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Ever go shopping and wonder why all the stuff you want is at the back? If it's so popular, why won't stores just put it the stuff we need in the front? And why do retailers price items at $9.99 instead of $10? If you haven't figured out by now, retailers are smarter than you. As consumers, we're marketed to at all times with strategic placing and pricing at shops. Find out the tricks of the trade so you can shop smarter. Here are 10 Stores Retailers Do to Make You Shop More.
Price Anchoring
See that sick jacket? You want it. You assume it's expensive. You look at the tag and it says 25% off—SCORE! It's $225, down from $300. Sweet deal. You're buying it even though it's still above your price range. You just got tricked. That jacket was never $300. It was always planned to sell at $225. This is called price anchoring. Retailers do it all the time to make you think you're getting something for less.
Stock High-End Expensive Items
So many brands are guilty of stocking fancier and more expensive gear to get you to buy lower-priced items. It's called price perception, you just don't know it yet. For example, stores like J.Crew will place luxurious items priced at $500 and up around on shiny displays, only for you to look at the tag and be disappointed. But then you see something else similar for $100. It's way less than that high-end shit, but just as awesome, so you cop it and feel good about your purchase. Well guess what, your budget was $75 in the first place and you just got swindled.
Give You Alcohol
More and more menswear stores are offering customers drinks to make them stay a little longer. It gives the shop's employees time to butter you up and convince you to buy something you don't need. The cocktail might be free, but the chinos aren't.
Hire Attractive and Outgoing Employees
You know why everyone who works retail is so damn attractive? Because it makes you shop more. When a hot girl is working at a store, most guys and other women will automatically perceive the store as a better and cooler store. We all want to be better looking, so everything at the store becomes much more desirable.
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Loyalty Cards and Programs
You damn near spent a grand trying to collect stamps on a frequent buyer card over the course of a year just to get a pair of free socks. The credit card you opened to get 15% off your first purchase has an interest rate of 19.99%. These loyalty programs don't ever benefit you in the long run, so just decline the offer.
Prices That Ends in .99 or .95
A shirt at shop #1 is $19.99, and shop #2 sells it for $20. They're essentially the same, so why do we go for the one that's one cent less? Because we tend to remember the first numbers rather than the last, so 19 seems like a better deal than 20. If it only takes one cent for customers to pick shop #1 over shop #2, retailers will keep doing it.
Buy One, Get One Free Deals
We guarantee you don't need two of that same T-shirt. We're pretty sure you don't even need one of it. But it's buy one, get one free. How can you resist? Again, it's a trick. The ugly shirts aren't selling and the shop is doing their best to get rid of them to dummies like you.
Placing Items Strategically
You're too lazy to do laundry, so you just go to the department store to buy new boxers and socks instead. But there's a reason why shops keep essentials like underwear in the back. You have to walk buy the cool shit and hover around the clothes you didn't plan to buy before you get to where you need to be. They're trying to keep you in there as long as possible. Temptation is everywhere, Adam. Don't bite the apple.
Pumping Fragrances Into the Air
There's a reason why stores like Abercrombie & Fitch pump a signature fragrance so heavily out their doors. We relate smells to memories. The store's scent is so recognizable that smelling it on clothes or someone else makes you immediately think of Abercrombie and their half-naked models. Teens love that shit. You might not shop there now, but you know exactly which scent we're talking about. Now that's brand marketing.
Playing Loud Music
Stores geared toward a younger crowd, say GAP and the like, will play music at a loud volume to give shoppers a club-like experience. The untz-untz-untz music creeps into your consciousness while you shop while keeping older people who won't spend money there out of the store.
