Happy Monday News Viewers, hopefully a happy Monday it is — really 🙂 In the words of Captain Picard, we’ll try to “Make it so” because after all, a good day is better than the alternative. . .
Still, it is Holiday Hell Monday, the time of the year when we ask ourselves, ‘why in the world did I order that hideous __________________ (insert hideous item here)….. 🙂
At least the cats are easy— what they yearn for begins in C and ends in Nip…..😁 Can you guess?
It turns out there are reasons we buy what we buy only to think later, “why oh why?”
Retailers have it down to a science, they set the stage. Then we enter, center stage, with wallets open…… Tricks used to entice us to buy more than we need:
- The ‘Compromise Price Effect’ – placing an expensive item next to a slightly cheaper one. The shopper picks the cheaper one thinking it’s a deal.
- Anchoring – A price tag shows a high retail price crossed out; below it is a lower price, making it appear to be a deal.
- Free Shipping – often offered if you purchase above a certain amount; retailers rake in the money from those who buy more than they planned so shipping will be free.
- Upselling – It’s very common for retailers to suggest add-on items to customers — both online and in stores. What customers don’t know is these items are usually high-margin items. One example: Amazon has “Frequently bought together” pictures of items below any item you go to.
- Store Layout — Pricey items up front, necessities in the back so you have to traverse the store to get there, generic, sale and cheapo, back sides of store and/or bottom shelves, expensive food is eye level, impulse buys are at the register and end caps.
- BOGO – buy one get one free — you end up with two you didn’t go in to buy— same principle goes with Bundling — if you buy these three things bundled, it’s cheaper than three separately — the problem is, they’re still more expensive in a bundle than the one item you went in to buy,
- Music and Smell — eg firewood smell on a winters day for cozy comfort and more buying; upbeat music, holiday music, mood music to tap into the emotional space to buy athletic/fun items say, or Christmas presents and so on….
- Limited time offers — Hello Black Friday for example…..By putting a time limit on an offer of some kind — sale, contest, membership — you force customers to make decisions,” said Walton. “They don’t have time to think it over, and the fear of missing out is very powerful.”
- Misc — Extra large carts, randomly placed carts full of “sale” items you didn’t plan to buy until you saw that cart, bonus points (a gimmick to get you to come back to that store), Left digit effect (.99 rather than 1 cent more compels people to buy, Free trials, Free samples, Shrinkflation, and Members Only (like Amazon Prime)
I’m sure there are more tricks up the sleeves of wiley retailers, those are a few— meanwhile, Welcome to Free Range, our NV Monday free chat with an environmental bent. Christmas is as good a time as any to look at the nightmare that is STUFF, here, there and everywhere, stuff. Stuff we’re buying, piling up, storing, hoarding, moving from room to room and box to box, recycling, hauling to the dump.
That’s what’s on my mind today— what’s on yours? All topics are a go as long as they’re within the bounds of civility and non-grossness (I don’t think that’s actually word but you know what I’m talking about…)…. So wut up, News Viewers… is all your shopping done?😁😆
Source: GOBankingRates and RamseySolutions