Shopping and Marketing
I visited the local grocery store Wal-Mart and for the first time actually paid attention to the placements of products in it and the items that they want you to see first. It was pretty funny to see the ways they market certain items to the consumers they think they are going to get. Since Pullman is a college town, it was pretty obvious the first thing I saw when I walked in was Busch Light. This beer is probably one of the most popular kinds in this area because it is cheap and you can buy it in bulk. Wal-Mart had 30 packs of it stacked up in a pyramid with a sale price of 17.99 on it. This attracts college students right away because not only is it cheap, but you also get a lot of it. The store knows that by placing it at the entrance they are more likely to get you to buy it because it is the first thing when you walk in and they know that the typical college student drinks. Wal-Mart also puts that item with a sign on top saying “Sale” because it makes you even more likely to buy it knowing that if you don’t the price could be raised the next time around. The supply and demand for a product like Busch Light is very high due to the cost of it, and stores know this so they make sure they are stocked up on it.
When walking through the store I also noticed that the majority of items that were name brands were at eye level. Name brands tend to be more expensive, but at the same time you are very familiar with these certain brands and will pay the extra money not wanting to take the chance on something that is unknown. I think these grocery stores take this into account when stocking their shelves and make sure you are able to see these items, by putting them higher up. One thing that I have noticed many times is that when you are checking out they purposely put the smaller items like gum and candy on the right and left of you, hoping you will make that last second purchase. The candy shelves seem to be about waste level, which targets people that are smaller such as kids. This is another thing these grocery stores know to do in order to make more sales. Stores do the research in order to get to know the consumers that will be coming in on an everyday basis and make sure to put the products out that they demand.
Grocery stores take the products they know their consumers like and put them in certain areas of the store that make you more likely to see them and purchase them. This is all a well thought out scheme to target your needs and put that item in front of you. All the products that the stores consumers want are visible and geographically placed where you are most likely to look. This is nothing new; stores have been doing this for a long time now and it has been a very successful plan to attract consumers.
when walmart place its items, it invole science. Not only the specific kind of food, but the main design go by a psychological science. Therefore, if we don't follow our buying list to purchase, we will find that we get something else out of the list.
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