I'll tell you a story that happened to me several times – the only thing that changed each time was the initial need and effect. I needed bread and tomatoes to make soup. So I went to the nearest supermarket, wanting to stock up on the missing ingredients. After looking at everything and putting the selected products in the basket, I went to the checkout. Proud of myself, I came home with ... four cans of black beans and my favorite orange juice. I didn't eat tomato soup that day.
Do you know such situations? Do you often buy something that you didn't have in mind, instead of products from your shopping list? If so, I can console you – it's not entirely your fault.
Time... flying somewhere, but not here
I'm sure you've been to the supermarket many times. The Polish market is full of such shops, because at the same time you can buy many different products at affordable prices. It makes our lives easier, doesn't it? Large stores have one more common feature-the almost complete absence of windows and clocks. Why were they designed this way? Is this an accident or deliberate action?
Store owners first of all make sure that you buy as much as possible from them. so it's reasonable to assume that the longer you stay in the store, the more you put in the basket. Now think about the circumstances under which you might lose track of time. If you can see from the window that it's getting dusk or getting dark because it's going to rain soon, it's more likely to make you finish shopping faster and get home. It's a different matter when these windows aren't there and you can't see what's going on outside.
For the same reason, you also won't see the clock in supermarkets – after all, why do you need/-to let you know how long you've already been shopping? This way, you can continue browsing the resources of the next store shelves without hurrying.
Not by chance the maze
It may seem that the placement of product categories in large stores is random. Nothing more wrong! And in this situation, sellers want you to spend as much time as possible on purchases, so essential goods are located at a distance from each other. If you want to move from one part of the store to another, you will go through a lot of products that may eventually come in handy. This way, you will pay attention to them and they will end up in your shopping cart.
Have you noticed that there are usually sweets and promotions at the box office? This is also not accidental. Very often, the victims of this trick are parents standing in line at the checkout, whose children-delighted with the colorful shelves with sweets-begin to negotiate the purchase of a chocolate bar or a bag of sweets. I also happened to drop a pack of chewing gums on the tape more than once-already on the last straight, at the cash register. After all, they are always useful, and the fact that I still have a supply in my jacket a month ago does not interfere at all. 😉
Sound and smell-do they matter in the decision-making process?
The smell has a very strong influence on what decisions you make. This can put you in a good mood-or vice versa. With it, you can also go back to your childhood memories or your best holidays. The fact is that we also perceive food differently when the room smells*.
Let's go back to the supermarkets for a moment. In some of them, especially those that have their own bakeries, bread is located at the front of the store. This section is usually accompanied by the smell of warm, fresh bread. Thanks to this, I remember the holidays at my grandmother's dacha and a batch of bread with fresh butter. Immediately, the stomach begins to remember how great it was to take such bread... and you get hungry. this is dangerous, because then you can be sure that you will leave the store with more than just what you came for.
It turns out that we also care about sound. We know this instinctively. If you are a driver, imagine that you are driving in the evening. Will your driving style be slightly different depending on whether you listen to the quiet poetry of singing or the dynamic hard rock? The answer is yes, it will. And it's not because I've tested it for myself.
Professor Ronald E. Milliman's research shows how music affects us. He tested whether sales growth will be affected by the sounds that accompany consumers when making purchases. It turned out that where calm music flowed from the speakers, sales increased by as much as 40%! Why? Because free music softens morals 😉 and it makes you run slower(in the car too). And the slower you move around the store, the more you buy. That is, it is another way to keep you in the supermarket longer!
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* Nike conducted an experiment that examined the impact of smell on consumer decisions and product perception. In two identical stores, they placed the same products and asked the subjects to estimate their cost. The only difference was in the smell-in one store there was no specific smell, in another you could feel a certain composition. Consumers rated higher those products that were in the fragrant room.
Junior specialist in Marketing Communications and PR.
He is a graduate of the University of Warsaw and the Main School of Agriculture. We have been in the HoReCa industry for more than 10 years. For many years, he has been associated with the Trip group, Sobienie Royal Golf and Country Club, and the Florentin Restaurant in Warsaw.
She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Warsaw Technical University with a degree in Architecture for the Knowledge Society and Visual Communications at the Polytechnic University of Milan. A specialist in creating a mood. She has gained experience at home and abroad at numerous international seminars (Seville, Lisbon, Florence), fellowships at La Sapienza (Rome), etc. m.in. in Carmi e Ubertis and ADM Milano.
A manager with many years of experience in the cosmetics, food, and children's industries. During his career, he was associated with such companies as: L'Oreal, Samsung, Danone-Nutricia, Unilever. During his professional life, he was responsible, among other things, for the development of e-commerce sales and content in Poland and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. 
