Tricks and tricks of store salespeople: what makes you spend more money. Military pensioners stand for Russia and its armed forces How to buy only the things you need

The trade battle between sellers of various goods and services and consumers will never stop. Consumers want to pay less and not buy unnecessary things, but sellers want exactly the opposite, and they usually get what they want. They have a lot of tricks with which they force buyers to part with their money “voluntarily and with song.”

Here are the top 7 marketing tricks that are used to get customers to buy more products in stores.

7. Price bait

If you give the buyer a choice between an obviously unprofitable option and a more attractive option, he will choose the latter. This marketing technique is called the “decoy effect” or “asymmetric superiority effect.”

Professor Dan Ariely once conducted a study that illustrates the power of the effect. Using his students as test subjects, he divided them into two groups. Both groups were offered subscriptions to The Economist magazine. Group A was offered a web subscription for $59 and a combined web and offline subscription for $125. 68% of his students chose the cheaper web option.

For the second group, the professor offered a web subscription for $59, a print subscription for $125, and a combined web and print subscription for the same $125. This time, 84% of his students chose the third option, thinking they were getting a lot for their money. That is, after entering the “bait”, sales of the desired product increased by as much as 30%!

Of course, the price “decoy effect” is not the only factor influencing buyer choice. There are also technical characteristics, materials from which the product is made, and other properties. However, if the buyer is primarily interested in price, then the “decoy effect” can play a decisive role.

6. Using small tiles on the floor

The popularity of online shopping has forced brick-and-mortar stores to look for new ways to maintain their profits.

A recent study of more than 4,000 shoppers by Professor Nico Huyvinck of the IESEG School of Management in France found that closely spaced horizontal lines on the floor slowed down the pace of shoppers walking down an aisle, encouraging them to browse and buy more products. If there are large gaps between the lines, then buyers move faster and spend less. Therefore, many stores use small tiles where more expensive products are placed, and large tiles in areas where congestion needs to be minimized, such as at the entrance.

5. Price starting with ".99"

A 2005 study from New York University found that ending prices with ".99" has a huge impact on shoppers. This price is perceived as lower than the round number. Scientists explain this effect by saying that we read from left to right, and the first digit in the price resonates with us the most. Unconsciously, our brain perceives the price of “499 rubles” as closer to 400 rubles than to five hundred. Additionally, a price ending in ".99" makes us think that the item is on sale, even if it is not. The power of "magic nines" in value was demonstrated in a groundbreaking study conducted by professors from the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The researchers took the same piece of women's clothing and gave it different prices: $34, $39.99 and $44. Surprisingly, the most popular item among shoppers was the $39.99 item, even though it was six dollars more expensive than the cheapest option.

4. Rude sellers

It is believed that the seller should be extremely polite and friendly. However, researchers from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia say the opposite. In their opinion, the ruder the staff in luxury stores, the greater the profits. Essentially, people who shop at luxury stores want to fit in with high society. Such buyers believe that the seller is being dismissive because they do not yet have status items and need to quickly acquire them in order to become part of the elite. It should be noted that this principle does not work for the mass consumer in regular stores.

3. Scarce products

“Hurry, the quantity of goods is limited,” the advertisement beckons us. Most often, it is limited only by the imagination of sellers, because such words are an effective trick for attracting customers. It makes buyers think that there is a high demand for a product that is in short supply.

The "scarcity illusion" effect was demonstrated in a 1975 psychological study. During the experiment, researchers showed subjects two identical jars of cookies. One jar contained 10 cookies, and the other only two. The subjects rated the cookies in the nearly empty jar as more valuable because there were fewer of them left. Think about this the next time you buy something from an online store and see a pop-up on your screen: “Only 10 items left in stock. Buy now!

2. Using many adjectives

Coming in second on the list of marketing ploys that get customers to buy more than they need is a little trick commonly used in restaurants.

There are two types of menus: one that simply lists the dishes, the other that describes each dish in detail. Compare "Caesar salad" and "chicken Caesar salad with fresh lettuce, shrimp and cheese, drizzled with olive oil and garnished with cherry tomatoes." Restaurateurs don't write these descriptions just so people know what they're eating. According to a study by researchers from Cornell University and the University of Illinois, detailed menus with many adjectives increased restaurant sales by 27%, compared with restaurants that used menus without detailed descriptions of dishes.

1. Make eye contact with children's eyes

And the first item on the list of ways that sellers get buyers to shell out money is the marketing trick associated with small buyers. In 2014, scientists from Cornell University and the Harvard School of Public Health studied 65 different cereals in ten different grocery stores. They took into account their shelf position and found that children's cereals were placed on shelves just above children's eye level. But why not at eye level? The fact is that the characters on cereal boxes are looking down. Therefore, if you place the box just above eye level, children will have the feeling that their favorite character is looking directly at them. The researchers found that a cereal box was 28% more likely to appeal to customers if the character on the box made eye contact with them.

Unfortunately, often a simple shopping trip almost turns into ruin: neither all kinds of discount cards, nor the ubiquitous discounts and sales can save you. Sometimes a buyer who looks into a supermarket, whose inviting sign shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow, just for bread, is surprised to discover at the checkout that he has collected three or four times more than he planned. What's the matter?

Trying to get to the bottom of the truth, many blame themselves and, in order to curb the inner shopaholic who is in awe of the sight of shelves bursting with goods, they make a shopping list designed to organize purchases and curb appetites. Unfortunately, this simple way to reduce spending does not always work: we have previously talked about myths regarding the shopping list.

In fact, the real reason why you leave more and more money in the checkout of your favorite supermarket over and over again is not your nature as a spender, but the tricks and tricks that cunning sellers resort to, intending to increase the average check at your expense and earn money for themselves. bonus. We'll tell you what tricks stores resort to to get you to spend more: learn about them and don't get hooked by marketers anymore.

Trick one: “old” and “new” price

Absolutely all stores resort to this trick: regardless of whether there is a large-scale sale or a small promotion, this method allows you to deceive the vast majority of inattentive customers, forcing them to buy something they did not plan on.

The essence of this method is as follows: for a product that marketers are passionate about selling, a special price tag is set, showing the supposedly “old” price (usually crossed out and two to three times higher than the real cost of the product or product) and the “new” price, several times higher below. This variation in price attracts many people: anyone will be pleased to get something two or three times cheaper than usual.

Before buying such a product, we advise you to think about whether the price is really as low as the store is trying to convince you of it. A simple comparison can help you with this: look around and see what the prices are for a similar product. This will help you perceive the discount more adequately and will not allow you to make an unprofitable purchase.

Trick two: related products

Related products are another ploy often used by stores trying to get you to spend more money than you intended. This scheme of deceiving customers is implemented in different ways: in this part of the article we will present several options that are most often encountered in life.

The first and most harmless option is related products, conveniently located next to the item you are looking for. Despite the fact that the vast majority of supermarkets and shops operate by selling goods in the appropriate departments, no one bothers you to place “useful” little things on racks next to such departments.

The second option is much more aggressive. Sometimes, in order to buy a certain product or product at a good price, you need to buy something else in addition - otherwise you won’t get a discount. Promotions such as “two for the price of one”, “third for free” and others like them are a vivid example of such hooliganism: in essence, they are simply forcing this or that product on you in the desired store, and not on you in quantity.

As you can see, even offers that seem profitable at first glance are not always so. The vast majority of discounts and sales that shoppers love are actually nothing more than a great way to get more money. Having noticed a tempting banner with the words “discounts”, do not rush to buy up half the store, sweeping promotional goods from the shelves: it would be a good idea to first compare prices on the Internet (use special applications for your phone, and this will take no more than five to ten minutes).

However, even if the discount is more than real and no one seems to be going to deceive you, do not rush to agree to a tempting offer: the desire to save can lead you to poverty.

Tell us what you think about this: what other tricks do you know that stores use in the hope of extracting more money from the buyer?

How can a retailer get any customer to buy anything? There are several tricks, gimmicks, and gimmicks that work reliably and 100% on every consumer. In our material we will talk in detail about 11 of them.

How to get a customer to buy more

Each of us has faced this situation more than once: when we go to sales or retail stores that offer promotions for the sale of certain goods, we seem to lose control of ourselves and buy everything in a row until the money in our wallet completely runs out.

At such moments, it seems that we are controlled by an unknown force, which forces us to buy, in fact, unnecessary goods, succumbing to some kind of outside influence. It turns out that such sensations arise for a reason: a person succumbs to cunning psychological influence, which results in hundreds of purchases.

Today, retailers actively use certain tricks and tricks to get their customers to buy more. Every salesperson can use them in their work, and you don’t have to be an experienced psychologist or wizard to do this.

How to encourage a buyer to make a purchasing decision. Video

Types of marketing ploys for the client

1. “Free” gift

The vast majority of people subconsciously react positively to such advertisements and inscriptions as “Second item for free”, “Free delivery”, “Find cheaper and we will return your money”, etc.

But every retailer knows that any “free” gift is already “included” in the price of the product that the buyer will purchase with money.

This “trick” has been working for many decades in all countries of the world, and not only in retail sales, but also in catering establishments, in telephone sales and many other areas.

It is the imaginary “free” that attracts the attention of a huge number of people who, for starters, will simply go into the store to “see” what kind of “free” unprecedented promotion is taking place there, and then experienced retailers will do everything to prevent the client from leaving without purchasing.

Word of mouth also works great here. Having learned about a “delicious” promotion in your store, the buyer will bring more of his friends and acquaintances there so that they can all buy more things together and receive even more “free” goods as a gift.

Advice: Periodically arrange “free” promotions in the store, for example, “50% discount on the second pair of shoes” or “second item for half price and a free accessory”, while slightly raising prices on the most popular goods and giving away stale out-of-season ones as a “gift”. things or products that still cannot be sold in the near future.

Thus, the goods will go into circulation and bring some kind of profit. But when organizing such promotions, calculate all the risks and benefits - it often happens that with an illiterate approach, retailers go into the red instead of receiving an increase in sales.

Create a detailed customer database using the Business.Ru CRM system. Conduct a detailed analysis of your target audience, identify its exact needs, predict demand and thereby increase sales.

2. In the fight for red price tags

As you know, prices or price tags highlighted in red in retail stores have a better effect on customers than the red banner of a bullfighter on an angry bull - here the long-established association of the color red on price tags with lower prices is “triggered” in the minds of consumers.

It is the color red that retailers around the world try to highlight the size of discounts, and it is the red price tags that sellers in stores urge to look for, promising their customers discounts.

The retailer can use such an association to its advantage.

Advice: The red price tag in your store may not always “promise” a stunning discount for the buyer - it may be small or very insignificant, or the price may remain generally the same, but it is doubtful that the vast majority of consumers will subconsciously take goods with red price tags from the shelves no need to.

Therefore, good advice would be to sometimes use this approach in your work and deliberately reduce prices on expensive goods as little as possible, “hang” red price tags on them and wait until buyers buy everything in the confidence that they are making a bargain.

3. Hiding the hottest items

Perhaps the most well-known and popular, and therefore effective, technique for “motivating” store visitors to buy more is the location of the most popular products at the very end of the store.

Showcases with dairy products, bread, and sausages in stores and supermarkets are always located in the farthest corner. The same rule applies to the most expensive and popular goods among the population.

Even on the product racks themselves, more expensive products will flash before our eyes, and their cheap counterparts will be lost on the lower shelves in the very depths.

This is due to the fact that a wise retailer will try to make sure that a store visitor goes as far as possible to get the necessary essential goods and along the way buys a whole basket of “related” goods.

Advice: Place the most popular and therefore inexpensive products in the store on the stands and display cases farthest from the entrance, but at the same time place the most expensive and less popular items in the most visible place - on the display case, at the entrance and in places that will be visible even to those passing by .

4. We sell goods in batches

A fairly common technique today for selling larger quantities of goods is to sell goods in batches, for example, under the “ten packs for 300 rubles” promotion.

In this case, the discount, as a rule, seems insignificant, but this “trick” again affects such a simple human trait as the desire to save, even minimally.

Advice: Try to sell more and more promotional products in the store, because it is these that every customer subconsciously pays attention to first, and often does not think about why he needs 15 packs of paper towels with a purchase benefit equal to ten rubles.

It is this desire to buy at a discount and benefit that an experienced retailer can “play on.” Both the most popular goods, and goods with an expiration date in the near future, and illiquid goods can be sold in “lots” - such goods “go away” under the “Ten for Ten” promotion very quickly.

5. Promotion “one product in one hand”

Many retailers use this simple marketing tactic to attract customers' attention - this is the so-called "buying restrictions".

It is when the consumer is directly told that “no more than two pieces of this product are issued per person,” he begins to perceive it as special, unique and in demand.

Professional automation of goods accounting in retail. Organize your store

Take control of sales and track indicators for cashiers, points and organizations in real time from any convenient place where there is an Internet connection. Formulate the needs of outlets and purchase goods in 3 clicks, print labels and price tags with barcodes, making life easier for yourself and your employees. Build a customer base using a ready-made loyalty system, use a flexible system of discounts to attract customers during off-peak hours. Operate like a big store, but without the expense of specialists and server equipment today, and start earning more tomorrow.

This means that the consumer will strive to purchase more and more of this product, since he will be confident that “since there is a high demand for it, it means that it will run out in the near future, which means that you need to buy more at once.”

Advice: Don’t be afraid to give special features to certain types of products and place similar advertisements near them. This artificially limited demand is sure to motivate customers to buy more.

6. Rule of nine

Each of us, having briefly noticed a price tag in a store with the value: “19.99 rubles,” will round the figure to 19, and not to 20 rubles - as would be mathematically more correct.

This “deceptive” effect of the human brain is called the “left sign effect”: a person subconsciously rounds a number down even before fully realizing its real value.

And despite the fact that at school we were taught to round numbers from five after the decimal point up, our brain automatically rounds numbers down. It is this subconscious effect that a retailer can intelligently “play on.”

Advice: When creating and printing price tags, use numbers ending in 9, 95 or 99 - so-called "charm prices". They will visually reduce the cost of goods for buyers and become more attractive to them.

7. Use color, light, scents

It has long been proven that purchasing activity is directly influenced by color, light and aromas.

We are talking about the release of the hormone of joy, which affects purchasing activity. Thanks to this hormone, a person is in pleasant anticipation of shopping, subconsciously wants to buy more goods and please himself.

It is very easy to provoke the appearance of the hormone “dopamine”, which causes a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction, in the buyer in your store.

Advice: Use bright colors; as for grocery stores, it is better to place bright fruits and vegetables closer to the entrance so that a person can see them from afar and feel the pleasure of future shopping.

A good idea would be “scent marketing” or other “sensory marketing” - that is, influencing the feelings of buyers and their emotional state in order to increase sales.

8. The law of the right hand and the rule of the “golden triangle”

As you know, the vast majority of people spontaneously move around the trading floor in a counterclockwise direction, that is, they begin to walk around the retail outlet to the right of the entrance. It is this rule that must be taken into account when placing goods on store shelves.

You should also remember the rule of the “golden triangle”, according to which the most popular products must be located in the back of the store, at the most distant point - this will be the “top” of the golden triangle, and its two remaining corners make up the entrance to the store and the checkout area.

It is on the square of the “golden triangle”, that is, on the territory through which every buyer will definitely pass, that it is necessary to lay out goods that require speedy sale - a person will go through the entire store for the most necessary goods, which means he will get acquainted with all the products and assortment and head to checkout.

December 19th, 2013

Surely many of you have noticed a rather interesting feature of many large supermarkets: as soon as you go for some chocolate or a bottle of water, you are already pulling a huge cart of goods to the checkout. A marketing move is a very cunning and smart science that can force a buyer to buy a product that he did not even plan. Find the most popular marketing moves of famous supermarkets and stores under the cut. Forewarned is forearmed.

Of course, you've already figured them all out, but let's repeat...

They make you associate the color red with discounts.
Often, supermarkets are already covered outside with advertisements on which you can see discounts highlighted in color. In our minds, a red price tag has long been associated with a reduction in price. However, you should be careful - such colored price tags do not always mean better purchases: the price may be reduced slightly or even sometimes remain unchanged. But at the same time, the consumer is still inclined to buy goods with such price tags due to the already established association.

They make the carts too big.
Shopping carts were invented in 1938. At the same time, the area of ​​​​an ordinary trolley has doubled over the past 40 years. And almost always they are much larger than the “consumer basket” of the average family. If we are carrying a half-empty cart, then purely at the subconscious level we have a desire to fill it. You end up buying more food than you need. Therefore, if you don’t want to pop into the store for a long time, it’s better to take a basket. This way, you will kill two birds with one stone: you will save money and your shopping bag will be lighter.

Fruits and vegetables are usually found at the entrance to the store.
Researchers tested the willpower of buyers. It turned out that it is enough to give a person the opportunity to first do what, in his opinion, is “good”, so that later he himself begins to actively go beyond his own boundaries. This is why supermarket owners put healthy fruits and vegetables right at the entrance: the more money a customer spends on healthy products, the more he will buy unhealthy products, such as beer and chips.

They hide dairy products in the back of the store.
Sales professionals use a lot of tricks to get us to buy more. Years of research have developed a lot of tricks that are used everywhere, and which we are not even aware of. To illustrate more clearly, let's think about why milk, the product in greatest demand, is always found at the farthest end of the supermarket? And the point is not that this is where the refrigerators are located, but that they want you to first pass by other products in search of milk.

They create the illusion that their fruits and vegetables are fresh.
In most supermarkets, the fruits and vegetables in the produce section are washed and polished to a shine. Moreover, they are often sprinkled with water, despite the fact that they will rot faster this way. Why? Yes, because people like everything fresh, and in the brain this is associated with a shiny, wet surface. In addition, supermarkets specifically use certain substances to maintain the appetizing appearance and color of fresh fruits and vegetables. In fact, the “fresh” fruits and vegetables you buy at the supermarket may have been in storage for a month before, and will then sit in your refrigerator for a couple more days before being eaten.

They try to attract you with flowers.
As soon as you walk into a supermarket, your senses are delighted by the smell of flowers and colorful fruits in the produce section. This automatically provokes the release of the pleasure hormone “dopamine”, and you are in a pleasant anticipation of shopping. From here to purchase is not even a step, but half a step. Advice. Smell and enjoy, but be mindful of what you actually need to buy. Bring your shopping list out into the light of day and re-read it.

They make you feel hungry.
In many supermarkets, confectionery items are located at the entrance. The smell of fresh baked goods activates your salivary glands and makes you want to buy this delicious treat right away. In addition, some supermarkets set up small counters, offering customers to taste this or that product. It's always surprising how many people buy a product just because they feel obligated or hungry. Remember, you don’t owe anything to anyone, and to avoid being hungry, it’s better to have a snack before going to the store.

They make you walk everywhere.
Necessities such as bread, milk and eggs are scattered throughout the store to encourage you to wander around longer, making spontaneous, thoughtless purchases along the way. You are sure that you choose your own route through the supermarket. In fact, experts in their field have specifically thought through everything so that you will encounter more temptations on the way to your cherished goal. That's why shelves with dairy products are never located at the entrance, otherwise you could cope too quickly and leave without two dozen necessary little things.

They make you think you are going fast when in fact you are not.
They put small tiles on the floor in the more expensive departments to make your cart rattle louder. So you think you're going faster, so you subconsciously slow down and spend more time in the expensive department.

They developed the “left-right” formula.
Since most supermarkets work - the so-called law of the right hand, when the movement of visitors is organized counterclockwise. In this case, the buyer, moving through the store, always turns left, and his gaze most often falls on the middle of the wall to his right. It is in this place that the so-called golden shelves are located, and on them are either the most expensive goods or products with an expiring date.

They confuse us with complex prices.
We all know that old trick: 0.99 always seems much smaller than 1.0. Subconsciously, the penny grows to gigantic savings, and the hand reaches out for the coveted “freebie”. Old prices are boldly crossed out, often written in smaller font, and new ones are highlighted in the same direction. Your brain processes this information as a picture, not as an arithmetic problem. And in the end, you take something you don’t need in order to “save.” Advice. Count it! Don't be lazy to subtract the new price from the old one. Sometimes the result will surprise you with its insignificance.

They are using your children.
Perhaps this is inevitable. Every parent will have to go through a certain rite of passage: go to the store with the child and withstand all his whims, requests to buy chocolates, new cereal, sweets... And it’s good if it ends only in tears, but real hysterics with lying on the floor and wild screams. Yes, it’s not easy for children to walk past colorful shop windows.

They hide cheaper products from you.
Have you ever noticed that all the expensive merchandise is on the middle shelf of the counter, right at eye height? This is done so that you see the most expensive item first. Next comes a psychological calculation so that you decide that the goods on the shelves that are higher or lower are of lower quality (although, usually, this is not the case). Today, however, this place “in the sun” is being conquered by “promoted” brands, since their products bring great profits.

They offer their own “product pairs”.
Everyone loves the couple. Same thing in the supermarket. So-called related products are always placed next to the main ones. Next to beer are chips or bags of dried fish, next to cookies are juices or carbonated drinks, next to shirts are ties, etc. All to get you to buy more.

They sell meat and fish against white walls.
Meat and fish are often sold on a white background to make them look fresher. And visual tricks like wooden shelves and pleasant lighting make people spend more.

They appeal to your greed.
It seems that the flow of promotional actions is simply inexhaustible. Buy one shampoo and get the second one for free. Super deal! However, before buying shampoo, think about whether you really need it or will it gather dust within 3 months? By buying two products at a lower price, you gain little, but the supermarket increases sales turnover. In addition, stale or expired goods are usually sold at reduced prices.

They paint the walls in warm colors to make you stay longer in the store.
Warm colors are inviting and contemplative. Research has shown that people take a long time to choose which fruit juice to buy, so these rows are painted red.

They play music to make you spend more.
Music also plays an important role in trying to “promote” you for purchases. Next time you're at the mall, close your eyes and listen. You will surely hear melodious music, which is also part of the strategy. To such music, we subconsciously slow down, stop for a long time in front of the counters and look at the goods. Supermarkets are playing soft, mood-boosting hits to entice you to make that 'impulse buy' that wasn't on your list.

They place shelves with all sorts of small items at the checkout so you can make spontaneous purchases.
At the checkout you can see even more goods that belong to the so-called “spontaneous purchases” category. Candy bars, cheap magazines, gum, mints and soda... The supermarket's last chance to get you to spend money. Usually at the checkout there are shelves with chocolates, which you will most likely take as a reward for a long shopping spree. You will be considering and choosing such products in any case - after all, you need to somehow pass the time in line. And against the backdrop of “big” purchases, buying chewing gum or a candy bar “for the road” for half a penny of money is simply not perceived by us as such.

They tie you to themselves with a discount.
Well, when paying at the checkout, you will usually get a discount card. A small discount will firmly tie you to this supermarket. And a regular customer is a gold mine. After all, you will leave even more money here next time.

Writes Criostap (store director (food):
Good afternoon Here I will try to tell you what food retail looks like from the inside and answer your questions. Worked in such networks as Dixie, Netto, Magnit.
I would like to immediately answer a few of the most common questions so that they do not distract us. You will still have to answer them in the process, I know for sure.

So:
Why is it that in your networks there is a product with one price on the sales floor on the price tag, but at the checkout it is listed at a different price?

Everything is very simple. There is a pricing department in the chains, and this department sends re-pricing for some products every morning. In conditions of a shortage of workers, the price tag was simply not changed, but the revaluation was already loaded at the cash registers in the morning, do you feel the irony? I want to say that no one is deliberately trying to deceive you, at least not the employees, that’s for sure. Who is right in this situation? You. You are the point. You have every right to purchase the product at the price on the price tag, because... The price tag is a public offer with all that it implies. For the store they are right, because... You will have to invest money in the cash register from your own pocket (by the way, usually the deputy director or the cashier himself). Why are there constantly expired goods in your stores? They decided to poison me?! There is also a banal shortage of trade workers (a constant shortage). We overlooked the deadlines and didn’t look at them on time.