There are many reasons why you arrive home with four or more extra items when you return from grocery shopping. Here are 10 of them:
Huge Shopping Carts
If you are trying to stick to your budget or to your shopping list, grab the smallest shopping cart you can find: Grocery carts have steadily increased in size over the years and researchers have started to notice customers have the tendency to keep shopping until the cart is full.
Bakery Smell
More and more grocery stores are now installing industrial ovens at their stores under the disguise of providing fresh bread all day. What they are doing, however, is following studies that show that you buy more food if you feel hungry. Knowing that this smell is there on purpose will not prevent your mouth from watering, but might help you resist the urge to buy more.
Fruits And Veggies First
Believe it: Studies show that when customers by what they consider to be ?healthy? first, they tend to splurge on treats later. When going to the store, start by the other side and leave the veggies for last ? they will not sit on the cart as long and will help you save some money, and calories.
Aisle Setup
While you walk through the supermarket looking for the items in your list, there is someone sitting at an office trying to figure out what store layout will cause the strongest impact on the impulse buyer. Stick to your list, no matter what.
Staples Location
Have you noticed it’s impossible to ?run to the store? and buy a loaf of bread? That’s because bread, milk, eggs, cheese and butter are setup at the back of the store, to encourage you to go through several products to get there. Chances are that by the time you check out, you will have at least one or two extra items to pay for.
Loss Leaders
This one gets a lot of people all the time: a strategical shelf of very cheap milk gallons sided by a dozen eggs that cost three times the price as any other. You just grab the eggs because they are there.
Eye Level Shelves
Next time you go to the store, take a peek: products on the shelves at eye level are always more expensive than the ones above or below.
Always make sure you look up and down before making your selection: Chances are, the best option is not the one right in front of you.
Gimme Shelves
If you have ever been grocery shopping with a child, there’s no need for explanation. Stores put the majority of ?child-friendly? products on lower shelves, close to the eyes of the ?little people.?
Make it a habit to say, ?No,? and explain that this is a trip to buy food ? not toys or treats.
Deals That Aren?t
Just because the big ,red? sticker says, ?Deal,? it doesn’t mean it’s a ?Good Deal.? Sometimes, it’s not even a ?Deal? at all.
Always check the price-per-ounce of a product, and always compare ?Deal? prices. Many people have reported paying as much as 30 to 40 percent more on a product led by a ?Deal? sign.
Health Claims
A pack of sugar that is “Fat Free”? Five pounds of “Pure Salt, with No Additives”? When you shop, pay attention to the label contents, not the advertising on the package.
The “All Whole Grain” box of cereal may be “all grain” but it will still have as much as four times the amount of sugar a child should have in one full day.
Spending your hard-earned money on products that claim to be ?diet? or ?fat free? doesn’t mean they will make you fat free.
