4-12 Supermarket SCR

Short Constructed Essay Prompt: How does product placement increase sales in a supermarket?

Support your answer with evidence from the following selection:

Sneaky Supermarket Spies Shoppers and Their Buying Habits

1 Shoppers in a grocery store have all kinds of things on their mind as they weave in and out of aisles looking for sales, planning menus, and selecting food. But one new development in supermarket strategy may really surprise them. They’re being watched! And not just by employees or hidden cameras in corners of the store—shoppers and their buying habits are now being tracked in ways they might never imagine.

2 Americans spend about 1.5 billion dollars a day on groceries, but supermarkets and grocery stores want shoppers to spend even more. A typical grocery store has about 50,000 products to sell to customers. Grocery stores have found creative and clever methods to make sure that shoppers buy more of these products.

Using Technology to Track and Attract Customers 3 Some stores use heat maps to track which aisles customers linger in, looking at products. This helps supermarket owners and managers figure out where people spend the most time in the store. Many stores provide discount cards that not only offer reduced prices to shoppers but also can electronically track products that customers purchase. At the checkout counter customers will be offered coupons for items similar to their purchases. One supermarket has started giving customers a handheld self-checkout device linked to the store’s discount card. This device alerts customers to sales as they walk by or scan certain products. This may sound convenient, but researchers like Joseph Turow of the University of Pennsylvania worry about customer privacy and the possibility of stores selling the shopping details of their customers to other companies.

Supermarket Strategy 4 Store owners know that milk and eggs are common items on many grocery lists, so these items should be at the front of the store, right? Actually, most stores place those items deeper into the store so that shoppers have to pass tantalizing products on their way to get the needed items. Sights and smells are also powerful and persuasive tools. Florists, bakeries, and produce sections are usually at the front of the store because the items in them will appeal to shoppers’ senses, enticing customers to make purchases. Managers know that red signs get the attention of shoppers and that yellow and white signs have a calming effect. They also know that the human eye is likely to focus on products that are at eye level, so that is where the most expensive products are placed on the shelves. Less expensive products are placed higher or lower. Some companies negotiate with the supermarket to ensure that their products are in prime locations to make them more appealing than a competing brand’s products.

5 Supermarkets know that they can sell products that customers may not even be looking for by placing items commonly bought together, like cheese and crackers, close to each other. Some stores no longer use straight rows of aisles across the store but create loops of aisles that force customers to walk past products they may not ordinarily shop for. And there are other industry tricks that increase food sales. The products at the end of an aisle are more likely to be sold, so items that are close to expiring or that need to sell quickly are often placed there. Many grocers feature chopped or shredded vegetables in their produce departments. Customers like the expediency of these products, but buying them can cost more than twice as much as purchasing the items whole.

Shop Smart 6 The customer is trying to spend the shortest amount of time and the least amount of money while shopping, the supermarket is trying to encourage the shopper to do the opposite. A study by a food marketing group showed that about 60% of the items bought at the supermarket were not on the customer’s original list. If it sounds sneaky, it is! But an informed customer can see through these gimmicks and avoid coming home with extra items.

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TEXT BOX Supermarkets can track your shopping habits, but in what other ways are you tracked as you go about your day? • Search engines on the Internet track your search data so that the next time you use the search engine, you may see advertisements related to what you have searched for. • Next time you’re in a car at an intersection, look for a traffic camera. With just a photo of the license-plate number, the police can access a person’s name, address, and driving information. • The location of many cell phones can be tracked from a computer, which is convenient if you’ve lost your phone. On the other hand, that means that your location can easily be determined by others.