10 Sales Tricks Retailers Use to Get You to Buy More

Each day, retailers are trying to convince you to put more products into your cart, in order to rack up a bigger bill at checkout.

Retail psychology is a thing, and merchants have a whole bag of sales tricks up their sleeves to ensure you spend more money. From strategically placed displays to special music and tempting freebies, there are a number of retail selling techniques you should watch out for on your next trip. Let's look at how shops convince us to open our wallets wider, so we can avoid doing just that.

10 Sales Tricks Retailers Use to Get You to Buy More

Layouts Designed to Make You Buy

Have you ever wondered why the one item you're looking for is somehow always in the farthest corner of the store? Whether you're walking into a department store or a grocery store, this "coincidence" happens by design.

Having to walk the length of the store gives you the opportunity to be tempted by every display you pass. Yes, this is why the dairy department is inevitably on the far side. Stores with convoluted layouts, such as the labyrinthine IKEA, make you pass as many products as possible before you leave. The more items you see, the more you're likely to give in to impulse purchases.

Handing Out Freebies

Giving out free samples of everything from food, to cosmetics, to nutritional supplements is a retail staple — especially on busy weekends, when more people are shopping. While snacking your way through the store can spice up your grocery run, it's another retail selling technique that stores use to convince you to buy. Not only are you checking out new products, but you may also feel obligated to buy something after taking up someone's time.

Being Helpful

Some stores go out of their way to be helpful. Just think of the Apple Store, where employees meet you at the door to ask what you need and direct you to the right place. Then there are even more employees to demo products, answer questions, and provide tech support.

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This is more than just good customer service. It's the sort of helpfulness that tempts you into buying a new iPhone when a low-end smartphone might have worked just as well. Plus, a friendly face can make shoppers feel obligated to pick up a product, whether they realize it or not.

Encouraging You to Stop

You can't always put something into your shopping cart without stopping to do so, which means it's in a retailer's best interest to make you stop as often as possible. So while you're making that long walk across the store to pick up milk, you'll find your progress halted by an obstacle course of narrow aisles, flashy displays, friendly employees handing out freebies, and more.

Crowds can form bottlenecks at these places and while you're stuck, that's one more opportunity for you to pick something up.

Attracting Attention With Endcaps

You're sure to find lots of eye-catching, colorful items positioned toward the end of the aisle. Meanwhile, the product you may be shopping for is found in the middle of an aisle. The result? You have to walk past these other, more tempting products — sometimes twice — before you can check out with the one item you wanted.

Catching Your Eye

The next time you're at the grocery store, take a moment to consider what's at eye level, because that's where stores want to direct your attention. It's often brand-name products with stylish packaging, or temptingly priced store-brand items. Anything the store is less interested in selling will be on higher or lower shelves, where you're less likely to see it.

Similarly, in toy stores or toy aisles, you'll find the most desirable goodies at a kid's eye level. Even if these items don't catch your gaze, your kids are definitely seeing them.

Careful Product Placement

The way stores arrange products on a rack or shelf plays a big role in encouraging you to buy, too. Imagine you're shopping for a coat and see a $250 designer number that's just what you want. One rack over, there's a similar style for just $199. Naturally, you pick up the cheaper coat and walk out thinking you've scored a deal — without bothering to check around the corner, where there's yet another look-alike coat that costs $50.

The Right Sounds (and Smells)

Shopping goes well beyond what you can see and touch, as the background music and even the scent of the store can put you in the mood to shop. For example, music with a slow tempo might encourage you to linger, unconsciously following the beat. Or the scent of baby powder in the baby section, or a faint tropical scent by the swimsuits, may subtly put you in the mind to buy.

Giant Shopping Carts

The next time you head to the grocery store, consider skipping the shopping cart. When you have to carry your purchases yourself, you're going to think twice about picking up extras. But when you have a cart, that extra purchase might not seem like such a big deal. Or worse, you'll find yourself attempting to fill the cart entirely.

SEE ALSO: How to Save Money on Groceries: 10 Tips You Should Try

Encouraging You to Accessorize

Padding a sale with accessories is known as cross-selling, and it's an easy sales trick stores can use to improve their bottom line, especially with electronics. Say you're shopping for a new TV. After you've picked a model, the salesperson will helpfully offer to show you stands or wall mounts. Perhaps you could use a new Blu-ray player to go with it? Or a high-end set of cables? Or an upgraded warranty?

These unnecessary extras might not seem like much at the time, especially when you're buying a big-ticket item. But they can add up fast.

While companies aren't necessarily out to deceive you, they have a whole host of ways to convince you to buy a bit more. But by knowing their best sales tricks ahead of time, you can keep more cash in your wallet on your next shopping trip.