It may look like a steal of a deal. 

But unless it’s all you’re buying, chances are the grocery store is still one up on you. 

From loss leaders, to the size of grocery carts, we asked three experts in consumer behaviour to help explain why grocers make some of the choices they make. 

The responses are from Kristen Duke, Associate Professor of Marketing at University of Toronto Rotman School of Management, Onur Bodur, Professor of Marketing at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business and Yann Cornil, Associate Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at UBC Sauder School of Business.

Q: What are loss leaders and why do they work?  

A: A loss leader is a product that is sold in the store at a much lower cost than you might expect and sometimes it’s actually at a net loss to the store itself. The whole idea is they’re trying to draw you into the store. When you go to Costco, for example, they have these famous hot dog/drink deals priced at $1.50. A lot of people are then drawn in and end up purchasing a lot of other items. (Duke) 

Q: Why not have an ‘essentials’ aisle? Wouldn’t shoppers reward that convenience? 

A: That would inhibit people from exploring. If you have the essentials inconveniently scattered throughout the store, people have to walk through the aisles and see all these different products they might not have thought of otherwise and end up purchasing more. It tends to be more profitable for grocery stores. (Duke) 

Q: Why are the ends of aisles considered prime real estate? 

A: When something is at the end of the aisle, you see it more easily. Usually, it’s just one product by itself. That product ends up getting an advantage because you’re not necessarily seeing where it might fall short compared to the competition. I suspect many people don’t grab the end-of-the-aisle items, and go into the aisle to make sure that’s a good deal. (Duke) 

Q: Why is the font size on unit pricing so small? 

A: Unfortunately, in Canada unit pricing displays are not regulated, except in Quebec. In other provinces, the practice is voluntary and varied. This may explain smaller font sizes. In Quebec, there are exceptions in certain product categories but the minimum size of the price display is standardized. (Bodur) 

Q: Why are grocery carts bigger than they used to be? 

A: Increasing the shopping cart will lead to more items being purchased, although this may not be a one-to-one ratio. That is, increasing the shopping cart to twice the size may not lead to twice the number of items purchased. Overall, this prediction – the larger the shopping cart, the greater the purchases will be – is intuitive given that consumers are driven by convenience. (Bodur) 

Q: What is the real reason grocers want you to download their app? 

A: What they want really is your data. If they have customer level data on the same person and their purchasing habits over time, they can get a sense of what those patterns tend to be, and to what extent people are, for example, switching between brands of a product category, or how frequently they’re purchasing. They also then can customize coupons and deals targeted to your purchasing habits. (Duke) 

Q: What happens the longer consumers are in the store? 

A: Of course, supermarket managers want, in most situations, for consumers to spend as much time in the aisles and potentially buying products they did not plan to purchase. After an hour of shopping, people are depleted. They’re a bit exhausted, having had to make so many choices and checking their budget. When people are mentally exhausted or mentally depleted, that’s a perfect time to trigger an impulse purchase. (Cornil) 

Q: Speaking of impulse purchases, do displays of gum, candy and magazines near the checkouts still work? 

A: This is the oldest trick in the book for supermarkets. It works because consumers have to go through the checkouts. There is no escape. They have to be exposed to the chocolate and candy. It’s right before your eyes. Impulse buying is usually triggered by near sights. If you see it, you’re likely to buy it as opposed to thinking ‘maybe I want to buy some chocolate.’ (Cornil) 

Q: What is the appeal of self-checkouts? Do they save grocers money? 

A: I don’t have data on that, but I would believe so. It’s really about time, right? Decrease the wait in line and as a consequence increase customer satisfaction. With technological advances, some stores have already engaged in scanning everything that is in the shopping cart without having to scan every item individually, so this of course saves a lot of time. Self-checkouts are definitely here to stay. (Cornil) 

Q: Beyond convenience, what purpose can staffed checkouts serve? 

A: Social interaction. Loneliness is a growing social concern, regardless of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly, aging consumers may be at risk. Consumers who feel lonely are less likely to support social causes in their consumption decisions. The loneliness pandemic is recognized by other nations and grocery chains. In the Netherlands, a grocery store chain has introduced ‘slow chat checkout’ lanes to offer social connection. (Bodur)

A longer version of this article appeared in the December 2024 issue of Think Consumers.