buyer who has not familiarized himself with the conditions of the promotion or has forgotten the loyalty card risks leaving the benefit at the cashier. Employees often “add” promotional goods to themselves, and points are credited to a personal card. This is an inconspicuous but common practice, especially in cases where the buyer himself does not require clarification or verification of information from the cashier.
Surrender manipulation is another form of passive fraud. If the bills are placed in a remote or inconspicuous place, a buyer in a hurry may simply not notice them. Given the rhythm of the supermarket, situations where a customer leaves the cash register without paying for it happen more often than it seems.
A reality that requires awareness
Such actions are not always the result of a global conspiracy of the network, but even local abuses that are systematically repeated undermine the trust in trading points. Buyers become targets for small manipulations that bring profits on a large scale due to inattention or ignorance.
We must learn to protect our rights, and for this we must develop a culture of responsible consumption. Checking the receipt, paying attention to the weight of the product, checking the expiration date, control of delivery are not at all manifestations of paranoia, but elementary self-defense. Perhaps, if we begin to perceive trade in the format of supermarkets not only as logistics and marketing, but also as mutual ethics, then the cases mentioned in this article will become rare rather than commonplace. So, when one side systematically violates this ethics, the other has the right and duty to resist.
As you can see, marketing strategies of supermarkets is a complex, well-thought-out system that affects all channels of perception: sight, hearing, smell and subconscious. In the retail space, everything, including music, lighting and packaging color, work to increase the likelihood of a purchase. The buyer does not always realize it, but every detail affects his decision. In a world where the choice of products is huge, retailers have turned the psychology of consumption into a powerful trading tool.
Supermarkets abroad: marketing without deception or the illusion of honesty
When Ukrainians first go to a supermarket somewhere in Germany, Canada or Japan, they think they have entered an ideal world: silence, order, polite employees, cashiers do not try to “forget” about the rest. But is everything there really so cloudless?
European and North American retailers do hold the ethical bar high, at least in the public space. Here you will not often find a fake expiration date or a double scan of the product. Such cases happen, but are not a system, because reputational losses can be more expensive than possible profits. In countries with strict consumer laws, the buyer not only has the right to return the product, but also to receive compensation for the inconvenience. And the networks are well aware of this, but marketing trickery also takes place in the European trading system.
Let’s say, in the USA or Britain, most supermarkets use the same classic psychological tricks as here. For example, placing cheap and necessary products at the very end of the hall to force the buyer to pass by the “temptations”. Eye level, music, lighting work everywhere, only served under the sauce of “comfortable customer experience”.
An interesting attitude towards portion size and packaging. In the US, for example, large packages may look advantageous, but in practice you buy more than you consume. Often this is simply a calculation of consumer inertia: the more you buy, the more it spoils, and therefore you have to buy again.
In Scandinavia or Japan, the approach to trade is noticeably more restrained. In Finland, for example, there is complete transparency: a product with a close expiration date must have a significant discount, and counterfeiting is strictly prohibited there. In Japan, the seller will apologize to the buyer for the slightest defect, even if the store is not at fault. Such behavior is not only a matter of ethics, but concerns a deep-rooted culture of mutual respect.
However, even in these countries there are marketing games. For example, some Japanese supermarkets use certain odors in the ventilation to induce a feeling of hunger in the prepared food sections. In France, Italy or Spain, promotional products are sometimes displayed as “seasonal goods”, although the price for them was artificially raised before that.
In foreign countries, they treat the weight of the product very carefully. For example, in Germany there is strict control over the accuracy of scales. If the scales are deceiving by at least a few grams, the store not only receives a fine, but risks losing its license. There is an independent metrological control service that regularly checks the equipment. Of course, sometimes failures happen, although not often, and certainly not systematically.
In most Western countries, the buyer has at least 14 days to return the product. In supermarkets, this even works for produce if there is a reason. For example, the meat was stale or the packaging was damaged. The buyer brings the check, and the money is returned without further questions. Even the phrase “changed his mind” in some cases is perceived as an argument.
But the so-called “hidden actions” are an international tactic. “30% discount” is written, but in small print is added: “when buying three pieces”. Formally, everything is correct, but in this case, a typical manipulation of inattention works. And even in supermarkets in the Netherlands or Canada, such methods are not uncommon.
As we can see, in countries with a high level of regulation of the trade sphere, there is less obvious fraud, but marketing is still a global language. The conditional “red net for oranges” or “99.99” in the price works in Chicago, Barcelona, and Toronto. It’s just that there it is presented as a friendly customer experience, and not a desire to take extra money out of the pockets of buyers, whose rights are reliably protected.
In Ukraine, the situation is completely different – laws are formally in force, for example, the law “On the protection of consumer rights”, which provide for the rights of buyers to return goods, exchange, obtain reliable information and proper quality of products. In addition, the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection functions, which should carry out supervision. However, in practice, these mechanisms do not work: in most cases, the buyer cannot defend even his basic rights. That’s how it turns out: there is a law – there is no protection. At the same time, the heads of retail chains take advantage of this — deliberately and systematically, continuing to mislead consumers even during the war, when a large number of people lost housing, jobs and sources of stable income.
