From a consumers point of view, a supermarket is quite simple: put what you want into your trolley and go through the check-out. Behind the scenes though, psychology is used a lot to define what products and brands you buy in supermarkets. Stands are designed to catch your eye and the store layout is structured to maximise profit.

to catch one’s eye – бросаться в глаза

the store layout - дизайн магазина

Eye level marketingGenerally speaking, the most expensive items with high profit margins are placed on shelves that are at shoppers' eye level. This is because you are more likely to see them than the less profitable brands at the very top or near your feet..

items – товары

high profit margins - высокоприбыльный

Aisle orderIn order to maximise shopper and produce contact time, shops therefore place major items and brands in the middle of aisles ensuring that from any direction the customer has to walk the furthest to reach them.

Irrational PricingIrrational pricing is putting the price of items at say 4.99 instead of 5. The reason offered for not instead rounding $4.99 to $5.00 is based on memory processing time.

Some others tactics:

Product grouping

Food smells make you feel hungry

Canned smells

Essentials at the back

Attracting children

Order Of Price

Point Of Sale

Shuffle

Time

These are tips designed to save you money and time when you’re at the supermarket.

Make a list: By making a list, we save ourselves tons of time wandering and money.

Don’t go when you’re hungry: When you’re hungry, everything looks good. Your desire to eat healthy goes out the window as you reach for a prepared meal that can be consumed after a two minute trip inside the microwave merry-go-round.

Skip prepared foods: Consider buying an entire pork loin and cutting it yourself.

Be brand agnostic: If all things are equal, go with what’s cheaper. Generic products are usually as good as the brand name products.

a pork loin – филе свинины

Interesting sites:http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/supermarket-psychology-and-a-few-insider-tricks.htmlhttp://www.syncrat.com/articles/psychology-of-supermarketshttp://www.rd.com/living-healthy/13-things-your-grocer-wont-tell-you/article118923.html