Blog

May 07, 2023

Supermarket expert shares little

A consumer psychologist has explained how supermarkets use baskets and trolleys

A consumer psychologist has explained how supermarkets use baskets and trolleys to get shoppers to buy more items while they're in store - and it's all to do with the basket placement

When you walk into a supermarket, you're met with all sorts of promotions and signs that encourage you to buy a range of items you probably didn't have on your grocery list.

These blatant tricks are easier to spot and to try and ignore if you're paying attention, but according to a consumer psychologist, there are plenty of other subtle ways stores try to get you to spend more - from the fake scents they pump out in the bakery section to how they arrange items on the shelves.

Dr. Cathrine Jansson-Boyd from Anglia Ruskin University has been sharing these little-known psychological tricks and her latest tip is all to do with baskets and trolleys and how they are often strategically placed around the shops, but no one notices.

"People used to find that if they put too much in a basket that you hold they got too heavy and that was a sign they should stop shopping, as they couldn't carry it," she told The Mirror.

"That's why you often see the baskets on wheels these days."

However, what many people don't realise is that these wheelie baskets are actually much bigger than the old handheld ones.

"They can almost hold the same amount as a small trolley, but because it's a basket, you have the perception that you're buying less," explains Dr. Jansson-Boyd.

"So when you're trying to save money, using one of these baskets is not necessarily a good thing to do, because you do tend to fill them up."

But according to the expert, supermarkets may also use basket placement tricks by the entrance of the shop to encourage you to use a bigger basket or trolley, over a smaller one.

"You often find that the smaller shopping trolleys are placed on the opposite side to the shop entrance and the bigger trolleys are on the entrance side," she said.

"If you want the smaller one you have to walk all the way round to get it, so it's usually just easier to grab the bigger one when you walk through as it's near the door."

Dr. Jansson-Boyd adds that they also do something similar with baskets, as supermarkets will stack the smaller baskets at the end of the tills and place the bigger baskets near the doorway.

"It looks like people have dropped the baskets by the tills while shopping, but often that's not the case, they put them there because it means it will be easy to grab the bigger basket on wheels as you come in than go all the way up to the tills to get the smaller one."

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