If you answered yes to any of the above, you were likely seduced into spending more than you intended. And insidious ploys to get you to open your wallet are also going on at malls, in dressing rooms and on shopping websites across India.
Following are common retailer tricks use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy :-
Shopping carts: Most department store customers enter the store only intending to buy an item or two, but the shopping carts are right there by the entrance and oh wouldn't it be convenient to have it so I can lean on it a bit while walking around and also put my stuff in it? The cart has a huge bin compared to the size of most items for sale in the store, making it psychologically easy to toss in an item you don’t need – after all, there’s room for plenty more, right?
Nostalgic Music: Instore music is set at a tempo to relax customers and slow their sense of time. Often music is wordless in order to avoid making customers think, instead just setting the tempo of shopping.
Saying Yes: Would you like to see something else with that? If a sales executive of showroom asks if a customer would like to upgrade 47% will say yes. Staff will often be told to keep up-selling until the customer says no.
Windows: Department stores and Shopping Centres will not have many windows. Instead they rely upon artificial light and air conditioning. This is to remove the shopper from contact with the outside world and constraints of time (seeing it go dark outside).
Mirrors: Mirrors slow people down. Due to humans vain nature mirrors are regularly used on the front of shops in shopping centres and high streets to slow down the traffic and make people spend time in front of the shop. This is particularly true if they are next to Banks which speed people up.
The Credit Card “Discount”: Budget you’re shopping! Get money from the ATM before you go and only carry the cash into the store. Leave your credit card, debit card and checkbook at home. That way you can’t overspend!
'Free' Stuff : When retailers and shops offer merchandise and services for "free," there's almost always an ulterior motive. "The notion of a 'free lunch' - as in, 'there's no such thing as--' - comes from old New York, where Bowery taverns would offer free lunches, on the firm understanding that diners would wash it down with their overpriced beer," says William Poundstone, author of Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value and How to Take Advantage of It. "That's still pretty much the way it works. Free things draw you in to a store or Web site where you're likely to buy other things," he says.
Psychologically speaking, the word "free" implies no downside or risk. Even a buy-one-get-one-free deal or an advertisement for free shipping ?€" which still requires us to spend money ?" are marketing gimmicks businesses bank on, knowing that consumers simply can't resist.
Restrooms and customer services: They are usually right by the exit or as far from the exit as possible. Why? If you need to use either one in the middle of a shopping journey, you have to walk by a lot of merchandise to reach the needed service, thus increasing your chances for an impulse buy.
And now Happy shopping and pick the right thing.
