New tactics to get you spending

Tactics to get you spending

Have you ever been to the supermarket, and added a bar of chocolate or chewing gum to your basket while you’re waiting in the queue at the checkout? Isn’t it convenient how they’re there for you to put in your basket without you having to go back into the shop to pick them up? Answer: No, they’re strategically placed for you to increase the amount of money you spend at the shop. And if you do it, the shop wins, and you lose.

This is one of the more common strategies shops use to make you spend as much as you can in their shops. But can you think of any others?

Here is an interesting article from the BBC magazine, called “Shopping: The new tactics to get you spending”:

"People are more savvy than ever before about the ways shops get them to spend their money, but the retailers are always coming up with new tactics.
Why are sweets and chocolate always by the till in supermarkets? Why do they put the everyday essentials like bread and milk at the back of shop so you have to walk through as many aisles as possible to reach them?" Read more...

To help you understand the article, here is an explanation of some of the more complicated words in the text:

Savvy                                                = well-informed, shrewd

Impulse buying                                = buying things without giving it any consideration

Spur-of-the-moment                        = a decision you make without thinking too much about it

Mess things up                                 = disorganise things

Messy                                                = disorganised (for physical things, e.g bedroom desk)

A must-have (adj., n.)                       = something you can’t live without

Creating a buzz                                 = making people talk about it

Linger                                                 = to stay (when talking about an unwanted thing/person)

So, remember next time you’re in a shop: “It’s their job to make money and it’s your job to stop them making money!”