Were you aware that your supermarket has sneaky ploys to get you to spend more money each time you visit? This may come as a surprise to you, but pretty much every store does this, and you might be falling victim to their ploys.

Here are three ways your supermarket could be coercing more money from you.

1. Music to help you relax

Think about it. If the music your supermarket plays is enjoyable and relaxing, you’re more likely to spend twice as long browsing those long aisles. And in turn you’re twice as likely to contemplate buying items you don’t actually need, or weren’t on your list!

Creating atmosphere is one of the most basic ploys stores use to get their customers to feel relaxed and take their time while shopping. Once I went into a supermarket that played no music at all, and I was in and out of there in zero time. But when your favourite songs come on, don’t you end up spending just a little longer?

The fix: Stick to your list. Even if you want to slow down and enjoy that relaxing music, make sure you don’t pick up anything but what you absolutely need.

2. Placement of Pricier item

No one likes to bend down to lowest shelves nor reach up to the uppermost ones. It’s most convenient if what you need is exactly at arm’s reach without you having to do any kind of special reaching. But you will probably find that if there is an entire row of Kraft Mac n’ Cheese, for example, the cheapest boxes – or those on sale – are not the ones at arm’s reach; they’re tucked away at the very bottom where you have to bend to even see the price!

The fix: Next time you buy, ensure you check the prices of the same products from the very top to the very bottom shelves, and see if there’s any difference. You might be surprised at what you find.

3. Those incredible sales

Each week in my supermarket there are dozens of items on sale, and every now and then I’ll see, say, a packet of biscuits that I’d never ordinarily buy, that’s on sale for $1.50 down from $4.00. Instintively you think that’s a great deal! But what do you end up doing? You reach for not one, not two, but four packets of biscuits!

The fix: Now if you really needed those biscuits then yes this is a great deal and by all means, grab those 4 packets while you can. But if you really don’t need it then why buy it? Chances are that that’s $6.00 you didn’t plan to spend.

What do you think?

The rule of thumb for supermarket shopping is to simply stick to your list. Have you fallen victim to any of these tactics? Share your story with us below!