On with the grocery shopping tips! And it’s totally appropriate since I just went grocery shopping today and all of these I found, once again, TRUE today. In fact, these marketing tricks are so great that I can remember reading about them in my marketing textbooks at school….they are so great in fact the owners of grocery stores are hoping you’ll never realize them!
Tip #3: Is it a “ON SALE” or “FOR SALE” tag?
I can hear you exclaiming….WHAT?! Who doesn’t love a good sale. You’re absolutely right! Who doesn’t love a good sale. But have you ever, for fun, peeled back the sale label (the one that covers the original price) to see how much you’re actually saving? I have…and you know what I discovered? That it is the SAME price. So the “sale” tag was really more of a “it’s FOR sale” tag than a “it’s ON sale” tag. Now, I’m not saying this is always the case but they definitely know that your eye is drawn to those tags and they put them on items not on sale to move them. I want you to take a step back the next time you’re at the grocery store and actually look at all of the tags they have hanging down an aisle. Next, look at how many of those are actually that an item is on sale. You’ll notice there is are a lot of little tags hanging down an aisle…all to get your attention and look at it. You eye is naturally drawn to bright colors and something out of place. Those tags fit both of those requirements.
Tip #4: Complimentary Items
The grocery store by me is pretty smart. Do you know what they put right next to their milk? OREOS, chocolate syrup, and donuts. Do you know how many people I see buy OREOS after picking up their milk? I can see the thought process in their head, “Oh, OREOS! Those sound good…and I did just get some milk. That will be a fun treat!” The best part about this marketing trick is that YOU come up with the idea (with a little guidance from them). The brain functions by making associations so they put complimentary items next to each other and your brain does the rest. Don’t believe me? Next time you’re at the store go down your ice cream aisle. I can guarantee you’ll find ice cream toppings, ice cream scoops, etc very close by.
Tip #5 Don’t take their word for it!
Think about who is sending you the message, the grocery store. It takes your brain seeing a message 7 times or less for it to be ingrained, with out you even noticing what is happening. So of course, grocery stores will put big signs up that they are “Low price leaders” have the “Lowest prices” etc. Become an educated shopper so you know the prices and can make good judgements.
Tip #6: READ THE TAG
My personal experience to highlight this is…One day, I was at the grocery store looking to buy some name brand butter that was on sale (cheaper than the store bought brand, who doesn’t love that?!). When I got to the butter section I noticed they didn’t have a lot of the name brand butter left. But no worries, the store brand butter tag said it was the same price. OR SO I THOUGHT. On closer examination, the store had filled the holes where the name brand butter had been with the store brand butter. I even asked a store associate if they were price matching the ad or something. The answer was NO. I bet a lot of people bought butter that day and paid more for it than they thought. This goes for all types of sales. Be sure the variety you’re purchasing is included in the sale and that the price and item totally match.
Tip # 7: Beware of end of aisle displays
Some grocery stores actually cater everything around the “Grab and Go” shopper. The type that needs to get in and get out and doesn’t care about the cost. These end of aisle displays are meant for convenience in shopping. The same Oreo and milk grocery store by me always has milk, eggs, and butter by the cash registers. It’s brilliant, it saves you time, possibly reminds you of something you forgot and it removes the products from the others so you can’t make a good judgment on whether it’s the cheapest option for you!
Tip #8: Don’t buy anything while you’re waiting to check out!
They are so clever those marketers. They put toys, candy, cold drinks, ice creams, and juicy magazines all around you while you’re waiting in line. It’s even better if you have a young child who notices the toys and candy because you’ll never hear the end of it until you leave the store….or BUY it for them. Which is exactly what they are hoping. All the items are small but it’s the ONE MORE item they are hoping to get you to pick up while you’re standing there. If you need a good line to tell your kids, I’ve found it works for mine and it may work for yours as well. “No, we’re not going to get (fill in the blank) we have plenty of (fill in the blank) at home. We need to leave that here for people who don’t have any at their house.”
Tip #9: Read your receipt or watch the prices as they ring them up.
If you don’t do this, I can guarantee you’re paying more for items. I notice a mistake at least a couple times a month on my groceries. Most often, the price is incorrect in the computer. And, yes, I’m one of those annoying shoppers that will make the cashier send the bagger to go and check the price on the tag. and I would suggest you do the same! You can also grab the sales ad and keep it with you and show the checker if it is in the ad. But, PLEASE, don’t spend more for an item that the STORE is advertising is on sale.
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Great tips. I always watch the price as they ring up and I too have noticed errors and will wait for them to correct them. Or I simply let them ring me up, I pay and head directly to customer service for the adjustment (I do this when the checkout lines are long). I also watch my coupons ring up as a certain area grocery store always seems to ‘miss’ one or two and I make them correct it.
If I may suggest an other tip? Bow down!
Here in Holland most of the cheap items are in the lowest ties. I always have to bow down a lot while doing my weekly shopping ;o) Also good (and free) leg-exercise! ;o)
I hit the new ShopRite yesterday – good thing I had time as it was Senior Day, the start of the CanCan sale (canned items on SALE) and the day before a major snowstorm – The long wait in line Trifecta. It all worked well and I watched the register as they rang up (also having a full case of one item made for faster ringing) But after reading the posts of tips for the grocery shopping I took my time, was able to save almost $80 and restocked the pantry back to 6 mos.
AWESOME!
Crystal, I love the investigating you are doing. I have found a lot of those tricks my self and it drives me crazy! My hubby and I now like to team up at the register. I watch the price and he will be the runner if necessary. It also keeps us from buying what we think is a “good idea” from the middle isle.
Keep up the good work. Even though we don’t always say so we all apprecitate all you do.
You can get the code for the scanned bar code which tells you which country the product you are buying is from. I never buy anything from China as you can’t trust what they put in their food. If you are interested in these codes I’ll gladly share with you.
You can get the code for the scanned bar code which tells you which country the product you are buying is from. I never buy anything from China as you can’t trust what they put in their food. If you are interested in these codes I’ll gladly share with you.
You can get the code for the scanned bar code which tells you which country the product you are buying is from. I never buy anything from China as you can’t trust what they put in their food. If you are interested in these codes I’ll gladly share with you.
You can get the code for the scanned bar code which tells you which country the product you are buying is from. I never buy anything from China as you can’t trust what they put in their food. If you are interested in these codes I’ll gladly share with you.
You can get the code for the scanned bar code which tells you which country the product you are buying is from. I never buy anything from China as you can’t trust what they put in their food. If you are interested in these codes I’ll gladly share with you.
You can get the code for the scanned bar code which tells you which country the product you are buying is from. I never buy anything from China as you can’t trust what they put in their food. If you are interested in these codes I’ll gladly share with you.
Oh, my! These tips are awesome and very useful for shoppers especially for moms. Usually, they were the ones who do family groceries. Grocery shopping is actually enjoyable as long you are prepared in buying items that you’ll need. So these tips would really work for grocery shopping and, maybe, for shopping other items on the day of sales.