Good morning, happy Monday & happy December!
Lots of fun quotes I found regarding shopping:
- “I could give up shopping, but I’m not a quitter.”
- Whoever said that money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.” – Bo Derek
- “No decision should be made on an empty shopping bag.” – Donita K. Paul
- “Shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist.”
- “If shopping does not make you happy then you’re in the wrong shop!” – Mimosa Rose
- “There’s nothing better than online shopping in your PJ’s with a glass of wine with the kids asleep!” – Helen Wilson
Tis the season and the retails are locked & loaded. Sales. Deals. Discounts. Rewards. Rebates. Coupons. As my wife told me when she dragged me black Friday shopping a handful of years ago: “this is like my Super Bowl.”
A few weeks ago this Monday morning memo was about how all businesses have the highest business objective of making a profit. I thought today it might be kinda’ fun to realize the tricks of the trade retails go though in order to get us to spend more money at their store, and thus increase their profits.
- Strategic placement
- Staple items towards the back of the store (there’s a reason I have to walk a half a mile and pass 200 sales at Wal Mart just to get a gallon of milk)
- Brand names at eye level
- Counter clockwise store flow – retailers know you are more at ease (and thus spend more money) when you are walking counterclockwise
- Appealing to your senses:
- Smell – the smell of cinnamon has shown to get people to buy more – huh, who knew?
- Taste – free samples can cause us to slow down and spend more time in a store – cha-ching
- Sights – colors can affect our mood (yellow grabs attention, green & purple relax us, black suggests luxury, blue builds trust and security, red creates a sense of urgency)
- Sounds – slow or nostalgic music calms us and puts us at ease, whereas faster music causes us to speed up (bad if you are shopping, but good if you are a restaurant and trying to get people to eat quicker so you can clear the table)
Here’s a link to the articles referenced if you are interested 23 Tricks Retailers Use to Get You to Spend More | Payoff Life, 5 Tricks to Get People Spend More in Your Shop (erply.com)
Needless to say, there are lots of “ticks” that are played on us all the time to get us to spend more money. Great time, energy, resources, and research has gone into how to maximize how much you spend in a store. It’s not wrong or bad, but it is worth realizing what is going on.
Casinos keep the temperature chilly to keep you awake longer. Advertisers try to use our emotions to connect their brand in our lives (how do Publix commercials almost bring us to tears?) Financial news outlets sell us fear (I know, I say it all the time, but I thought this would be a good change to throw in a reminder).
So, this holiday season I would just encourage us all to be INTENTIONAL with our holiday shopping and not fall for the gimmicks the relators work so hard for us to fall prey to.
If there is anything we can do to be helpful with financial management, please let us know … we are honored to help any way we can.
Make it a great week ahead 😊