Stores have always practiced these things. Business/Marketing 101. Caveat Emptor! As with any spending opportunity, it is all about what you, as the consumer, choose. If this long list of common marketing techniques sabotage you, you need to NOT shop at the Big Box, or you need to say NO to yourself.
Reasons I like shopping at my mom and pop Spartan store in my small town vs the Big Box corporate stores:
2. Desirable departments are far away from the entrance. This is small store, in comparison, to the warehouse size big boxes. There is no far-away here.
3. The toy section is far, far, far away from the entrance. Toys? At a grocery store? There is an assorment, on one shelf, on an endcap, of jump ropes, bubbles, frisbees, etc. but it is a seasonal "summer" display.
9. Stop, stop, stop. Sq. footage is a precious commodity in my store: there are very few aisle displays, unless the stocker has left some stacked boxes or the store is featuring a certain Spartan product on a great sale. There are no vendors with food samples, and 2 carts and pedestrians fit down the aisles very easily. My Spartan store is also Amigo wheel chair friendly--the owners make a real effort to keep the aisles accessible.
My store has shopping carts at the entrance but we have a choice: the huge oversized carts, small mini carts that about 1/4 the size of the huge carts, and a double tower of small, on the arm shopping baskets. Each basket is equally accessible. I see MORE folks using the mini carts and shopping baskets on their arm then the huge carts.
The most expensive items are at eye level because companies pay for the placement on the shelf. If you are a multimillion profit making international corporation, you can afford the prime display areas. I LIKE having store brand items sitting next to the overpriced brand name identical product--it reinforces, for me, WHY I comparison shop. We KNOW that the bargains are high and low, usually. So this should be no surprise to anybody. If folks would shop for the foods as close to natrual as possible, and not have to go up and down all aisles loading up on processed, packaged, conveniece items, much of these marketing techniques can be avoided.
I always have my calculator with me for price comparisons. It is the only way--sometimes the per unit price on the shelf is not correct due to the item being on sale. Vigilance at the cash register is necessary also--if I am overcharged, I wait until my transcaction is paid for and complete, go to the customer service desk, point out the store's error, and receive my consumer protection bonus plus the over charge back. Doesn't happen often though--another advantage of not shopping at a corporate huge Big Box, imho. I notice more errors, as in overcharging the customer, when at a Big Box store.
