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More often than not I end up leaving the supermarket with a full bag of groceries when I only came for milk and bread. I suspect I am far from the only one. The invisible pull that makes your arm pick up something you don’t need and add it to your basket is incredible. Are we talking some extraterrestrial powers here?

Well, the content creator and entrepreneur Max Klymenko has some answers. In his TikTok series that went viral all over the platform, Max explains what kind of marketing tactics supermarkets use to make us buy more. From lighting to product placement and the fact that essential items you came in for are impossible to find, everything there is laid out so that we fall into an unconscious cycle of spending.

Scroll down below to see Max’s points and let me tell you, your next grocery shopping will not look and feel the same!

#1

Supermarket

maxklymenko Report

Yort
Community Member
3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Then why are my Cocoa Puffs always on floor level?

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We reached out to Max Klymenko, the creator behind this viral TikTok series who runs a creative agency called Klym&Co. The agency works on educational campaigns around the globe, and I make videos online about business, brands and psychology. 

Max moved to the UK from Ukraine 10 years ago. “Right now, most of my work is focused on stopping the war in Ukraine. I’m Ukrainian and that’s the most important issue for me,” Max told us and added that “Both my personal content and agency work is directed at stopping Russian aggression and supporting Ukrainian victims in different ways.” Please follow Max’s TikTok and Instagram on new updates on Russia’s war with Ukraine, and the ways to help Ukrainian people defend their freedom.

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    #2

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    SpookyPanda
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #3

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Caffeinated Hedgehog
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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    #4

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Robert T
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    When asked how Max got into creating TikTok videos, he recounted: “I saw my teenage sister using the app and wanted to get on it too. She told me I was too old and boring for it at first, but now she likes my videos for the most part!”

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    If you wonder whether supermarkets who run such marketing tricks on shoppers are acting ethically, Math said “Look, I run a business too. I don’t think it’s particularly unethical.” He explained: “Perhaps it is manipulative but not with malicious intent. Plus there’s me and other creators to tell the world about their tactics so that the consumers are more aware of what marketing & sales strategies they are exposed to.”

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    #5

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    hobbitly
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #6

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Vicky Zar
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Our supermarkets do not change every few months.

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    #7

    Supermarket

    Vladut Gavrilescu Report

    Trees
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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    For anyone who wants to be aware of the marketing traps while shopping, Max urges people to watch his videos. “I think being aware of them makes a big difference. But at the same time, it’s important to realize that so much of our world is defined by advertising. Think about the most famous city on the planet, NYC. You immediately think of Times Square. Which is simply a street with a bunch of ads…”

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    #8

    Supermarket

    Daanyaal Report

    Pat Head
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

    Emmett O'Brian
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I ask the attendant if the lady has been let out recently to get a bathroom break.

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    C W
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Did you know you can turn off the volume on self check outs?

    Seanette Blaylock
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    HOW? Those things are way too loud. I don't care to have it announce to everyone in a 10ft radius what I bought or how much I'm spending. That's my business.

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    Twodogsandapicnictable
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I love self check out. Nothing to do with talking. I just hate standing there doing nothing while they scan me out. I used to bag my own groceries, but most places moved the bags to the other side and cashiers do it as they go. If I'm putting stuff on the belt anyway I may as well scan it and drop it in a bag myself instead.

    Milady Blue
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    At my local store, the self checkout is always giving instructions, to the point where customers grumble about nagging. I overheard one gent say, "If I wanted to be nagged this much, I would have brought my wife!"

    Lyn Peverill
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    stupid machine is more annoying , place item on tray remove item then bleeping at you if not quick enough

    Nancy Lynch
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No! There is not something in the bagging area! I just got here you stupid machine!

    Evelyn Haskins
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    self check out are a scam so they nee can reduce staffing levels. More young people out of work!!

    Gypsy Lee
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The self checkout is always more courteous & attentive than the teenager at the register who can literally not even acknowledge me during the entire transaction. Though middle aged women do most the grocery shopping we’re also the most invisible. - No thanks! I’ll skip that feeling.

    Maria R
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I use a scanner during my shopping, I can see how much everything costs, how much I'm buying and when I cheque out I just put the scanner at its place, draw my credit card and get my receipt and leave.

    rn42
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Never does for me. Even if I buy alcohol, it usually results in the attendant looking from afar, realizing I'm way into legal age, and clearing me, usually before I even finish scanning my stuff.

    Joe Edwards
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Why should I pay full price for my groceries, then do their job at the cash?

    Lyn Peverill
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The tray at a self serve is too small for grocery shopping and the machine is taking away a job. I will not use it

    John Baker
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Self checkout takes jobs away from people. I don't use it unless there are a dozen people with full carts at every available register.

    Trevor Nicholson
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Self checkout doesn't break if you know how to use it. You scan it, put the item in the bagging area, and then wait until the light changes to green before you do the next item. Unexpected item in the bagging area comes from going too fast. I only ever have to get someone when I'm buying alcohol or there's a coupon on the item.

    Seanette Blaylock
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The ones I've done battle with think if the bag moves a fraction of an inch while an item is being put in it that there's "an unexpected item".

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    #9

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Vicky Zar
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #10

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Eric Forman
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #11

    Supermarket

    Charlotte Smith Report

    Marc Lauzon
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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..

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    #12

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Scott Kelly
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #13

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Yort
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    $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.

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    #14

    Supermarket

    Phyla1019 Report

    #15

    Supermarket

    mineheroes Report

    Robert T
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #16

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Libby Tailor
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    In my country the original price has to be written too

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    #17

    Supermarket

    Michaela Baker Report

    Stephanie A Mutti
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #18

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Gergely Kiss
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I never realized McDonalds is considered a supermarket...

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    #19

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Eric Forman
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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...

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    #20

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Vicky Zar
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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    #21

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Steve
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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    #22

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Robert T
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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!

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    #23

    Supermarket

    Katie Watkins Report

    Paul Davis
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #25

    Supermarket

    maxklymenko Report

    Kristin Ingersoll
    Community Member
    3 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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