How supermarkets trick you into spending more money

Supermarkets love kids.

Why? Because when parents come with their kids, they tend to spend more as they end up buying items asked by their children. Not only this increases spending, but it also gets parents to try new products that they wouldn’t have considered otherwise, which is something really hard to do!

The thing is, parents don’t really like bringing their kids to the supermarket. First, because it’s not very convenient to do so as kids tend to slow you down and are not necessarily around when you get there (e.g. back from the office). Second, because parents realize that their kids are going to ask them for extra stuff, and they don’t want to have to go through tough negotiations with them and/or spend too much.

My local supermarket (Paris) found a great way to address the issue.

They’ve put the following sign at the entrance (see picture below, on the left). It says “Free fruits for kids”, and comes with a full basket for kids to pick up from.

It’s really smart because it’s a super cheap way to:

• Increase spending by supporting the idea that the family trip to the supermarket is a special moment for kids, during which they get little things that make them happy. A free apple, but also some sweets if they ask for it.
• Increase spending by boosting the amount of time parents will spend in the supermarket: no more hungry children that ask to leave.
• It drives loyalty as parents and kids are more likely to be willing to go to the place where there is free healthy stuff than anywhere else.