You just spent the last half hour pushing your cart (or buggy, depending on where you live) up and down seemingly endless aisles to get groceries for your family. You ignored the digitalized end cap advertisements and the beeping coupons that seem to beg you to buy something else that isn’t on your list. Your mind is filled with weekly menus and the important items you need to remember. Then, when you finally gather all your items, feeling accomplished at the speed and efficiency of your shopping trip, you end up at the register — otherwise known as the express lane of hell and upsells.
Everywhere you turn, there’s something strategically placed to tempt you to splurge at the end of your shopping trip. Whether it’s the tabloid with the crazy headline “85-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth to Twin Chimpanzees” or the chocolate bar that seems to be shouting your name, you’re inundated with upsells.
If you have toddlers in tow, they will sing the chorus of upsells, begging you to buy the cheap toy that is oh-so-conveniently located at the register. Seriously, why is there a Disney princess doll at the cash register? It seems like putting mile-high stacks of toilet paper (the number one forgotten item at grocery stores) would be more monetarily valuable, not to mention more practical.
The Secret Behind Upsells
In the grocery and convenience store industry, upsells at the register are a massive marketing ploy. While you might think the items compiled under your nose are just a hodgepodge mixture of things the store lacked room for in the aisles, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, a large part of grocery marketing revolves around upsells throughout the store and at the end of your shopping trip. These stores spend time researching human behavior and strategically plan the best ways to get you to spend more money. Interestingly, it works. Around 67% of the population ends up spending between $5 and $10 on items placed strategically as upsells. The Krazy Coupon Lady even encourages grocery store shoppers to reverse their shopping trips, starting from the back of the store to avoid these clever marketing tricks.
Then, of course, there are those stores that ring you up and then suddenly offer you an amazing discount for signing up for a credit card, or ask if you’re interested in the “buy of the day.” After all, who doesn’t need two candy bars for the price of one? No? How about the sale on toothbrushes? (To which you immediately grab a pack of gum, assuming your breath must be a problem.) With all the new shopper cards and courtesy cards today, where you get barraged with coupons and daily deals from stores like Rite-Aid, Walgreen’s, and CVS, employees are polished in the art of pushing upsells. So much so, you often wonder if they get a commission on these sales.
So, you say NO! Again. And you hope you can escape the store with your cart full of groceries without hearing another word or receiving more propaganda trying to get you to buy more. Your only hope now is that there won’t be someone outside the store selling puppies out of a box, ringing a bell to take donations, or standing at the red light trying to get you to throw loose change in a boot.
Convenience stores are notorious for setting up donation jars, usually with some sad story about a child or family who needs your financial assistance, encouraging you to place your change in the jar. That way, when you don’t donate, you feel like the world’s biggest chump — which, of course, is the whole point. Each year, when the United Way or the Muscular Dystrophy Association starts selling $1 shamrocks, hearts, or stars to benefit a children’s hospital, clerks are constantly prodding you with “Would you like to donate a dollar to this cause?” or “Would you like to round up your total to make a donation?” Again, you say no, and again, you feel like a complete chump. What kind of person doesn’t want to donate to a children’s cause, right? (Answer: people like you and me, who are just trying to make ends meet by providing for our own families.)
Go car shopping, and you’ll be upsold to the tune of thousands of dollars. Of course, all these add-ons only increase your monthly payments, so getting you to spend an extra $2,000 over the long term seems like no big deal. Sadly, half of the things they upsell you on at the car dealership are things you don’t really need. After all, if you wanted the car with the DVD player built-in and the extra chrome around the license plate, wouldn’t you have picked it off the lot to begin with?
All this upselling is simply a well-planned way to take advantage of consumer behavior. Going shopping for what you need and want shouldn’t involve arming yourself with mental toughness and the ability to say no. It should be easy to go into a store, get what you need, and leave. You shouldn’t have to dodge upsells like a participant in a paintball game. It’s frustrating.
Maybe someone should come up with a badge or t-shirt that says, “Save the Upsell, Please, I Am Not Buying It,” so you can head off the upsells before they even happen. Or maybe, you should just stay home and order everything off the internet, hoping that pop-up windows don’t offer you the “frequently bought together” suggestion that makes you feel for a split second like you’d be missing out on something amazing if you click the red X.
