A savvy shopper has revealed some of the tricks and techniques shops use to get their customers to spend more. Safiya Nygaard, who regularly shares shopping, beauty and DIY hacks on social media, gave an insight into the retail sector in her latest video.
In particular, she dove into what traditional high street shops are doing in a bid to take on online retail giants like Amazon and ASOS. Safiya says that the customer experience has been a big consideration in retail strategy since early on in the lives of department stores.
The problem is that nowadays, with the convenience of online shopping, it's far harder to get people to come through the door in the first place. This means that bricks-and-mortar stores have had to massively adapt their strategy, reports The Mirror.
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In a video entitled "How Retail Stores Manipulate You" shared on her YouTube channel, Safiya explained: "Not only are there more competitors in the market, but the biggest competitors are online.
"So if physical retailers are gonna keep up, they have to use highly specific design strategies to encourage you to buy." The 30-year-old online content creator then gave her 9.44 million YouTube followers an example, adding: "Things like stocking the milk – something most people buy every week – at the very back of the store, so you have to walk past literally everything else to get it.
"Or wafting the scent of baked goods or rotisserie chicken throughout the store to make you hungry and thus, more likely to stray from your shopping list."
Safiya named Ikea as a master of these hidden techniques, saying: "Similar to a Vegas casino, you often won't see a tonne of windows at Ikea. [...] When the sunlight is blocked out, it gets you to stop thinking about time and space."
She also talked viewers through the strategies American big box store Target uses, as well as makeup stores like Sephora. She explained that in beauty retailers, the "beauty needs" products like essential haircare and skincare are placed towards the back, while the "beauty wants" like the "newest celebrity eyeshadow palette" are strategically placed right at the front.
The number of tester products on display are also designed to tempt you into adding a bit extra to your basket. Safiyah explained: "This definitely makes for a more fun shopping experience, but research also shows that the more you touch and handle a product, the more likely you are to buy it."
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