For some people, more precisely 95 percent of Americans, if we are to believe the studies, shop at Walmart. This staggering statistic speaks volumes about the retailer’s deep integration into the fabric of American life. After all, why shouldn’t they, when in the Walmart universe you can find everything you need, from daily groceries and household essentials to holiday items, electronics, and even financial services like insurances. This one-stop-shop model is a cornerstone of its success. To truly understand the impact Walmart has on people’s lives and shopping patterns, just know that Walmart manages to attract even more shoppers than the powerful Amazon empire, a feat achieved by masterfully blending physical and digital retail experiences. Apart from the famously low prices and a seemingly endless array of merchandise, Walmart is also extremely effective in attracting shoppers to its aisles and getting them to spend more money than planned. How? By employing certain sophisticated marketing and psychological techniques that have been constantly refined and perfected throughout their 50 years or more of existence. These aren’t just random sales tactics; they are a carefully orchestrated system designed to guide your purchasing decisions from the moment you walk in.
Whether you accept it or not, the strategies employed by this retail giant are specifically designed to get you to spend more money. It’s a subtle science that plays on human psychology, and it works remarkably well. Read on to find out the specific methods Walmart uses to gently nudge you towards a fuller cart and a higher bill.
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. This strategy is commonly known as “charm pricing.” Have you ever wondered why they don’t just round them up to the nearest dollar? Apparently, it is a powerful psychological trick that does wonders for retail businesses by altering a consumer’s perception of value. The first digit of a price is the one your brain primarily acknowledges and anchors to, making you more likely to buy an item and think you’ve found a real bargain. For instance, your brain processes $5.95 as being in the “$5 range” rather than the “$6 range,” making the price seem significantly lower than it actually is. After all, 5.95 is better than 6, right? That single cent makes a world of difference in your subconscious mind.
It’s not only Walmart that uses this trick, as it’s a staple of the retail industry, but being the giant retailer that they are, their consistent application of this method across millions of products has a massive cumulative effect on sales. It only makes more sense for them to stick to it to get you to spend more. Every price tag is an opportunity to frame the cost in the most appealing way possible, ensuring you feel like you’re getting a great deal with every item you place in your cart.
Rollback pricing
Another trick to make shoppers buy more, thus spending more money, is to create a powerful sense of urgency by using rollback pricing. What exactly does it mean? It means that for a short, unspecified period of time, certain items have a lower price. The bright, attention-grabbing signs are designed to make you stop and take notice. If you want to benefit from that temporary price reduction, you’d better hurry up and buy the item now, before it’s too late and the price “rolls back” up to its original level.
This tactic taps directly into the “Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO). 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. Finding a Rollback deal feels like a win, a small victory in the shopping game. This positive feeling reinforces the behavior, encouraging customers to actively hunt for these deals on every subsequent visit, which often leads to discovering and purchasing items they never intended to buy in the first place.
Easy return policy
It’s not in any business’ interest to sell something only for the buyer to soon have it returned, or so you would think. However, retailers like Walmart use a very sneaky and effective strategy to make customers believe that they can buy and then easily return a product, completely hassle-free. This policy is designed to lower your purchasing inhibitions. Just think about it! When you know you can give something back without having to worry about a complicated process or strict conditions, wouldn’t you feel more relaxed and confident when purchasing an item, especially if it’s an impulse buy or something you’re not completely sure about?
This strategy effectively removes the perceived risk from the buying equation. Furthermore, Walmart makes the process incredibly simple. You can often get your money back the following day, and for customers who use the mobile app, the process is even more streamlined, allowing them to initiate a return from their phone and use an express lane to avoid the main counter. This convenience is a key part of a psychological trick meant to make you spend more money. Once you take an item home, the “endowment effect” kicks in—you’ve already taken ownership of it, making you less likely to go through the effort of returning it, no matter how easy it is. Has Walmart managed to play with your mind as well?
The smell of fresh bread
Nifty pricing and marketing strategies aside, Walmart also employs powerful sensory tactics to get some extra dollars from their customers. One very efficient trick is to appeal to people’s most primal sense—their sense of smell—and the star product, in this case, is freshly baked bread. Yes, that’s right! The warm, comforting aroma that greets you as you enter many Walmart Supercenters is no happy accident; it’s a calculated decision.
After all, who can resist the allure of 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 and nostalgic environment. It impacts the emotional side of customers, triggering feelings of comfort, home, and happiness. This positive emotional state makes shoppers more relaxed, less price-sensitive, and more susceptible to impulse buys throughout the entire store. To make sure the message is being sent as clearly as possible, Walmart usually places its bakery department right at the front of the store. Try walking past that delicious smell without putting anything in the cart, we dare you!
Popular items are put in the back of the store
If baked goods are strategically placed at the front of the store to alert your olfactive senses and put you in a good mood, Walmart’s most popular items—the essentials you came for, such as milk, eggs, toilet paper and the like—are often placed at the very back. This time, the strategy is for customers to walk as many aisles as possible to get to the items they’re looking for. This forces you on a long journey through the store’s core. And while walking those 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. With an average of 80,000 different items to choose from, the odds are definitely in their favor.
This intentional store layout maximizes your exposure to products you didn’t plan to buy. You’ll pass countless “endcaps”—the promotional displays at the end of aisles—that are stocked with high-margin items and special deals. Given the sheer size of Walmart stores, especially that of Supercenters which can be around 260,000-square-feet, it’s practically impossible for shoppers (no matter how rigid their shopping list is) to complete this “treasure hunt” and walk out without buying at least one extra item they hadn’t planned on.
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. It is bigger, and that’s by design. As explained by Taste of Home, compared to its size in 1970, an average shopping cart these days is two to three times bigger. This isn’t just to accommodate larger families or bigger shopping trips; it’s a subtle but powerful psychological tool.
The explanation, according to Consumerism experts, is that the more empty space you see in your cart, the more you are subconsciously inclined to put items in there to fill it. A half-empty, oversized cart can make it feel like you haven’t bought much at all, encouraging you to browse for longer and add just a few more things. In other words, the more money customers will spend. Specialists and savvy shoppers recommend opting for a shopping basket instead of a cart whenever possible. This way, you adapt your shopping to the smaller, more confined space of the basket, creating a natural physical limit on how much you can buy and carry, helping you stick to your budget.
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. In fact, many people find Walmart Radio a bit repetitive. However, the music and sounds you hear over the speakers in Walmart stores can significantly impact the way you shop, and what you buy. This is part of a retail science called “atmospherics.” Music that is just the right volume and the right tempo can influence shoppers’ moods and trick them into buying more, as they get carried away by the familiar, upbeat tunes, often causing them to linger longer and browse more leisurely.
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 branded radio station and DJ into the equation. This creates a more curated and controlled audio environment. Apart from playing catchy music, the primary role of Walmart’s DJ is to act as a friendly, in-store announcer, constantly reminding shoppers of store specials and “can’t-miss” deals that are impossible to let go. Hearing an announcement for a limited-time offer in the next aisle creates immediate urgency. 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 convenient curbside pickup that Walmart clients benefit from, Walmart has moved on to the next level by introducing their own powerful mobile app. This isn’t just a simple shopping tool; it’s a cornerstone of their modern retail strategy. Believe it or not, their app has been downloaded by over 58 million people, becoming even more popular than Starbucks’ application in some rankings, which is a testament to its utility and integration into customers’ lives.
The mighty retailer has created the app to make the customer and shopping experience as easy and frictionless as possible; in return, their sales have increased considerably. One of the early reasons for this success in sales was the “Savings Catcher” feature, which was actually a price matching function. If you found an item you bought advertised with a lower price somewhere else, you received the difference back from Walmart, reinforcing their image as the low-price leader. Another popular feature is “Search My Store”, which cleverly helped shoppers look for products and find their exact location in the store or buy them for curbside pickup. The app also learns your habits, suggesting items you frequently buy and tempting you with personalized deals. As revealed by Walmart’s vice president of digital marketing, Wanda Young, app shoppers spend 40 percent more than those who only shop in the store. If that’s not a clear sign of digital success, I don’t know what is!
