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Recognizing (& resisting) retail manipulation

Writer's picture: Rebecca (a yarn enthusiast)Rebecca (a yarn enthusiast)

Updated: Jan 11

In general, I have no beef with companies that are in the business of selling goods. I adhere to the adage, "Buyer Beware" which means that as long as the sellers are complying with laws and ethical business practices, it's up to ME to shop smart.


Shopping SMART requires a couple of things, including mindfulness around our shopping, as I noted in a couple previous posts, including this one, "Crafting and consumerism".


It ALSO requires that we understand the tactics being deployed by the stores to get us to BUY NOW! In this post I will review the most common ones researchers have identified, and give examples from Big Box craft stores that we all have likely seen once, if not on a regular and continual basis.



Store layout

I was shopping in the mall last weekend (I know,...) and had to pick up an online order at Customer Service. I noticed that the location of Customer Service required people to enter the store and walk to the middle of the store to the escalators. The escalators drop riders off on the 2nd level, and shoppers have to navigate through at least 3 other departments to find Customer Service. This is not an accident.


  • think about the 2 major big box craft stores and where the sewing notions and yarn are located.

    • shoppers have to walk past aisles and aisles of home dec, kids toys, craft packets, candy, and mounds of seasonal items to get to the basic things they came to the store to purchase.


Store layout is a foundational principle in retail, whereby the items we need (or shop for) the most are located at a distance from the entrance(s) so that we have to walk past all sorts of tempting other items on our way. The hope is that we will give in to the impulse to buy a few other things - before or after finding the item(s) we specifically came to purchase.


Sense of Urgency

"Limited stock!" / "Limited Time Offer" and similar slogans are intended to inspire a sense of urgency, suggesting that if we don't ACT NOW, we'll miss out. These are a definite attempt to trigger Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and are especially effective around the holidays, and on items they can characterize as perhaps not always in stock. One fallacy around these tricks is that we can almost ALWAYS find something that is out of stock in a local store, online. This even goes for YARN that is no longer being actively manufactured and sold, as I noted in this blog post about finishing a previously-abandoned project.


  • how many of us get emails and text messages from the big box stores that urge us to come in NOW and take advantage of the (insert latest name) sale that ends soon? My guess is that most of us do.

    • the important question is how often do we wander into those stores because of the SALE! text and without any clear purchase plan or need for supplies?


Bulk Bargain Illusions

"Buy 1, Get 3 FREE!" - this one drives me crazy on 2 fronts. First of all, if we are not at the store to purchase that item, this price manipulation can trigger us into thinking that we may as well BUY NOW since we'll get 3 FREE skeins!


Secondly, if I am already planning to purchase 2 of that item for a project, the likelihood that I will now take home 6 of them is high, and that is a net negative for anyone trying to cut down on their growing stash.


These are not all bad. At the holidays, if I can buy 1 of something that all the kids want, and get 3 more for free - that's a great deal! The problems come when I am mindlessly buying and taking home yet more yarn/fabric/craft supplies.


Huge Discounts / Bargain Prices

Retailers take advantage of our crazy schedules. How many of us have the time, or even mental bandwidth, to keep a running tally on the regular pricing of items we buy throughout the year? I'm a data person, professionally, and even I don't do this.


Retailers are known to hold "sales" where the alleged original price is listed, along with the super-low SALE price. The kicker here is that many times, that "original price" is NEVER the ticketed price. I have seen this many places, but in my experience, big box craft stores are especially guilty of this. For example, I have often seen a large price listed as the "original price" even though the item has never once been on sale for that price. It's a manipulation tactic, and one that works especially well at retailers like TJ Maxx and Marshalls.


It is also not unusual for at least 2 of the big box craft stores to have customers complain because while there's a 50% off coupon on the app, there's nothing that is not on sale so they can use that coupon! Americans, especially, are so in tune with sales and coupons that retailers truly cannot get rid of them. Consider the JC Penney's debacle a few years back.


Here's the TL;DR. JC Penney's had a new CEO that thought it would be a good idea to market their products like Apple does (insert eye roll for out of touch executive here). It was a colossal flop.


Shoppers have grow accustomed to feeling like they're "getting something for nothing" when they have coupons and shop sales, and that creates the HYPE that drives mindless shopping and excess buying.



Doorbusters

Known as "loss leaders" in the retail business, these items are advertised heavily, placed strategically, and priced super low. The stores already know they are taking a LOSS on the sale of each one, but they are willing to do that based on their largely accurate calculations that once inside the store, people will impulse shop and more than make up for those losses.

Doorbusters achieve their intended sales goals primarily through 4 channels:

  • they create a sense of URGENCY

    • hurry up or there will none left when you get here!

    • often they will have a pallet of items visible in the store before the sale, but wrapped so that no one can see what is in there.

      • this "mystery" helps drive excitement and sales

  • social pressure of purchasing

    • the mad rush for doorbuster items create a desire to follow the crowd AND incites that fear of missing out

  • festive environment helps fuel the desire to purchase

    • these are often rolled out during holiday shopping seasons or at other, well-publicized sales events and sprinkled with holiday music, decorations and other things that help our psychological leanings tilt toward buying

  • ridiculously low price points

    • items listed as doorbusters are usually priced crazy-low and that helps create the frenzy around them

    • once in the mood, shoppers will wander around the store and shop some more (& stores count on that)


I could go on and on with examples, but the long and the short of it is this: we must take care to avoid falling victim to these ploys. Here are a few simple tips to try in the new year.

  1. As I have mentioned before, do not shop for therapy. Shopping gives us a rush of dopamine, which is a brain chemical that boosts our mood. When we use a trip to the store as a therapeutic intervention, we are almost always shopping unnecessarily and adding junk to our growing piles at home.

    1. create a list of OTHER activities, like taking a walk, going to the library, visiting a friend, clearing out your car or a corner of your house, or doing something for someone who could use a kind gesture.

  2. Make a list when going into a store where you struggle.

    1. I had to go into Joann's this week as I needed 7" dpn knitting needles for a specific project. Before walking in I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I was only here to get those needles, and nothing else.

  3. Practice the PAUSE before following the crowd into a frenzy about a doorbuster or limited time offer. Ask yourself the following questions:

    1. is this something I would buy without all the hype?

    2. is the opportunity cost of spending money on THIS worth not having that money available for other things that I want or need?

    3. if I do NOT purchase this, how will I feel next week?

    4. what is the expected lifespan of this item, and how long until it becomes irrelevant or junk?


Business that make their millions selling things are going to do whatever it takes to sell, sell, SELL! The question for us is how much of our money do we want to give away to make them wealthier? How could that same money help us if we, for example, put the average amount of a typical craft store purchase into a savings account each time we avoided mindless or unnecessary purchases?


At the end of the day, this is a very personal decision. If you like to buy for fun, do it! BUT, if, like me, you are realizing that your ever-expanding pile of craft supplies has very little to do with CRAFTING and presents a significant challenge to you in terms of organization, or space utilization in your house, or even storage space: think about these facts and make a plan that works for you.


If I can do it, you can too!

 

(C) 2024 Stitch 'n Dish

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