For some people, more precisely 95 percent of Americans, if we are to believe the studies, shop at Walmart. After all, why shouldn’t they, when in the Walmart universe you can find everything you need, from groceries to holiday items and insurances. To understand the impact Walmart has on people’s lives and shopping pattern, just know that Walmart manages to attract even more shoppers than the powerful Amazon empire.Apart from the famously low prices and wide array of merchandise, Walmart is also extremely effective in attracting shoppers to its isles and getting them to spend more money than planned. How? By employing certain marketing techniques that have constantly been improved throughout their 50 years or more of existence.
Whether you accept it or not, Walmart will get you to spend more money. Read on to find out how.
Odd-even pricing
If you’re a Walmart fan, then you’ve probably noticed than price signs at Walmart do not show whole numbers like $5 or $10 but odd-even numbers like $25.82 or $31.93. Have you ever wondered why they don’t just round them up? Apparently, it is a psychological trick that does wonders for retail businesses. The first digit is the one your brain acknowledges, making you more likely to buy an item and think you’ve found a real bargain. After all, 5.95 is better than 6, right?
It’s not only Walmart that uses this trick, but being the giant retail that they are, it only makes more sense for them to stick to it to get you to spend more.
Rollback pricing
Another trick to make shoppers buy more, thus spending more money, is to create a sense of urgency by using rollback pricing. What exactly does it mean? It means that for a short period of time, certain items have a lower price and if you want to benefit from that reduction, you’d better hurry up and buy them.
The fact that the mark down is temporary is what makes the items even more coveted by shoppers, who, according to Retail analyst Carol Spieckerman, end up bragging to family and friends about the deals they’ve found.
Easy return policy
It’s not in any business’ interest to sell something only for the buyer to soon have it returned. However, retailers like Walmart use a very sneaky strategy to make customers believe that they can buy and then easily return a product, hassle-free. Just think about it! When you know you can give something back without having to worry about anything else, wouldn’t you feel more relaxed when purchasing an item?
Not to mention you get to return it and get your money back the following day; customers have extra perk if they use the mobile app, which allows them to avoid the return counter and simplifies the return process altogether.
This strategy is yet another psychological trick meant to make you spend more money. Has Walmart managed to play with your mind as well?
The smell of fresh bread
Nifty pricing and marketing strategies aside, Walmart also employs sensory tactics to get some extra dollars from their customers. One very efficient trick is to appeal to people’s sense of smell and the star product, in this case, is freshly baked bread. Yes, that’s right!
After all, who can resist the bread, pies, cookies, cakes and whatnot just waiting for you to buy and enjoy? As explained by the American Bakers Association, the smell of fresh bread, for instance, but this can be extended to other bakery products as well, creates a welcoming environment and impacts the emotional side of customers.
To make sure the message is being sent as clearly as possible, Walmart usually places bakery products at the front of the store. Try walking past them without putting anything in the cart, we dare you!
Popular items are put in the back of the store
If baked goods are placed at the front of the store, to alert your olfactive senses, Walmart’s popular items, such as milk, toilet paper and the like, are placed at the back. This time, the strategy is for customers to walk as many aisles as possible to get to the items they’re looking for; and while walking the aisles, Walmart is banking on the fact that there must be something along the way that catches your eye enough to put it in the cart. You have around 80,000 items to choose from!
Given the size of Walmart stores, especially that of Supercenters which are around 260,000-square-feet, it’s practically impossible for shoppers (no matter how rigid their shopping list is) to walk out without buying at least one extra item.
Big shopping carts
If you notice that your shopping cart is getting bigger and bigger, at least compared to your kid days, you’re not just imagining. It is bigger. As explained by Taste of Home, compared to its size in 1970, an average shopping cart these days is three times bigger.
The explanation, according to Consumerism, is that the more space you have in the cart, the more you are inclined to put items in there to fill it. In other words, the more money customers will spend. Specialists recommend opting for a shopping basket instead of a cart, this way, you adapt your shopping to the smaller space of the basket.
Read also: 10 Products Most People Think Are Cheaper at Aldi but Aren’t
Walmart’s radio DJ’s
We can all agree that the repeated visits to Walmart don’t have anything to do with the songs playing over and over in their stores. However, the music and sounds you hear over the speakers in Walmart stores can impact the way you shop, and what you buy. Music that is just the right volume and the right tempo can influence shoppers and trick them into buying more, as they get carried away by the tunes.
Although music in stores has been around since the 1960s, in present days, Walmart has taken things to a new level by adding their own DJ into the equation. Apart from playing catchy music, the role of Walmart’s DJ is to remind shoppers of store specials and deals that are impossible to let go. After all, since you’re there, why pass up a good deal that’s just up for grabs?
Read also: Think Twice Before Buying These 8 Groceries on Sale
Walmart’s app
Apart from the easy return policy and curbside pickup that Walmart clients benefit from, Walmart has moved on to the next level by introducing their own mobile app. Believe it or not, their app has been downloaded by 58 million people, becoming even more popular than Starbucks’ application.
The mighty retailer has created the app to make customer and shopping experience as easy as possible; in return, their sales have increased considerably. One of the reasons for this success in sales was the “Savings Catcher” feature, which was actually a price matching function. If you found an item with a lower price somewhere else, you received the difference back from Walmart.
Another popular feature is “Search My Store”, which helped shoppers look for products and find their exact location in the store or buy them for curbside pickup. As revealed by Walmart’s vice president of digital marketing, Wanda Young, app shoppers spend 40 percent more than those who shop in the store. If that’s not success, I don’t know what is!
