Who would have believed that the supermarkets we love to spend our time shopping in are actually carefully designed to manipulate us into buying more?
It's not just the sales waiting at the cash registers - every corner of the supermarket has been carefully planned so that we fill our shopping cart with more and more groceries.
Reeves Connelly, who studied architectural design at the Pratt Institute, decided to reveal the insidious secrets of supermarkets: "The amount of thought that goes into designing supermarkets, from a psychological and marketing point of view, is absolutely wild."
According to Reeves, there is a specific reason why fruits and vegetables are often placed at the front of the supermarket. "Supermarkets will place the fruit and vegetable section right at the entrance to the supermarket, so that you add to your vegetable cart from the fruits and vegetables at the beginning - and then you will feel less guilty about the less healthy items you will pick up later."
@reevconthe amount of thought that goes into grocery store design, from a psychological and marketing standpoint, is absolutely wild
♬ original sound - Reeves Connelly
Apart from that, the colorfulness of the fruits and vegetables attracts the eye and convinces people to come inside. Milk, bread and eggs - basic products used by households with high frequency, are rarely found at the front of the supermarket.
He explained: "You may also have noticed that essential items such as milk and eggs are deliberately placed at the back of the supermarket, so that you have to pass through several aisles to get to them. This is on purpose so that you will be tempted to add to your shopping cart things you saw on the way."
He added: "They also make sure to fill the ends of the aisles with a lot of unhealthy options like snacks and fizzy drinks to make sure you run into them on your way to the essentials."
It is possible that we as adults are smart enough not to resist the temptations that the author puts before us, but what about our children? It turns out that these crafty supermarket designers have children in their sights as well. Do you know the temper tantrums of children in supermarkets? So they are completely intentional.
The supermarket designers are trying to ensure that your children will also convince you to buy more - which may convince you to leave them at home on your next shopping trip. "Another way to get you to spend more money is by arranging the cereal aisle so that the sugary cereal is at child's eye level. That way they're more likely to grab one, while the healthier options are at the top," he added.
Reeves mentioned another reason why supermarket checkouts convince you to buy groceries, apart from the sales and temptations that are there. Enter the supermarket and try to leave without buying anything. Will it be as easy for you to get out as it was for you to get in? "The cashiers block the exit from the supermarket for a certain reason. This is to discourage you from leaving without buying anything," Reeves added. More on the subject: The digital supermarket: artificial intelligence is changing the shopping experience research found: supermarket self-service checkouts are covered in fecal bacteria.
A planned maze
Feel like you got lost in the supermarket? It's because the supermarkets are laid out like a maze for a reason. The maze is designed to make you go through all the aisles in search of the groceries you need to buy more.
Reeves said: "The maze is designed to confuse you, but they are very aware that these tactics become less effective after you visit the supermarket a few times and already know where everything is. What do they do then? They move the products to other aisles to confuse you and make you look for them again".
So yes, if you were wondering why they suddenly moved the pickle shelf to another part of the supermarket, know that it's not because they were trying to organize - but to manipulate you into looking for them. Reeves exposed the supermarket scam in a TikTok video that garnered more than half a million likes.
The video left many surprised. "Their little tricks always work for me," wrote one in the comments, and another added: "Always. I go in to buy 3 groceries and end up spending $300."
Another viewer wrote: "This is why I hate shopping at the supermarket. I have to go through a maze just to get eggs and milk."
A supermarket worker admitted that he also feels uncomfortable going through the checkout at the end of his shift without buying something. Others suggested solutions - to go to the supermarket with a pre-prepared shopping list and stick to it, not to arrive hungry, order groceries online or enter with a small shopping cart so as not to get carried away. "I always take a shopping list with me," one wrote and another added: "I order my groceries online. This solves the problem." Another wrote: "I don't take a cart at all. If I can't carry it in my hand, I don't buy it."