Listen up, hypermarkets! I’ve got a revolutionary idea that is bound to increase your sales by manifold. Seriously, this one is free of charge, and all you need to do is notice this strange human behavior.
Let me start sharing this odd personal experience. Whenever I am doing groceries, no let me phrase it better, whenever I accompany my wife do the groceries, I do my best to be a considerate human being. I don’t park our shopping cart in the middle of the aisle like some deranged grocery anarchist. I try to carefully select a sport off to the side, behind a column, in a forgotten corner without displays, anywhere out of the way, as I will have to stay there waiting for some 5, 10, 15 minutes while the wife does the decision making and label reading. Sometimes it is tricky to find an area devoid of products, so I settle for obscure sections, you might know the ones, the 5 liter jugs of olive oil, the canned oysters, or off-brand soda I have never seen anyone drinking it in my entire life.
But here is the kicker, no matter how strategic I try to be, I am always interrupted.
Those canned oysters I was sure no one ever buys, the moment I park my cart there, the universe flips a switch. Within 30 seconds someone comes sniffing around, a minute later another person is desperate to inspect the oysters, then another, and another, now the canned oysters appears to be the best product of that aisle. And it doesn’t stop until I move, but the instant I move to “block” another product, no one seems interested in canned oysters anymore, that area becomes a ghost town again.
So here is where hypermarkets can get (even more) money, hire people to do what I do unintentionally. Recruit a team of “normal shoppers” with carts half-filled with random items, and station them near products that aren’t sold as much. I promise sales will skyrocket.
Looks like humans in hypermarkets are programmed to want what is inconvenient to reach. Maybe it is territorial instinct. But if they see someone standing (resting, not shopping) near a product, they suddenly must have it. They didn’t care about that can of dubious oysters five minutes ago, but now that someone is resting in front of it, looking at their phone and blocking the way, now the oysters are irresistible. Even if it is just to remove the grimace of the guy scrolling through his phone.
It is a very strange behavior indeed, but proven with empirical observation based on years of experience following my wife around and trying to rest at every corner I find. But it is also a golden business opportunity. Hypermarkets, you are welcome.
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