Person Exposes 22 Sinister Supermarket Tactics They Use Everyday That You Might Not Know About

Then why are my Cocoa Puffs always on floor level?

I use it because I don't want to interact with anyone and do any small talk. Also, most lines with a cashier are long and/or customers have full carts, and not many people in line for the self-checkout, so the self-checkout process is often quicker since you're not waiting on others to finish.

Also products aimed at kids like candies or any goods with colorful toy freebies are placed at kid's eye level

This is NOT true. My local supermarkets typically have massive signs for Flour, Sugar etc to help you find them. What is true is that these items are well inside the supermarket making you walk past other items that you might be tempted by.

It's not that they're hard to find, it's that they are placed at the far ends of the store, in completely different areas, so you are forced to walk through the rest of the store in order to find them all.

They're really just out here claiming anything on TikTok and people just accept it. Like no, I have zero trouble finding eggs, milk, and bread in any supermarket because they're always around the perimeter and with clearly marked sections. And all aisles have signs saying what is in it, so it's not actually that hard to find most things.

Yeah this is BS

When I go to supermarket, first thing you see is usually fruits and vegetables. Bread is usually as far away from entrance as possible. And candy is at the cash register, so you can always buy something last minute.

Always check the top shelves and the bottom shelves. That's where all the best items are!

I shop at Kroger and I LOVE their app. You can choose what store you're shopping at, make your list and it will tell you what aisle it's in (which really comes in handy since all Kroger's are laid out differently) and give you an estimated cost. There's also the option of clipping e-coupons (some allow you to use the same coupon up to five times).

Once spent half an hour looking around a local grocery store for tampons before I finally found an employee to point me in the right direction. Turns out they were hidden in a back corner of the store...behind the wine section. Brilliant.

The supermarket I use has all the dairy products in the same area, same with bakery, coffee/tea, plus they never change around as some others do.

The more often you shop the same store you learn where everything is located. I know my store and can be in and out in a few minutes. I also use a list.

I would think this would greatly depend on the supermarket. The place I shop at is a smaller version of a big box store but I know where EVERYTHING is and can find it all very quickly.

Not so much hard to find. You just have to walk past everything else on the way. What's next? Explaining why they have one last little aisle full of magazines and candy that you have to stand in while you wait to check out?

You have to walk across the entire store to the pet food. I quit buying pet food at WalMart because they have no canned cat food and my dog died so I don't need and dog food anymore. (I still turn down that aisle though.)

its a scammmm

Actually, fruit and veg are in the beginning so you feel like your already got some healthy stuff in your basket and not feel bad to put some less healthy stuff in it too.

Our supermarkets do not change every few months.

I thought it was at the back to draw customers deeper into the shop?

After the self checkout machine thanks me for shopping there I always say, " Thank you robot checkout lady".

Lidl has these smaller carts. They are maybe half as big. I love them. Mostly because I am a small person and I feel dwarfed by the bigger ones.

Not at all. Grocery stores are food storage places. It's for energy efficiency and product protection. Windows let out heat, greatly affecting temperature control, which 100% of supermarkets need to track. Products not sold fast enough fade or rot in sunlight. Windows also limit space and layouts. Windows would help customers but they're bad for the actual business. There's studies that explain it.

One research says it does, another says it does not. It's probably just a side effect. Actually, everything fresh (fruits, meat, fish, bakery) are together. Often they are also the most staffed, and visible. It's just more pleasing than aisles full of inert goods and skittish clerks. Moreso, fruits and veggies are the ones that require the least backstore equipment (oven, grinder, fridge) which is why the other fresh are more often against the back wall..

the local Stop & Shop (big grocery chain in the New York/tri-state area) has the deli counter on one side of the store (along with the bakery department), but the packaged bread aisle (where most people here get their sandwich bread) is literally the complete opposite side of the store. The condiment aisle is somewhere in the middle (not near either the deli, or the bread). So this one I can confirm from experience.

$500 in their whole lifetime? Wouldn’t that logically average to like one cent per purchase? You SHOULD check your receipt to make sure you weren’t double charged, though.

This is a tactic? It's just a complaint.

These are on the decline. There used to be loads of sweets on the checkouts which kids would try to sneak into the shopping and these were stopped due to complaints. There now appears to be even less of the stuff that they put there to replace the sweets.

In my country the original price has to be written too

There is nothing wrong with trying to increase sales. As long as nothing is done deceptively [like bait and switch pricing] the burden should be on the shopper to make intelligent decisions. Make a list. Stick to it. Do the simple math.

I never realized McDonalds is considered a supermarket...

All checkouts are near the exit. The self checkout is closest because it's supposed to be limited to less items than a full cart, hence quicker exit. It's not a trick. A cart full of groceries checked out in a lane takes longer than one or two items in the self checkout...

We have a lot of prises like 1,99€ in Germany, because 1,99€ seams much cheaper, than 2€

I can say my purchasing habits aren't that affected from touching stuff.

Able to and willing to are two very different things! Managers can normally override the price on items, but will only do so it is justifiable. There are no managers hanging round waiting to give you 10% off your shopping if you smile at them!

Look these techniques are created for very dumb people who wouldn't understand the material in the reddit thread or this article anyway. I highly doubt they would have any concerns about it at all.

Why?

Not a tactic. Now we're just listing opinions about supermarkets?