Supermarkets employ panoply of tactics to entice customers to buy their products. [Photo/media.licdn.com]
Kitchens and confectionaries
The singles population is swelling in Kenya and supermarkets are taking advantage of this in a profit-making kind of way.
Thing is, most singles would prefer to eat in a hotel, and supermarkets just made one for them, only in most cases you carry your food home.
This ingenuity is proving to be big business in Kenya.
Was/now pricing
You may probably have stopped buying a product because you considered it expensive.
Retailers are aware of this and it is why they will slash a few coins to give you the impression that you are now spending less for the same product.
And it works, products with ‘was/now’ price tag are bought more.
Loyalty cards
They are famous nowadays, you know why?
Because they are ‘robbing’ your wallet clean.
For every Sh100 shilling you spend you earn a point, and since it feels good earnings points you end up spending more money to earn them.
Retailers also use the cards to track your spending habit in a bid to maximise how much they can get from you.
Kid’s effect
Children’s items are normally placed at their eye level.
This is meant to trigger appetite and before you know it they start the nagging cry “Mummy I want this” while already holding it in their hands.
As a guardian, you don’t want other shoppers to think you’re broke or non-considerate to your children’s needs.
Pairing of foodstuff
Retailers are clever and will invade your pocket at the slightest chance they get.
Have you ever wondered why shelves holding products like jam or peanut butter are always near the ones storing bread?
Retailers know that if you buy bread you are likely to buy other objects if they’re close by.
Free product samples
We all love free samples and exactly the reason supermarkets have them.
But traders looking to make a profit would hardly give you anything for free.
Samples are used to advertise new products or those whose purchases have dropped.
Retailers know once you have tried a sample you’d feel more inclined to buy the product.
Slow soothing music
Music is common in hotels and strategically so in supermarkets.
This is not free entertainment.
It is meant to make you slow down so that you listen to more of the nice tune as you shop more.
If you were in a rush, it slows your pace.
Music gives the supermarket a tranquil atmosphere for nice lengthy shopping thus more profits for the store.
Bites at the cashier
If you thought sweets, chocolates, and cigarettes are placed at the cashier because they are tiny, well think again.
These are one of the most bought items because they are cheaper, and easy to grab without much thought thus ending up raking profits for retailers