Here's a list of commonly used sales tactics printed in the Sept. 2004 issue of The Ecologist magazine. Some are just good business sense, others are more dubious....
1) GIVING YOU A BASKET If they hand you a basket it's not necessarily
because they think you are swell, it's so you will buy more. 75% of basket carriers buy something as compared to only 34% without a basket.
2) "RIPE AND READY" FRUIT Now that the public is conditioned to accept
green-picked, flavorless fruit they now can charge a premium for ripe
fruit.
3) IRRATIONAL PRICING When your brain sees $4.99 it doesn't register $5 it "sees" $4.
4) BUY ONE GET ONE FREE Has been shown to increase purchases up to
150%. We buy more than we really need and they unload excess stock that's not selling.
5) CHILDREN From kiddie carts to give-away products, it works. They now have "cooking" classes for kids (for which you pay) where the kids are taught to recognize special child brands which are healthier versions of junk food like chicken nuggets and pizza. The kids are also taught which deli and ready-made foods to ask for.
6) "EYE LEVEL IS BUY LEVEL" Products at eye level sell 2X as well. Guess where they put the most expensive, most profitable stuff? Except for CHILDREN'S snacks and junk (pester food) which is at their eye level.
7) HARD TO COMPARE WEIGHTS Notice that some things are by the
pound, some by the ounce, and some are even in grams. You don't notice
price bumps that can be 10X that of the normal stuff. Many fruits are
pre-packaged in plastic trays making it hard to compare.
8) CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT Particularly famous chefs. They lend
credibility to store claims.
9) KNOWN-VALUE ITEMS such as bread, butter, milk and sugar are sold
below-cost to lure customers in to beat the competition. Loss leaders
enable them to raise the prices on other items we can't remember the prices of.
10) NEW BOX, OLD PRODUCT The same "Chicken massala" becomes
"Keralan Massala chicken" but it's still the same bad chicken.
11) FREE SAMPLES It's not to get you to buy that product, it gets your
gastric juices flowing, you feel more hungry and buy more, especially expensive "eat-in-the-car" deli stuff
12) READING HABITS People who read left to right also scan shelves left to right. The expensive stuff is on the left.
13) MUSIC has an unbelievable power on shopping. Since we walk at about 90 paces per minute, slowing the tempo below 90 slows us down in the store. Tests show that if they played German music people bought German wine, when they switch to French music they bought French wine.
14) FAKE BARGAINS Note the huge mountain of product at a reduced price
right next to the same product at the "original" and higher price. It was never really that high price but you think it was and pick up the "bargain".
15) VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS A sliced apple sells for 7X what an apple
sells for. Who is really so busy they can't slice an apple?
16) WALKING DISTANCES The most popular items are in the middle of the
aisles and the essential foods like bread and milk are always in the very back of the store so you have to walk by all the tempting stuff.
17) SAVINGS SCHEMES Such as the computers for schools programs
would require you to buy over $10K in groceries to get one computer.
18) FRESHLY BAKED BREAD (THE SMELL OF) They really don't bake
bread in the stores but they haul out, defrost and heat up a few loaves to get the smell going.
19) LOYALTY CARDS Are supposed to give you a discount but they never
cost the chains a penny. Card holders buy 42% more groceries. The discount vouchers cause you to merely buy products you don't normally buy.
20) ZONE SPECIFIC TELEVISION Since 75% of shopping decisions are
made in the 10' before the product, this new technique will be quite
powerful.
21) PESTER POWER What do you find when you get to the checkout line?
Huge rows of sweets and toys. Not only are adults tempted but children can begin the whining and pestering and it usually works on the parents who are frazzled from the long journey through the store.
