When it comes to sales and marketing, nothing is left to chance. Not the smells of a store, not the temperature, not the music playing in the background. And precisely one of those peculiarities is the fact that supermarkets, despite being large stores, have no windows. The objective of this strategy has to do with psychology. By not having windows, an ecosystem is created that motivates customers to stay as long as possible, unaware of what’s happening outside.
Some stores use tile so that the shopping cart makes a lot of noise making shoppers buy more
The issue of advantages is directly related to the fact that customers feel at ease, that they’re not in a rush to leave the supermarket, and thus, by spending more time inside, they can spend more. The same applies to the tile example. Some stores use tile so that the shopping cart makes a lot of noise. This makes shoppers move more slowly to avoid making so much noise, and thus, they spend more time looking at the products.
The feeling of comfort when we enter establishments where we don’t mind spending a little more time because it means extending our comfort
And there are more examples like this. A particular smell can come to mind when we think about certain stores. Or, for example, the feeling of comfort when we enter establishments where we don’t mind spending a little more time because it means extending our comfort. The goal is always the same: to get consumers to spend as much time as possible inside the store without knowing what’s happening outside and, consequently, spend more money.
The organization of food on the shelves, the colors, the font on the signs, the smells, the lighting…
It’s all part of the “psychological choice” that motivates customers to spend more time inside the supermarket or store in question. That’s the reason, but it’s also a matter of statistics, since the longer a person spends in a supermarket, the more likely they are to spend. This works the same way with the aisles, the organization of food on the shelves, the colors, the font on the signs, the smells, the lighting… Everything is studied to make the consumer as comfortable as possible.
The walls of supermarkets are designed to insulate and preserve the products inside
It’s also true that supermarkets don’t usually have windows for food preservation reasons. Keep in mind that sunlight, for example, can alter the composition of some foods if they’re directly exposed. Preventing outside light from shining on them is one of the measures taken to prevent products from deteriorating and losing their freshness. The walls of supermarkets are designed to insulate and preserve the products inside, since if we read their labels, we’ll realize that most of them should be kept in a cool, dry place. So, in the end, it all makes sense.
Placing the entrance on the right and the checkouts on the left, the reason
Some tricks that large retailers also play include the location of the supermarket entrance. Most supermarkets place the entrance on the right and the checkouts on the left. This is because most consumers are right-handed and, therefore, tend to move clockwise. Placing the entrance on the right and the checkouts on the left forces consumers to move counterclockwise through the aisles to reach the checkouts. This means they’ll explore more of the supermarket’s surface and, therefore, are likely to buy more.
The phrase “I came for one thing and in the end…” makes sense after reading the above. And the same thing happens with colors. As we mentioned before, people associate the color red with discounts, which is why supermarkets also use this trick. Similarly, placing the discounted product area further away and in a cluttered manner means consumers have to “waste” time searching for a bargain. This is a series of tricks used by large retailers, most of which are already widely known by consumers.
