New York (CNN Business)Every store has stylish mannequins, elaborate shop windows, posters screaming about everything, and more. I have a marketing strategy. Discounts you can find in.
However, there are some much more subtle ones that you may barely notice. Imagine, for example, a local grocery store. What do you see when you first enter?
The most likely are flowers. In almost every major grocery store, from Whole Foods to Kroger to the myriad of New York City Bodegas, a large, bright bouquet welcomes a bouquet of fresh flowers.
It's no coincidence — there is a strategic decision behind the placement of those flowers.
"It's very simple," said Paco Underhill, founder and CEO of behavioral research and consulting firm Envirosell. "If someone can make their nose and salivary glands work, they will be much less disciplined shoppers."
Yes: Flowers stimulate the senses and prepare you to spend To do. Indeed, they are aesthetically pleasing. And as you get closer, your nose picks up their scent, which tells your brain that "there is something good in this place."
"You show freshness and" natural "... all the good things that make food better," said Ashwali Monga, marketing professor at Rutgers Business School.
"If I'm a grocery store, that's the way I want you to look at my store. Logistically, if this person can manage and sell fresh flowers, he's an old food.
Psychological priming is just one way to encourage stores to indirectly influence your behavior and give up your money more easily. (Holiday music is also an effective strategy.)
Many grocery stores put bouquets There are strategic reasons for the front and center.
Psychologists call this effect misattribution. For example, you feel good and ready for the holiday season. For example, I'm not completely aware that's the reason. Of music and sparkling light.
What makes flowers very effective is that they are a profitable item. According to a report from the International Fresh Food Association, they can account for only 1% to 3% of total sales, but in 2019, stores reported an average gross margin of 47% for cut flowers. did. In other words, the bouquet you bought for $ 15 probably costs only $ 7.50 to the store. This is because most of the stems sold in US grocery stores are airlifted from South America, where land and labor are much cheaper.
The grocery flower scene has emerged in the last 30 years or so, says Becky Roberts, IFPA's floral director. As shoppers became hungry for time, grocery stores evolved into one-stop shops with bank branches, coffee shops, post offices and, of course, florists. The blockade of
Covid-19 was particularly favorable to the cut flower industry.
"People had to come to the supermarket as one of the few places where they could actually come and shop," Roberts said. "They wanted something that could bring them a little joy, a little fun, a little happiness."
"You may not be able to afford a $ 200 supper right now, and you may not be able to go on that expedition," she said. "But you can pick up a lot of flowers and feel,'OK, I'm still treating myself.'"
