Grocers make the most of their customers’ subconscious.
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How do you outsmart the system and save money when food inflation is skyrocketing?
Here are some tips.
Retail is a question of behavioral science. Banners know this all too well and play to consumer behavior when visiting a supermarket.
So grocery store sellers have to pay for prime placement on shelves and refrigerators, or simply be part of the planogram (the list of products sold in all stores in a chain). The end of the aisles, the middle shelves and strategic locations are expensive.
Your eyes
Therefore, products that are at eye and hand level and easy to grab are usually more expensive. And the ones at the top of the shelves, if not specialties or imports, are often cheaper.
The lower shelves are the realm of large quantities, often bargains. But you have to compare the regular formats to see if it’s really a saving.
Another way to save: Several stores or applications (Flashfood, FoodHero) offer incredible discounts on products that are approaching their expiration date.
travel
Some experts talk about designing your store in a U and limiting your purchases to essential products: fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy. Therefore, when the shopping cart is filled with the most important products, consumers buy fewer superfluous products, which are massively concentrated on the center’s shelves.
However, more than 70% of consumers go through all the aisles to make sure they don’t forget anything. This is the best way to succumb to unnecessary purchases.
Having the entrance to the grocery store on the right forces consumers to move counterclockwise. However, if you move clockwise, you spend less when shopping! So, to save, start your shopping by turning left…
Finally, circulars are essential. But the real sales are usually only displayed on the first and last page.
advice
- Keep track of discounted products in the flyer and adjust your recipes accordingly for the week, even if it means freezing dishes. If possible, buy on promotional days.
- Make your budget and shopping list before you go and don’t buy anything you haven’t planned unless it’s on sale. And eat before you go shopping!
- Avoid shopping several times a week: you multiply the opportunity to buy superfluous and therefore expensive products.
- If possible, avoid placing your order on Thursday and Friday evenings before 8 p.m. and on Saturday afternoons. Studies confirm that consumers spend more when stores are full.
- Whenever possible, use bonus points from your credit card to pay for groceries.
- Beware of barcode errors: Consumer Protection Act requires the retailer to give you the product if the price at the checkout is higher than the in-store price and the item sells for less than $10.
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