At a time when the weekly grocery shop is costing some Aussie households triple figures, an expert has revealed the methods supermarkets employ to encourage consumers to spend more.
According to comparison site Finder’s consumer sentiment tracker, families are spending on average between $78 and $210 when they head to the grocery store.
While this is, in part, thanks to the current food inflation rate of 3.8 per cent, promotional tactics are also at play to catch shoppers’ attention and influence what they decide to buy.
“(Supermarkets) have several things in place to get consumers to spend more time in the stores and therefore end up spending more,” University of NSW School of Marketing Professor Nikita Garg told SBS.
Staples like milk, bread, cheese, and fresh produce, for example, are often placed far away from each other so that shoppers are encouraged “to go through as much of the real estate in the store as possible”, Prof Garg said.
Stores also rely on sounds and other senses to slow people down.
“For example (supermarkets) … have their own music channels, and they curate them specifically for times of day, for seasons of the year to help consumers move slower or faster depending on what they need and the layout of the store,” she explained.
Sixty-four per cent of shoppers make an impulse buy when shopping in-store, a survey conducted by financial planning firm KDM Financial recently found.
A simple way to stop yourself falling into this trap or going over budget, Prof Garg said, is to create a list and stick to it.
“Before purchasing a discounted product, it’s important to think about if you will actually use it. Even if it’s a deal, will you end up using it all right now?” she added.
“You really need to pay attention to what you’re putting in your basket and why. I know it’s a little stressful, but that’s what’s needed if you really want to save money.”
It comes as the country’s major supermarkets were accused of potentially misleading shoppers with promotional deals that offer little or no discount.
Research by consumer advocacy group Choice suggested one in four shoppers find it difficult to identify when a supermarket label represents a genuine saving on an item’s usual price.
More than 1000 consumers across Australia took part in the research, which surveyed price tags regularly used by Woolworths, Coles and Aldi featuring phrases such as “down down”, “member price” and “prices dropped”.
But it was Coles’ “while stocks last” tag that caused the most confusion, according to the report, which has been submitted to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Supermarkets Inquiry.
Coles told news.com.au its “while stocks last” tickets offer customers the chance to buy items which are only available at the retailer for a short time, and which are unlikely to be restocked once the products are sold through.
But, according to Choice, one-third of shoppers thought products displayed with the bright yellow tag were discounted. Another third were unsure.
Woolworths’ “member price” sticker was also found to cause “considerable confusion”, according to the consumer watchdog.
Almost a third of Aussies (29 per cent) incorrectly believed the product was discounted, while 39 per cent said they didn’t believe the product to be discounted, and the other 32 per cent said they weren’t sure.
The supermarket’s bright pink “new” tags were also seen to cause confusion, with 7 per cent of respondents incorrectly believing the product was discounted, as another 21 per cent said they weren’t sure. There were a large number of shoppers (72 per cent) who were correctly able to identify the product wasn’t discounted.
Woolworths told news.com.au it “works hard” to display prices “clearly and accurately” in its catalogue, stores and online, adding it has tried to “comply with all Australian consumer laws”.
“We know many Australian families are doing it tough and looking for relief at the checkout,” it said in a statement.
“We strive to clearly and simply signpost the ways that our customers can find value and spend less every time they shop with us.
“We know that the majority of our customers are buying products on special or on an everyday low price offer to help them save.”’
Choice has called for “transparent pricing” from supermarkets in its report “to ensure that people are able to effectively compare products, recognise genuine discounts and make informed decisions”.
“Price tags offering specials and discounts should be consistent with consumer expectations and follow a mandatory information standard that outlines what qualifies as a discount and how it should be communicated,” Choice said.
The ACCC inquiry is examining the pricing practices of Australian supermarkets, as well as the relationship between wholesale, including farmgate, and retail prices.
Choice called for strong enforcement action from the ACCC to “send a clear message to the supermarkets that misleading pricing is unacceptable”.
