Are supermarkets designed to persuade us to buy more? When you enter a supermarket, the manager knows better than you: how you will behave — which way you will walk, where you will look, what will make you buy one product rather than another. When customers go into a shop, they naturally look to their left but move clockwise, towards the right. So supermarket entrances are usually on the left of the building. And the layout is designed to take shoppers around the store, aisle (通道) after aisle, from left to right.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are displayed near supermarket entrances. Basic food like sugar and tea, are not put near each other. They are kept in different aisles so customers are taken past other attractive foods before they find what they want. In this way, shoppers are encouraged to buy products that they do not really want.
People walk quickly through narrow aisles, but they move slowly in wide aisles and give more attention to the products. One best-selling position for products is at the end of aisles, because shoppers slow down to turn into the next aisle. Supermarkets are paid by food companies to put their products in each of these high-selling places.
While parents are waiting to pay, children reach for the sweets and put them in the trolley.
More is bought from a fifteen-foot display of one type of product (e.g. cereal, washing powder) than from a ten-foot one. They do not like to buy from shelves with few products on them because they feel there is something wrong with those products that are there.
A. Another is on shelves at eye level.
B. Sweets are often placed at children's eye level at the checkout.
C. There are always enough products prepared for customers in the supermarket.
D. Then shoppers will pay attention to all the products.
E. This gives the impression that only healthy food is sold in the shop.
F. Customers also buy more when shelves are full than when they are half empty.
G. Supermarkets are one of children's favorite places and they are also big consumers.
