We all have the same feeling after shopping in the supermarket. The fruits and vegetables we carefully selected in the supermarket don't look as fresh at home. We also end up buying a bunch of things that we don't actually need. What's even more frustrating is that the promotional products we buy in the supermarket turn out to be the same price as what we usually buy. But don't worry, let's hear what the supermarket insiders have to say.
Trap 1: On the shelves of the supermarket, products like milk, yogurt, and packaged cooked meat are arranged in a way that the first things you see are not the newest ones. The ones closer to the inside are actually fresher. How to arrange products is a marketing strategy for supermarkets, and it greatly promotes sales. Usually, high-profit items are placed on the right side because most people are right-handed and tend to pick things on the right. Some not-so-fresh food items are usually placed in this position.
Tips:
When buying things from the refrigerated display, remember the principle of "good products sink to the bottom". For daily necessities, if you want to buy cost-effective items, look at the upper and lower parts of the shelves. Also, pay attention to the entrance of the supermarket. Merchants like to place cheap items there, so you can find some economical and practical daily necessities there.
Trap 2: For food items, if they are on discount, they are definitely not fresh, especially cooked meat and soy products. Be cautious when it comes to the evening discount promotions in supermarkets. There's no such thing as a free lunch. The fresh meat and vegetables are usually put on the shelves in the morning, so it's the best time to buy these two types of food items for the best value for money. However, fruits cannot be guaranteed because many of them need to be stored for two to three days, and sprinkling a little water on the surface of the fruit every day makes it look fresh.
Tips:
It's better to buy vegetables and fruits from the farmer's market. The items there are fresher, and in many places, they come from the same source as the supermarket, but the prices are cheaper. If you go to the supermarket, try to go in the morning. When the supermarket just opens, there are fewer people, but the vegetables, fresh meat, and seafood products are the freshest. After 8:00 p.m., the supermarket is most crowded, but many food items such as vegetables, seafood, and soy products are not fresh anymore and start to be on discount.
Trap 3: When we go to the supermarket, we find that all kinds of meat displayed there are red and fresh, and all kinds of vegetables are very green. But when we take them home, they don't look the same.
Tips:
It turns out that supermarkets intentionally use pink lights to shine on meat, making it look extra fresh and tender. They use green lights to shine on vegetables, making them look greener. In addition, many cooked foods appear freshly cooked under warm-colored lights, but they are not.
Trap 4: Consumers don't pay attention to the prices of items they don't need. Based on this consumer habit, businesses raise prices and then offer free gifts. For example, a bottle of shampoo should originally cost 20 yuan, but now if you buy one bottle of shampoo, you get a soap worth 2 yuan for free. However, the supermarket has quietly raised the price of the shampoo to 22 yuan. Customers feel like they got a good deal because they got a free soap.
Tips:
To avoid being attracted by bundled promotions, it is recommended that consumers focus on what they want to buy rather than the bundled items or free gifts.
Trap 5: In some supermarkets, you may occasionally find that the food sold at the cooked food counter is not yet due for expiration.
Tips:
The cooked meat labeled with the production date of the current day is not actually fresh. For example, the sausages you buy today may contain sausages that were not sold a few days ago. The more layers of packaging for cooked food, the less fresh it is. In general, many cooked foods such as meat and sausages are packaged in plastic wrap. If there's only one layer, it means the food is relatively fresh. The more layers, the more it can hide the fact that it's not fresh. Many times, the packaging slips off because the food has lost water, so it has to be packaged with more layers. Also, it's better not to buy discounted or promotional cooked food and soy products.
Trap 6: Using lighting to attract customers with colors, you often find that the meat displayed in the supermarket is red and fresh, and the vegetables are also green and fresh, but when you take them home, their appearance deteriorates. This is due to the lighting in the supermarket. Under red lights, meat looks fresh, and under green lights, vegetables look tender and green.
Tips:
Using lighting to attract customers with colors: Lighting has a huge impact on the color of food. Red light is generally used in the meat section, yellow light is used for bread, and blue light is used for seafood, making them look especially appetizing. The aroma of freshly made food stimulates the secretion of various digestive enzymes in the body, making you unconsciously buy more food. So you must stay calm and only buy as much as you need.
Trap 7: A bag of biscuits with a retail price of 3.3 yuan is labeled as a special price of 10 yuan when sold in a pack of three. Customers who don't shop often and are not familiar with the prices of goods often buy them as soon as they see a special price, inevitably falling into the trap.
Tips:
Supermarkets often promote special price items, and many people think that special price items are cheap. Businesses take advantage of this common misconception and label normal-priced items or even high-priced items as special price items. So everyone should pay attention to whether the purchased items are suitable for us and whether we can use them before the expiration date.
