Are we beaten before we walk into the store?

[resolution]

I read somewhere that a person has a certain amount of willpower each day and if they use it on one thing they have less left for another thing.

[museumgal]

Another trick is to put the items that people need and go through the most (bread, milk) on the far back corners so you have to walk through the whole store to get to them.

[Tiny]

I like to watch people buy bottles of cold pop, water, juice out of the little mini fridges at the checkout... a store temperature bottle of pop is $1.29 and about 30 steps away - the cold bottle of pop is $2.99. I see people buy these for their kids... one lady had 4 kids that was $12.00 for cold pop. I sooo need a raise.

[reader79]

I have read Why We Buy by Underhill, and also his other book Call of the Mall. They were given to me by my old manager years ago. She was trying to get me to understand why we blasted xmas songs as soon as November hit, despite the staff and the customers professing to hate them. People buy more when they hear that music, it's that simple. There was also the observation that most people enter a store and go to the right, etc. Good stuff.

[happyscooter]

I like to watch people buy bottles of cold pop, water, juice out of the little mini fridges at the checkout... a store temperature bottle of pop is $1.29 and about 30 steps away - the cold bottle of pop is $2.99. I see people buy these for their kids... one lady had 4 kids that was $12.00 for cold pop. I sooo need a raise.

Did she use her EBT card?

[happyscooter]

This message has been deleted.

[happyscooter]

This message has been deleted.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Groupon and LivingSocial are pretty brilliant marketing. You need to get the deal THAT day, so those sites really encourage impulse buying because it is "such a good deal" and you won't get it tomorrow.

[soon2bmomof3]

Actually, with Groupon, you can sometimes get it a couple of days later. We just did that with a restaurant near our house...we forgot to get it on Friday and DH bought it on Monday. It just depends on how many they're selling and how popular the deal is.

[Phoenix84]

I've noticed this some as well. At Kohl's, they always have deals "buy 2 and get 1 half off." I've even been tempted to get two so I can get the third one half off. It's a pretty brilliant mind game they play with you. And of course everyone has noticed stores putting the common items like bread and milk in the back to force you to walk by all the stuff. I went into a target several weeks ago and noticed how it was like a maze with a lot of twists and turns. It was easy to get lost in there, which is what they want. They also don't normally put windows in stores so you lose your concept of time.

Yes, everything is carefully planned to the last detail, and those who don't recognize the danger are most vulnerable.

On a related topic, I've also started to notice the tactics of high pressure sales people. They talk fast and don't give you a chance to respond and think about it. They try to take up a lot of your time and "wear you down" until you buy whatever they're selling. They also try to entice you with a lot of "no money down" and "risk free" offers.

A telemarketer once talked me into buying identity theft protection. It wasn't very good, and I canceled before I was billed. However it showed me that I could be sucked into buying stuff I didn't want and to start paying attention to the signs.

[Gardening Grandma]

This thread is confirming my conviction that the best way for me to save money is to stay out of stores unless it is absolutely necessary. I'm pretty disciplined and shop with a list, but invariably I come out with something that wasn't on the list......

[sheilaincali]

Phenoix's mention of Kohl's reminded me. They send my sister a coupon every other month because she has a kohl's card. Hers is frequently a 30% off. Combined with the "Kohl's Cash" days usually. She calls me every time and asks if I need anything at Kohl's because she has a 30% off. Her kids have more damn clothes than they could wear in a life time. But every time she gets that coupon she goes to the store. And they let her keep it in case she wants to come back before it expires. She loans that thing out to everyone that has a Kohl's card. Insane.

When we were looking to buy some cookware a few years ago we settled on Kohl's because my parents had given us $200 worth of Kohl's gift cards for Christmas that year. For 4 months we watched the prices fluctuate on the specific cookware we wanted. The "regular price" varied every week depending on the percentage off sale it was that week. We waited until it came back around to the lowest sale price we had seen again and bought it (since we had to gc's to use anyway). But ever since then I am leery about shopping there with their price fluctuations.

[pig]

When my 8 year old asked why everything is priced at xx.99 I explained to him all the tricks the stores use and he is quick to pick up on them now. Last time we went out he brought up the sneak the high priced menu item in with cheaper ones. He said look at that they are trying to trick you into buying this expensive thing. I hadn't noticed but he did lol.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Informericals use "For only THREE payments of $29.99" because they know people aren't going to stop and add up how much that really is, they will be thinking "I can afford $29.99 for three months" and pick up the phone.

DH has gone by when one of those commericals have been on and said "I don't think that product is worth $X". I told him he is not the audience the commerical is targeting, he's savvy enough to realize it's an overpriced POS.

[Wisconsin Beth]

May 3, 2011 17:03:50 GMT -5 Tiny said:

The local grocery that sells "rotisseri chicken" seems to go thru alot of trouble to make sure you smell it before you even hit the doors. Mind you I live in the land of mom and pop pizza places, Italian Beef stands, and Hotdog stands and I would swear that you cannot smell the exhaust from those places. Not a one. I'm sure the olefactory aura of roasting chicken was carefully thought out... so you'd walk into the store thinking about it - and low and behold to the left of the entrance you can get a whole take out meal.

I love rotisserie chicken. We can get 3 meals out of 1 (4 if I make soup) but we tend to only get them when they're on sale for like $4.

[Tiny]

I, too, have opted to stay out of stores as much as possible in an attempt to save money. I like to say I'm a Ninja Shopper - I know exactly what I need from a particular store, I have a list, and once in the store I immediately head for where what's on the list will be. I try to get in and get out as quickly as possible with no impulse buys or things not on my list.

[Tiny]

A long while back when the groceries first started offering 10 for $10.00 on some things - I heard quite a few people say they 'd wind up buying 10 of something to take advantage of the 'savings'.... um, first, you could get the $1.00 price on any number of the items - you didn't have to BUY 10 of them. Second, items were regularly priced at $1.00 or less when they weren't on Sale 10 for $10.00...
I see people buy the "pick and choose amoungst various meats at 4 pounds for $10.00!" deals as well... I'm not sure why you'd pay $2.50 per pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts (they are regularly overpriced at $1.99 a pound) or $2.50 for a pound of pork chops (again regularly overpriced at $1.99 a pound) or even a pound of 70/30 ground beef for $2.50 a pound (regularly sale priced at $1.99 a pound). I guess that 4 for $10.00 blinds them to the actual price per pound... you could get all of the meat products for LESS and the regular NON SALE PRICE if you didn't buy it on the 4 pounds for $10.00 sale...

[Phoenix84]

"I, too, have opted to stay out of stores as much as possible in an attempt to save money. I like to say I'm a Ninja Shopper - I know exactly what I need from a particular store, I have a list, and once in the store I immediately head for where what's on the list will be."

This is my saving grace too. I just plain hate shopping. To me, shopping is a chore like cleaning the bathroom or mowing the grass. I do it because I have to, not as a fun weekend activity. The bad part is I don’t waste time and do a lot of shopping around. The good part is I don’t spend a lot of time and stores, know what I want and why I’m there and stick to the plan so I don’t have to spend any more time there than I have to.
I don’t see how people actually ENJOY shopping. That’s a big reason I think people spend too much money, by treating shopping as fun activity instead of a necessity. Boredom shopping is the worst kind.

[Phoenix84]

"Phenoix's mention of Kohl's reminded me. They send my sister a coupon every other month because she has a kohl's card. Hers is frequently a 30% off. Combined with the "Kohl's Cash" days usually. She calls me every time and asks if I need anything at Kohl's because she has a 30% off. Her kids have more damn clothes than they could wear in a life time. But every time she gets that coupon she goes to the store."

Yep, they send coupons even to people who don't have kohl's cards. The only reason I went to kohl's that day was because they gave me a $10 off coupon. Granted I actually did need to buy some dress socks and a belt, but the coupon did it's job and got me in the store. I just had to resist the urge to buy 3 belts instead the one I really needed.

That is one of my pet peeves, a lot of people get coupons and feel they HAVE to use them wheather they need the item or not.

[Clever Username]

Interesting thread.

In regards to menu items. Here's a mind boggling point. They often make their highest profit margin items (ie 30c pasta) the cheapest thing on the menu $9.99.
The more expensive an item gets, typically the lower the margin (ie more expensive ingredients).

But don't get me going on "market price" or telling me your specials and not the price.
I have now learned to simply ignore those items if I don't want them enough to pay a mint.
Asking the price will hit my wife's "what, I'm not worth it?" button and nobody wants to go there.

[museumgal]

May 4, 2011 11:21:32 GMT -5 Tiny said:

A long while back when the groceries first started offering 10 for $10.00 on some things - I heard quite a few people say they 'd wind up buying 10 of something to take advantage of the 'savings'.... um, first, you could get the $1.00 price on any number of the items - you didn't have to BUY 10 of them. Second, items were regularly priced at $1.00 or less when they weren't on Sale 10 for $10.00...
I see people buy the "pick and choose amoungst various meats at 4 pounds for $10.00!" deals as well... I'm not sure why you'd pay $2.50 per pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts (they are regularly overpriced at $1.99 a pound) or $2.50 for a pound of pork chops (again regularly overpriced at $1.99 a pound) or even a pound of 70/30 ground beef for $2.50 a pound (regularly sale priced at $1.99 a pound). I guess that 4 for $10.00 blinds them to the actual price per pound... you could get all of the meat products for LESS and the regular NON SALE PRICE if you didn't buy it on the 4 pounds for $10.00 sale...

This happens at my store too. They're usually the crappiest sales in terms of money off per product. At the bottom of the ad they'll say "save $1" Not on each item -- only if you bought ten! That's not a very good savings, whatever it is I hope you needed 10 of them and it won't spoil before you can use it.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

I'm a professional marketer, and I will tell you that it's not merely Jedi mind tricks that work only on the weak minded. This stuff has been studied by the most effective marketers, and you are beaten before you walk in the door. I took a class in direct marketing copywriting that was very eye-opening called "Heroine on Paper"-- and it was my introduction to NLP, or "Neurolinguistic Programming" which can best be described as "hypnosis with your eyes open". It happens all the time...and you have fallen for it your whole life long. If you think this sounds hokey- be careful, because you've already been had by it. Here is an article that a mentor to billionaires wrote on the subject:

You ever eat fries?

You ever eat french fries at McDonalds?

If you go in you KNOW you'll hear, "Do you want fries with that?"

Lots of our consulting clients say,

"I go in there swearing that THIS time - No Fries. But I always Buy Fries."

Wanna' know WHY you Buy, Buy, Buy those fries?

Because McDonalds hired the top psychologists and NLP experts in the world to make sure you "Buy Fries".

NLP stands for "neuro linguistic programming."

Some call it, "Invisible influence."

Or...

"Hypnosis with your eyes open."

Cuz McDonalds sells many 1000's of tons of fries. By influencing YOUR unconscious mind. And the minds of millions of others.

It ain't an accident you hear the same "hidden command" in 100% of their restaurants.

COMMAND?

What else would you call it?

You consciously HEAR "Do You Want Fries with that?"

But your UNconscious mind is much sharper. IT hears the hidden command words,

"Do **You Want Fries** with that?"

You say, "Son of a gun. THAT'S why I buy so many fries."

Yes sir ree.

Some of my over-the-top-affluent mentors pointed this out. Explained how billion dollar companies and billionaires use NLP influence.

And how you and I can apply the same UNconscious Influence to boost our own success.

**Billion dollar companies use UNconscious NLP daily.

**TV Info-mercial Companies learned NLP at a "Mind Capture" event. I know cuz I was invited. (NOW you know why you bought that zyx product you NEVER use.)

**George Lucas uses NLP - He calls it "The Force" - to make sure there are long lines at movie theaters and toy stores.

[tloonya]

May 3, 2011 15:14:00 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

The's a reason stores have onsite bakeries. The smell of baking bread can make you feel hungry even if you've just eaten.

And not at all because store makes money on selling bread???

[HoneyBBQ]

I remember reading articles about lighting and music being very important when shopping at the mall and the grocery store. Kinda freaky.

[dividend]

Man, I just almost fell for one. I got an e-mail from Banana Republic promoting 40% for 3 HOURS ONLY, 11-2 in the middle of the day. Like a trained Pavlovian dog, I clicked through from the e-mail to the website. There's a purse I've been kind of wanting, no way will I pay full price for it, so I put it in my cart, clicked checkout, entered the little code... and realized that the coupon code was only good towards clothing, and the price of my coveted purse stayed the same. If not for that, I would have probably spent $72 on a FREAKING PURSE because I fell for the e-mail's ploy to create urgency and desire. Damn you, savvy marketers.

ETA - and I just saw an add for that exact purse at the top of the page.

[Tiny]

I remember reading articles about lighting and music being very important when shopping at the mall and the grocery store. Kinda freaky.

You have no idea how often I thank the god i don't believe in that I HATE pop music. The grating sound of the soundtrack in most stores annoys me making me want to get out as fast as possible (therefore spending less time and less $$).
I actually abandoned my cart once in Jewel - because the sound track included the gosh awful "Mickey" song... I'm really glad I don't own a gun... cause after about 2 minutes of "oh mickey you're so fine"... I wanted to shoot out every speaker in the store. I think they may have even extended the song... it went on for ever and ever...

I think this is why I like shopping at ALDI so much - it's quiet and the lighting doesn't threaten to give me a migrane (or make me feel like I need to put on my sunglasses).

Question: why are grocery stores so COLD? I take a coat with me during the summer. Why so cold? How does having your teeth chatter and goose flesh pop out all over your arms and legs make you want to spend more?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

cause after about 2 minutes of "oh mickey you're so fine"... I wanted to shoot out every speaker in the store.

Ahh. .. now it's stuck in my head!

[Tiny]

Drama - go to youtube and search for the Muppets singing Bohemian Raspody.... you want the actual video and not someone's pictures set to Queen singing the song. That should clear your head. It stops whatever is playing in my head and makes me laff...

[8 Bit WWBG]

I have been SOOOOO sucked into the doxie thread, I've scarcely gotten to read my own!

...:::"When you see just how you are bombarded with ads, it will make you think.":::...

What is profound about this point is that many of these tricks come to light only AFTER the fact. Its easy to say "it doesn't work on me" when you know about it. But we don't know what we don't know.

...:::"I read somewhere that a person has a certain amount of willpower each day and if they use it on one thing they have less left for another thing.":::...

Hahahahhaa, I like this idea. I need to bombard DF with things to resist so when she gets home, she can't resist me

...:::"The only reason I went to kohl's that day was because they gave me a $10 off coupon.":::...

I get those $10 coupons, and I have put them to VERY good use. I bought quite a few packs of boxers, which very seldom go on sale. I also used it towards a kitchen scale I wanted that was already on sale. But unless I already have the need, I won't bother. Sometimes I can get something that is $9.98 and walk out with just a few cents in tax, which I of course put on a CC because I don't carry cash.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

May 5, 2011 13:56:27 GMT -5 dividend said:

Man, I just almost fell for one. I got an e-mail from Banana Republic promoting 40% for 3 HOURS ONLY, 11-2 in the middle of the day. Like a trained Pavlovian dog, I clicked through from the e-mail to the website. There's a purse I've been kind of wanting, no way will I pay full price for it, so I put it in my cart, clicked checkout, entered the little code... and realized that the coupon code was only good towards clothing, and the price of my coveted purse stayed the same. If not for that, I would have probably spent $72 on a FREAKING PURSE because I fell for the e-mail's ploy to create urgency and desire. Damn you, savvy marketers.

ETA - and I just saw an add for that exact purse at the top of the page.

You already had the desire, they merely prompted you to act on it. You probably already had in mind a price at which you would buy. The way they really work you over is when they send you the deal on the purse BUT you have to buy something ELSE at regular price...