How UK supermarkets use visual methods to influence shopping choices

What visual methods are
employed by UK
supermarkets to influence
product choice??
Ryan Oldfield
VC601 Dissertation
2012

BA (Hons) Graphic Design
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Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………..1-2
Literature Review……………………………………………………………3-4
Methodology…………………………………………………………………5
Supermarket Definition……………………………………………………..6-7
History of the UK Supermarket……………………………………………7-11
An analysis of shop layout and product placement……………………..12-17
Psychology of Buying………………………………………………………18-26
Sensory Branding and Promotion…………………………………………27
Case Studies………………………………………………………………..28-29
Findings and Conclusion…………………………………………………..30-31
Bibliography……………………………………………………...32-33
References……………………………………………………….34
Figures……………………………………………………………35-42
Appendix………………………………………………………….43-48

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Introduction
It is the objective of this dissertation to find out in what ways, and how effectively,
supermarkets use visual design/layout techniques to encouragecustomersto make
purchases. Although supermarkets employ a variety of methods, personal
investigations have found that not all of these relate purely to design.
Design related methods will be examined to hopefully ascertain the most common
(and the most innovative) ones used, and to also identify whichwork most effectively.
Investigations into generic, similar and any variations in methods employed by
supermarkets will also be undertaken.
As a regular supermarket shopper (as well as graphic design student), it is of
personal interest to gain more of an understanding of the visual „signs‟ which
supermarkets use to guidecustomers around each area.It seems that supermarkets
design their floor layouts in a specific way to encourage us to buy more than we
need. Research to date has found that many stores use a number of techniques
which subliminally and blatantly persuade us to buy from them. To what degree does
this work? What role does in-store design, layout, visual merchandising and
promotion play? How do they work together to create desired reactions from
customers?
It is hoped that readers (including supermarket workers!) will benefit from
thissubmissionin different ways. Research findings may benefit supermarkets as
efficient and effective methods of persuasion used by competitors may be applied to
their own places of work.
In the same way, consumers may find this work of interest as they are directly
targeted and influenced by supermarkets in their spending habits, with many items
being purchased as a result of clever and sometimes manipulative selling
techniques.
It would naïve to think that any research which is personally found during this
investigationwill not already have been done by the major supermarkets, as they put
millions of pounds into researching the most effective ways to make consumers
spend their money. However

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from a consumer‟s point of view,this document may uncover facts that they would
not normally read about in the media which may inform them about the various
subliminal and blatant methods and techniques adopted by supermarkets to make
them buy.
Some secondary data will be utilised from case study accountswhich have been
done previously and which are relevant to this area of study. It is also hoped that
primary research can be done by asking individuals to go into a supermarket and
write down what catches their eye as they walk around. This will hopefully provide a
clearer understanding of how shoppers navigate their way around a store and the
choices they make when confronted by the various forms of promotion and layout of
products.
The biggest limitation of this study is that supermarkets may not provide requested
information which alludes to how and why their stores look the way they do visually.
Research would therefore have to rely heavily on secondary information which
already exists. The main objective of this report is to find out what methods the
supermarkets use to make shoppers buy and how effective are they when compared
with each other.

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Literature Review
In order to gather as much information as possible on the chosen topic area
research will be using books, websites, case studies and articles and even TV from
which qualitative and quantitative data may be gleaned.
Key texts examined include:
Martin Lindstrom‟s „BUY-OLOGY‟ provides detailed information around the
psychology of purchasing decisions. However, it relates more specifically to
TV advertising than in store advertising.
A number of internet and E-Library case studies have been examined and may also
prove useful, most specifically:
W.M.C.B. Wanninayake and PradeepRandiwela‟s „The impact of visual
merchandising on consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan
supermarkets‟, although this isn‟t a UK case study, it does provide a valuable
insight into what people think and what influences them to buy from
supermarkets. Statistical data will also be included to support thoughts and
substantiate findings.
Specific internet information which compares the prices on the shelves of four
major supermarkets will be investigated and analysed.
As well as books and case studies several relevant articles discovered on the
internet and E-library will be included within this dissertation. These include:
„Virtual Circles‟ by Charles Ilsley shows that supermarkets have new
technology that can show if a product will sell better in a different or current
position.
Janet Groeber‟s article „The path to profit‟ asks a number of questions about
supermarkets and in-store design, to some top professionals in the
supermarket and marketing world.

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„Graphic Impact‟ by Anita Watts, proved to be one of the most useful articles
as she talks in detail about how photos, fonts & colours increase impulse
buying.
Two articles from the Design Week journal – „Store design‟, mentions in
detail about the supermarket in-store environment and also provides
statistical information. „On point‟ discusses point-of-sale and how to use it in
the correct and most effective way.
www.spacehijackers.org had a useful article which included an A-Z list of
retail tricks to make consumers shop, although sadly, more than half of the
content wasn‟t design related.
A recent TV episode of BBC 1‟s Panorama showed an undercover team who
investigated the „big four‟ supermarket chains (Sainsbury‟s, Tesco‟s, Morrison‟s and
Asda). Their objective was to reveal how consumers are being duped through false
advertising and promotion. Interviews were conducted throughout the programme
when psychologists explained how and why supermarket offers and promotions work
so effectively on consumer behaviour and buying decisions.

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Methodology
This report aims to investigate and establish how four supermarkets use visual
methods to influence product choice. A comparison of the four will also be
undertaken to see if there are any tactical differences and why. From the research
done to date it has been found that there are links between stores that promote
themselves and their appealing product ranges than ones that don‟t.
So far a variety of research tools have been used including the internet, books, case
studies and articles. Primary research sources include email questionnaires which
have been sent to the „big four‟ supermarkets. Unfortunately, only one reply has
been received, but it does include some very detailed information about what affects
customersinstore. Because of the lack of responses most of the research for this
dissertation will consist of secondary sources.
Having completed the literature review it has been found that there are many
methods supermarkets use, but research findings have only identified a certain
number used. These include pictures, colours, typography and own branded
products. Product placement will also be discussed and will include information and
strategies about product „special offers‟, use and positioning of shelves, the
application of posters and promotional displays.
Statistical data in news articles will also be used to support points discussed.

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Supermarket definition
Contemporary supermarkets are
supermarkets which are self-service
storesthat tend to offer a wide range of
food and household products which are
then arranged into aisled sections or
departments. These shops have a much
bigger varied selection of products
compared to traditional stores. However
on the other hand its range of products tends to be slightly limited compared to
bigger stores such as hypermarkets or big box.
Supermarkets normally sell dairy and baked goods, fresh produce and meat, they
also have shelf space for packaged items and tinned foods, and also have shelfs for
other products which are not food related such as pharmacy goods, pet supplies and
also products for the home such as cleaning chemicals. A lot of supermarkets now
tend to sell a variety of other household consumables like medicines, alcohol, and
even clothes.
A normal supermarket has a large amount of floor space, usually on a single level
and they are normally placed near a residential area in order to be closer to their
customers. Their appeal includes convenience, value for money, and wide selections
of goods all available under one roof. Other advantages include easy, free parking
and flexible shopping times with some supermarkets staying open twenty-four
hours a day. They regularly spend huge
budgets on advertising, normally using
media such as TV and newspapers.
They also include appealing in-store
product displays. The stores are
normally part of corporate
chains that own or control (sometimes
by franchise) other supermarkets
located nearby or nationally, which can mean increasing opportunities for economies
of scale.

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Supermarkets more often than not offer products at low prices by reducing their cost
margins. Certain products (normally main foods like bread, milk and sugar) are
sometimes sold as loss leaders, that is, with negative profit margins. To maintain
profits, supermarkets attempt to make up for lower margins by a higher overall
number of sales, and with the sale of higher margin items. Customers normally shop
by placing there chosen products into shopping baskets or trolleys then pay for the
products at the check-out. At present, a lot of supermarket chains are trying to
reduce further labour costs by changing to self service check-out machines, where a
employee can watch a group consisting of 4 to 5machines at once, tending to
multiple customers at any one time.
A larger, full service supermarket combined with a department store is sometimes
called a hypermarket. Other services offered at some supermarkets may include
banking, cafés, childcare centres, photo processing, video rentals, pharmacies and
petrol stations.
History of the UK Supermarket
In the United Kingdom, self-service shopping took longer to become a permanent
feature. Even in 1947, there were only ten self service shops in the country. In 1951,
ex-US Navy sailor Patrick Galvani, son-in-law of Express Dairies chairman, made a
pitch to the board to open a number of supermarkets across the country. The UK's
first supermarket (under the new Premier Supermarkets brand) opened in
Streatham, South London, taking ten times as much money per week as the average
British general store of the time. Other chains caught on, and after Galvani lost out to
Tesco's Jack Cohen in 1960 to buy the 212 Irwin's chain, the sector underwent a
large amount of consolidation, resulting in 'the big four' main UK retailers of today
Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.
In the 1950s, supermarkets often issued trading stamps as incentives to customers.
Today, most stores issue store specific membership cards, club cards or loyalty
cards. These normally enable shoppers to receive special members‟ only discounts
on certain items when the card is scanned at check out.

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Traditional supermarkets in many countries face fierce competition from discount
retailers such as Wal-Mart, Tesco in the UK, and Zellers in Canada, which normally
operate with better buying power. Other competition comes from warehouse clubs
such as Costco who offer savings to customers buying in bulk quantities.
Superstores, such as those operated by Wal-Mart and Asda, often offer a large
range of goods and services as well as food. The prominence of such warehouse
and superstores has contributed to the continuing disappearance of smaller, local
stores.
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest
chain in the United Kingdom with their main
headquarters situated in Bradford. The company is
normally referred to, and is branded as, Morrisons (formerly Morrison's). Morrisons'
market share as of December 2008 was 11.8%, making it the smallest of the „Big
Four‟ supermarkets, behind Tesco (30.9%), Asda (16.8%) and Sainsbury's (16%),
but ahead of the fifth place Co-operative Group, which had a share of 4.4%.
Founded in 1899 by William Morrison, (shortened to Wm Morrison), the shop started
as an egg and butter stall in Rawson Market, Bradford. Until 2004, Morrisons store
locations were mainly based in the north of England, but with the takeover of
Safeway in that year, the company now has 455 superstores all over the UK.
The Morrison family currently owns around 15.5% of the company.
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited is a quality market chain of
supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of its joint owned British
retailer which isJohn Lewis Partnership. Its head office is located in Bracknell,
Berkshire, England. As of January 2011, Waitrose has over 243 branches all over

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the United Kingdom and a 4.2% share of the market, making it the 6th largest
grocery retailer in the UK.
The first Waitrose store opened in Acton Hill, West London in 1904 by Wallace
Waite, Arthur Rose and David Taylor. Within a century the company was one of the
country‟s leading food retailers employing 37,000 people.
The John Lewis Partnership acquired the business in 1937, opening the first
Waitrose supermarket in 1955. Today there are 243 branches, dedicated to offering
quality, value and customer service.
There are Waitrose shops throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Locations
range from high streets to edge of town sites and vary in size from only 7,000 square
feet to around 56,000 feet. The John Lewis Partnership as a whole employs nearly
68,000 people and has a turnover in excess of £6 billion. As well as Waitrose, it runs
26 John Lewis department stores throughout the UK, several manufacturing
concerns and a farm.
The company has a Royal Warrant to supply groceries, wine and spirits to Queen
Elizabeth II. As of 1 January 2011 Waitrose has a Royal Warrant to supply groceries,
wine and spirits to Prince Charles. It also formerly held a Royal Warrant for Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.
The company has a long-term goal of opening 400 branches across the UK by 2017
and doubling its revenue to £8bn by 2016.
Tesco
Tesco plc is a worldwide organisation and general
product retailer with headquarters in Cheshunt, United
Kingdom.
It is the third largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second
largest measured by profits (after Wal-Mart). It has stores in 14 countries across
Asia, Europe and North America and is the grocery market leader in the UK (where it
has a market share of around 30%), Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland and Thailand.

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Tesco was founded in 1919 by Sir Jack Cohen as a group of market stalls. The
Tesco name first appeared in 1924, after Cohen purchased a shipment of tea from T.
E. Stockwell and combined those initials with the first two letters of his surname, and
the first Tesco store opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Middlesex. The business grew
quickly, and by 1939 there were over 100 Tesco stores across the country. Originally
a UK focused grocery retailer, since the early 1990s Tesco has increasingly
diversified geographically and has started to sell a much wider variety of products
like books, clothing, electronics, furniture, petrol and software, financial services,
telecoms, internet services, DVD rental, and even music downloads.
Sainsbury‟s
J. Sainsbury plc is the parent company of
Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, commonly
known as Sainsbury's, it is third largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom
with a share of the UK sector of 16.5%. The group's head office is in the Sainsbury's
Store Support Centre in Holborn Circus, City of London. J.Sainsbury plc also has
interests in property and banking.
Sainsbury's was founded by John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann
Sainsbury in 1869, in London, England, and grew quickly during the Victorian era. It
grew to become the largest grocery retailer in 1922, pioneered self-service retailing
in the UK, and had its best days during the 1980s.Sainbury‟sis now the third largest
supermarket behind Asda in second who overtook them in 2003 and Tesco who
overtook them for first place on 1995.
The founding Sainsbury family still retain approximately 15% of J Sainsbury plc
shares (as of May 2008), through various trusts. The family reduced their stake from
35% in 2005. The largest Sainsbury family shareholders are Lord Sainsbury of
Turville with 5.83% and Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, who controls just
under 3% of the company, and benefits from 1.6% of the equity included in the
above. The largest overall shareholder is the investment vehicle of the Qatari royal
family who now hold 26.145% of the company.

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M&S
Marks and Spencer also known as M&S and Marks and
Sparks is a British retailer with headquarters in the City
of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the UK and over 300 stores spread
across more than 40 countries. It mainly specialises in selling clothing and luxury
food products. M&S was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in
Leeds.
In 1998, it became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion,
though a few years later it went down into a crisis which lasted for a number of
years. In November 2009, it was announced that Marc Bolland, formerly an
employee of Morrisons, would take over as chief executive from Executive Chairman
Stuart Rose in early 2010, Rose stayed in the role of non-executive Chairman until
he was replaced in January 2011 by Robert Swannell.
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which
sellsfinancial services, general merchandise, food,
toys and clothing. It also known for its mobile
telephone network, (via the Vodafone Network) called Asda Mobile. Its head office is
at Asda House in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
In 1999 Asda became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Walmart, the world‟s
largest retailer, and is the UK's second largest chain by market share after Tesco. In
December 2010, Asda's share of the UK grocery market stood at 16.5%.
Asda's marketing promotions have normally been based solely on price, promoting
itself under the slogan „Britain's Lowest Priced Supermarket‟ for fourteen
consecutive years. As a wholly owned division of Wal-Mart, Asda is not required to
declare quarterly or half-yearly earnings. It submits full accounts to Companies
House each October.

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An analysis of shop layout and product placement
Attracting customers
Before supermarkets can get customers to buy from them, they have to first engage
the customer and attract them into their store rather than one of their competitors.
The „big four‟ supermarkets (Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury‟s and Morrisons; Marks &
Spencer‟s and Waitrose aren‟t classed within the big four) all have to fiercely
compete with one another to get us into their shops.
This used to focus around weekly or monthly offers to get the customers in, but the
past couple of years have seen the advertising strategies change with the big
supermarkets. Advertising techniques they use are based on comparing the prices
and/or quantity of their products with single or multiple rivals to show that they are
cheaper.
There are a number of ways the supermarkets have been
doing this, and one way is to show just one product that is
a lot cheaper, another is to show an average cost of
goods in a shopping basket which are cheaper than the
competition.
Customers Inside
Once a supermarket has persuaded customers to shop
with them, the real mind games begin. As soon as they
enter they are hit with colourful offers and price beating
deals. They have several ways to make shoppers look at
their product offers and deals, some are obvious but others
are very clever and use psychological techniques.
Some supermarkets having revolving doors (Fig. 3) which
slow customers down. And because they all look in the same
direction this is the perfect area to place advertisements.
Fig.3 shows a poster for „Special Offers‟ and there is also an
offer for cereals promoting „Any 2 for £4‟.

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As customers leave the revolving doors the supermarket may place a second
advertisement including those that are used to cover security beepers (Fig.6), so it
has more then one purpose. But even though the advert was placed to the side it
would still be noticable as there is usually one placed opposite.
This offer is for „Buy 1 Get 1 Free‟.
Others are displayed as customers get into the supermarket
which includes large format advertisements. They are placed
where every customer coming into the shop will see them. The
one in Fig.4 is for „Better than half price‟.
As customers go to get a basket they have to stop or walk
slowly up to the motion sensor barrier, and this is yet another
technique used to slow people down. As they wait for the
barrier to open they can see on either side and dotted around, stands with products
on, and in the middle of each stand is a little poster that says either „New‟ or „Half
Price‟ or „Only‟.
When walking down some of the aisles there are product
stickers placed on the floor or big metal baskets holding
more special offers (Fig.5). By sticking things in the aisle
they get noticed more and people look at them because it
is an obstacle and in their path. For example, large bags
of potatoes may be put on the floor, which can be
labelled „Bigger pack better value‟ and these may be
placed near to other kinds of potatoes.
Once customers have finished shopping they have to
pay at the tills where numerous products are strategically displayed on offer.
Products usually include chocolates, sweets, magazines, promotional store leaflets
and DVD‟s.
Research revealed an interesting survey from 2002 which interviewed 1058
customers about what they thought about supermarkets in store:
„What consumers would like to see introduced or improved in supermarkets‟
45% said more service counters/checkouts, 31% said clearer signposting in

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store, 25% said better layout of store, 20% said clearer product/price
information on shelving/displays. And also in another survey which asked the
same amount of people „summary of statements agreed with about shopping in
general‟ 26% said I am often tempted by a window display to enter a shop and
make a purchase while again 26% said I have been tempted to buy new
products by promotional displays, sampling or demonstrations in store‟.
(See Appendix 7)
Supermarket shelves
Through doing my research I found a very good case study which had investigated
the theory that supermarkets would put the most expensive products or the products
that were on offer on shelves that were level with shoppers‟ eye lines. Therefore we
are more liked to see these products and purchase them. They tested the theory on
four supermarkets which included Tesco, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer‟s and
Sainsbury‟s.(see appendix 2,3,4,5)
From the results it could be seen that Tesco and Sainsbury‟s do exactly as
above with Tesco placing the cheapest products at
the bottom, (where people don‟t usually look) then the
most expensive on the middle and top (where people
are most likely to look). Sainsbury‟s did a similar
tactic; they had the cheapest brands at the top and
bottom and the most expensive ones at eye level. As
Waitrose is more upmarket, their prices are higher
than most others as their target market are usually higher
earners, but there is still some cases where the cheapest
products are placed at the top and bottom and the more
expensive on the middle shelves. On the other hand Marks &
Spencer‟s stocks mainly its own products so the shelves are
varied and there is no obvious pattern or theme that can be
noted.
An interesting article on the internet suggested that supermarkets
such as Asda and Sainsbury‟s purposely design and make bland packaging so that

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customers either don‟t look at it because it looks cheap and don‟t want to be seen
buying such products. Figure 10 shows Asda‟s own brand products in plain and
boring packaging designs, they don‟t look particularly aesthetically pleasing and
many shoppers may be put off buying it.
It seems that in the last couple of years, that some supermarkets have noticed this
and have started to change their thinking on this by
producing more aesthetically pleasing „own brand‟
products to give them more of a quality feel and worth
buying. Some supermarkets have even introduced
ranges, like Sainsbury‟s „Taste the Difference‟ and
Tesco‟s „Finest‟. Figure 9 and 11 both show examples
which look a lot better and reflect more of a „quality‟ feel.
This is why Tesco and Sainsbury‟s have started to put
their „own brand‟ products onto middle shelves and even in some cases they
have sections just for these own branded products because they are so popular
now. Alternatively, Asda‟s home brand products are still on the bottom shelf in their
supermarkets where they are difficult to spot.
Virtual Shop
One of the great inventions (from a supermarkets perspective) of the past few years
has been the virtual shop. This is where supermarkets and product manufacturers
can change the place or interior layout of the shop‟ and this includes product
placement experimentation, to see if it will sells better in a new layout as opposed to
a current one..
Using data that supermarkets have collected (mainly through loyalty card holders)
they can see the usual shopping habits of their customers. Some are asked to do
their shopping through the virtual store as they would in their local one.
The virtual stores collect three types of data, which includes the products they are
looking at on the shelf, those they are selecting and finally those that they are
purchasing.
After 500 people shopped through the virtual store the data was collected and
showed that 6% more people browsed the product, 4% more people selected it and

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most importantly 3% bought the product in its new layout (see appendix 6). The
virtual store would appear to be essential to supermarkets and manufacturers to gain
valuable information about how to get the most out of their products and their interior
retail environments.
As well as virtual mapping, supermarkets and manufacturers use something called
„gaze detection‟ to see when people go into a store exactly where they look so they
and can see if people are looking or not looking at their products. If not, they can
change the place of the product to an area that gets a lot more attention from
customers.
Sections of products
Every supermarket uses sections which link to other sections which then lead to sub
sections. In the food section customers can find items such as cakes and bread,
which then leads to meat and sandwich fillers, which then goes into tea time food
items, then ready meals, continental and world food, desserts etc. This doesn‟t
happen because they want to look organised, this is because they want
shoppers to follow the line and keep purchasing
products. If everything wasn‟t displayed within
customers would most probably only shop for specific
items and then leave without anything else.
Some supermarkets have even been accused of their
layout being changed to confuses the customer so
they don‟t know where everything is, so they spend
more time trying to find the products they want and
more time going down aisles they don‟t need to which
then entices them into buying products they never
went in for and don‟t need. In an article „Summary of statements agreed with about
shopping in genera (date?)‟ 42% of people said they get annoyed by too frequent
changes in layout at stores they regularly visited.

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Impulse buys
Impulse buys happen most often at the end of the shop and
at the tills and mostly when there is a queue (see Figures 7
and 8). Products usually consist of mainly chocolate and
indulgence food when the urge to buy can be overwhelming.
Special offer products are also displayed in front of the tills
where they can be easily seen and accessed.

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Psychology of Buying
Christopher Zinn, from Choice, a consumer magazine, explains that to try and
convince consumers to stay in their stores and buy items they don‟t really need
supermarkets will use basic psychology and marketing:
“All supermarkets employ these tricks, some more overtly than others.
Everything from lighting, music and product placement is controlled by
the supermarket in order to have you spend more.”
There are many visual factors that can affect a consumer‟s thought processes whilst
shopping, but three of the most important ones are graphics, typeface style and
colour. These qualities together can encourage and impress the consumer to spend
in ways and timeframes that best suit the supermarkets.
Colour
When it comes to psychology, colour has a very
strong impact on us. And from the very first picture
taken in Morrison‟s for this dissertation, until the last,
it was realised that all of the large format posters
and signs which promoted special offers were all
printed in red, and all the smaller ones were yellow.
After research was undertaken it was found that red
stands out more than other colours and also yellow
is bright and eye catching.
Figure 13 shows a „special offer‟ sign and a „great buy‟ sign in the foreground,
both of which are red. Nearly all of the price tags have the prices in bright yellow
(see figure 12) and if not, they have a red „half price‟ label on them.
Looking at „own brand‟ products such as for Tesco‟s „Finest‟ and Sainsbury‟s „Taste
the difference‟ ranges (see fig 9 and 11) their products use the signature colour black
which suggests a luxurious and quality feel, which attracts the attention of the
customer.

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Colours really can have psychological effects on people as the following quote from
Pantone shows:
“An executive for a paint company received complaints from workers
in a blue office that the office was too cold. When the offices were painted
a warm peach, the sweaters came off even though the temperature had
not changed”
Different colours evoke different reactions and emotions, for example, people trust
the colour blue more than any other and are drawn to red.
“Supermarkets have taken this research and used it to their advantage by
changing the colour in different parts of the store”
says Christopher Zinn from Choice, July 17,
2008
Colour can also be used in other ways to
communicate with consumers. The pairing of red
and orange in fast food restaurants for example,
has shown to make customers want to eat
quickly and leave. This is why these are two of
the most dominant colours used in the fast food
industry, when they are used on menu boards
and throughout shop interiors. Impulse shoppers
respond best to red, orange, black and royal
blue. Apparently light purple is most likely to get customers to spend their money.
Lighting
It was also found through research that lighting in a supermarket is very important.
Some stores install soft lighting and slow music, with the intention being to make
customers feel relaxed as walk around stores in the hope that they will stay longer,
and therefore the chances of buying more products is higher:
“The majority of customers respond to the lighting more positively.
They specially mentioned that lighting helps to select correct products,
reduce the time wasted and feel relaxation during shopping tours.

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Therefore managers can select appropriate lighting system that
creates satisfaction of psychological needs of customers”
Taken from a report called the impact of
visual merchandising on consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan
supermarkets, October 13-14 2007
Font
Different fonts can have and mean totally different things and can affect us
psychologically. Some fonts convey stability and can
make consumers feel reassured and secure in buying a
known or loved brand. Other fonts however, may be
viewed as emotional,exciting,innovative or interesting,
and are much better suited to new items advertisements
or promotions.
„Own brand‟ products from Tesco‟s „Finest‟ and
Sainsbury‟s „Taste the Difference‟ range use similar serif
fonts and the handwritten style adds a personal and
premium feel (see figures 14 and 29).
Morrisons‟ „home brand‟ products use simple language and easy-to-read fonts as
customers normally only look at items for a matter of seconds, therefore they need to
be able to instantly decipher what is being said and whether it is good value or not.
Images
Product images play a big part in advertising in supermarkets especially in the area
of food. With food products, quality can be highly important, when photography plays
a significant role. How a product is pictured, either in its raw state to signify how its
been sourced, its cooked state as a serving suggestion, or to show a product‟s
ingredients, it is crucial to promote qualities such as tastiness or freshness.
Figures15,16 and 17
shows some examples of
food photography, one of

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23
which is in its raw state (the potatoes), the other is cooked (the pie) and the final one
is in its serving state (the ham).
Including pictures of the products is highly important as this helps to win the
customer over into buying the products. Most manufacturers now place a picture on
this kind of packaging of the product in its cooked state.
Attractive Store
Dust and damaged items on the shelves can communicate a bad
image of a store. Other features including interior colour
specifications, lighting and even the design of the floor tiles can
have significant influence on shoppers. In the article „Summary of
statements agreed with about shopping in general‟, 43% of people (1058
were asked) said that they tended to spend more time in shops that have an
attractive store environment. 35% said they have been put off certain shops due to
an unattractive store environment.
Visual Prompting
Using the physical lines separating carpet patterns and laminate flooring, shops
often try to guide shoppers around following these lines. The retailer, WHSmiths on
Oxford Street in London has cut into the carpet a giant arrow which guides
customers directly to the centre of the store. Niketown also uses similar idea by
using lines across the floor subliminally ushering people around the store.
The Landing Zone
The „landing zone‟ is the area just inside the shop. Many supermarkets don‟t like to
place things here because this is where customers make first sensory contact with
the shop, which includes its sights, smells, sounds and temperature. So anything
placed here won‟t be noticed or get much attention.
Slowing Down
As discussed previously, one of the best ways to get people to look at goods and
products is to slow them down. Various types of flooring are often used to direct
customers as a retailer wants around the store. Supermarkets make great use of

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24
textural differences between carpet and linoleum to steer customers around and hold
them in certain places. Occasionally random rugs and mats are laid out in
supermarket aisles to slow „traffic‟. They have also been known to place smaller tiles
on the floor in expensive aisles in the store. When a customer enters the aisles their
trolleys would click faster bringing them to think they‟re going too fast and therefore
they would subconsciously slow down leading them to spend more time in that aisle.
Displays
Displays are regularly placed at the end of aisles so that your eyes are always on the
products. When they would like to promote particular items this is most
likely where they will be placed so that a customer walking down an
aisle will approach the display head on as opposed to at
right angles like the rest of the aisle. I found a case of this
in Morrisons, where they had put a lot of tins of
chocolates that were on offer (see figure 18).
Offers
Supermarkets will often entice shoppers with „specials‟
however, most often the items on „special‟ are not at cheaper price. Also, some
shops advertise that there closing down which isn‟t always true; they use the fear of
missing out on a deal to make their customers return. They add a sense of urgency
to what is in effect, a selling off of cheap stock.
For example, a recent visit to Morrisons showed a variety of offers and different ways
of advertising them. They used the colours red and yellow to advertise them and
included posters with the following promotional wording: „Special offers‟, „Only‟,
„Now‟, „Buy 1 get 1 free‟ ,‟Any two for £4‟, „Half price‟, „Better then half price‟, „special
purchase‟, „great buy‟, „Save‟.
Price Drops
In a recent Panorama programme it was discovered
that not all the products „on offer‟ were actually on
offer, as some were the same price as they had

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25
been previously and some had even increased in price. „Scams‟ were also found
with the advertising as well. Some of the supermarkets are currently using tactics
that experts say, range from “cheeky” to others that could lead to prosecutions for
breach of consumer protection regulations. This included advertising on shelves
which announced „Two for £2‟, but failed to highlight that there was actually no
savings made as each item was being sold previously for £1 each (see figure 19)
But does it make us buy more?
Psychologist Gorkan Ahmetoglu, the writer of a report for The Office of Fair
Trading(5/12/11) on the influence that promotional offers and savings have on
shopping habits, says this type of advertising acts as a subconscious trigger:
"They are triggering the same reaction as when you eat chocolate.
The offer will still attract your attention and a lot of people will not look
at the single unit price."
There is something known as „price establishing‟ in the marketing world. A
retailer will sell a product at a particular price over a
certain amount of time, but then would raise the
price suddenly. Later, the price is reduced
down to its original price and the
supermarket tells consumers they‟ve
"slashed the price".
Tesco's „Big Price Drop‟ seemed to do this with its medium whole
fresh chickens, which wentfrom £4 to £5 for just over two months before the „Big
Price Drop‟ saw their price decrease to the original price of £4.
In another case, a label with a price saying „Now £2‟ failed to mention the older
"was" price.
Morrisons‟ fabric conditioner was labelled as „Now £2
- Offer Ends Sunday‟ but failed to mention that just
two weeks before it cost only £1.65.
Finally, to translate: „bigger pack, better

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26
value‟ in fact means, „bigger pack, costs more‟. At Asda, a 1kg tub of Clover spread
for £3.20 was 20p more than two 500g tubs.
Own Brand
As previously mentioned there has in recent years, been a
change in some of the supermarkets‟ „home branded‟
products. Supermarkets such as Tesco‟s and Sainsbury‟s
have „home branded‟ products in which they put money and
effort into their own brand, to make it look more appealing and
price competitive so more customers look at it and want to buy
it (Sainsbury‟s „Taste the Difference‟ and Tesco‟s „finest‟).
Alternatively there are other supermarkets such as
Asda who put no effort into their home branding
and make the packaging look cheap and
uninspiring and off putting to customers. These
products are usually place on the bottom shelves.
Strap Lines
All the main supermarkets have their own strap lines and these following examples
are
probably amongst
the most recognised:

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27
Asda‟s strap line is „Saving You Money Every day‟ and they also use a brand jingle
which a lot of people recognise, which is played at the end of their TV and radio
adverts and includes the sound of money being slapping in a pocket.
Tesco‟s – „Every Little Helps‟
Sainsbury‟s – „Live Well For Less‟
Morrisons – „More Reasons To Shop At Morrisons‟
They also have their own strap lines for saving consumers money but these aren‟t as
well known.
Asda – „Asda‟s price guarantee‟
Tesco – „The big price drop‟
Morrisons – „Price crunch‟
Morrisons also have one for Christmas which is „Come to us
for Christmas‟.
Impulse Buying
The main place for impulse buying is at the tills (see page 17), where customers
have to queue. In many shops they place children friendly products at the tills such
as chocolates, sweets and magazines so they can pester their parents to buy from
this selection.
Recent surveys found that 40% of what consumers actually buy is „impulse‟ items -
products that we did not intentionally mean to buy.

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Points System
The points system adopted by most supermarkets is a very good idea because not
only does it reward loyal customers, it also gives them a reason to return. As well as
benefiting customers, it also provides the supermarkets with vital information about
their customers, including how much they spend, how often then shop, and what
kinds of goods they buy etc.

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Sensory Branding and Promotion
A number of supermarkets advertise big brands and promotions on the TV, as this is
the most effective medium to use to communicate the latest discounts offered by
leading brands. With the current economic downturn this is a major marketing priority
of every supermarket as they need to attract as many customers as possible.
As shoppers walk into a supermarket (or even before they step inside), they are
welcomed with pictures of big brands and their weekly promotions (see figs 3,4 and
6).
As previously mentioned, supermarkets place the most expensive products on the
middle shelves because this is where shoppers‟ eye levels are and where they look
the most frequently. So this means this is where all of the big brands are, therefore
people will have seen and picked a big brand without even looking elsewhere for a
cheaper, alternative product.
Many supermarkets use iconic brands to act as signposts for whole categories, for
example, HeinzBaked Beans iconic blue tin is so iconic and recognisable that
customers navigate directly to the „baked beans‟ category when they see it, therefore
to assist customer choice, supermarkets use colour blocking of certain products to
act as visual „signposts‟.
Customers tend to look at the most attractive packaging, and usually it‟s the big
brands that excel at this because they have the biggest design budgets. Customers
think that if the packaging looks eye-catching and professional, then this must reflect
the product or contents as well.

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30
Case Studies
After researching about the main supermarkets it was found that some used different
techniques and some used the same. This section will focus on specific
supermarkets (Morrison‟s, Asda and M&S) and the techniques they use and which
are the most effective.
The first, Morrison‟s use colour, text, posters, images, offers, displays, lighting and
obstacles effectively in order to get the shopper to spend more.
Morrison‟s three best visual techniques that they use include colour, obstacles and
posters. There are two main colours (red and yellow) they use to communicate their
offers and price reductions to catch consumers‟ attention. Both of these colours are
used because they stand out, but red is used because it is one of the most
prominent colours, and yellow because it stands out against the others.
Obstacles (placed in a certain place to slow you down or make you change direction)
are also used very effectively by Morrisons. They apply this technique as soon as
shoppers walk in through their revolving doors, then again at the security barrier
where there are baskets of selected products on offer in the middle of aisles. Posters
are well utilised and applied by Morrisons. They are used selectively and
strategically around the store providing information about special offers and deals.
Asda and Marks & Spencer use the same technique but in a different way and is
based around home-store branding. Asda has its home-store branding version of
most products in the store, but at a cheaper price and in some cases there is a
dramatic difference. However, as the price is cheaper they place the products on the
bottom shelf and out of sight and all the more expensive brands and products are
placed on the middle shelves. Also to make sure shoppers spends more money;
they put the product in the least appealing and eye catching packaging. So
customers are more likely to put it down because they may feel embarrassed to be
seen walking out the store with these products or they may think that the bland
packaging reflects the contents as well.

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On the other hand, M&S create quality design packaging, so that more people buy
their home branded goods. This also means that they can put a higher price on their
products. In some of their stores that have aisles just for their home brand products.

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Findings and Conclusion
The previous case studies have shown how much time, effort and money goes into
researching and getting information on the latest techniques adopted by
supermarkets to attract and keep customers in-store, and to get them to spend as
much money as possible.
As this dissertation has identified, some techniques are more effective than others
and some used a lot more than others. For obvious reasons it seems that the most
effective techniques used by the supermarkets are the ones that make people buy
and these are:
1. The use of colour: The two most commonly used are red and yellow because
they stand out and attract attention. Also, in the cases of using dark colours
such as for Sainsbury‟s „Taste the Difference‟ they make products look and
feel more like luxury items.
2. Lighting: Many customers said they respond positively to good lighting
because it highlights and picks out product aisles clearly as well as helping to
provide a more relaxed atmosphere.
3. Fonts: Different styles of fonts can mean and communicate different types of
messages to people. A bold font on a „special offer‟ sign will stand out and a
handwritten style font such as the one used on the Tesco‟s „Finest‟ range
makes products look a lot more like a quality item.
4. Images: Those used on food products for sale either in their raw, cooked or
serving state have applied photography well as a selling technique. Products
depicted as juicy or mouth-watering are much more likely to buy them than
other product that doesn‟t. Showing images can also portray freshness and
healthy living.
5. A lot of people in the surveys which were undertaken said they were much
more likely to stay in a store that was attractive and well laid out.

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6. Displays and Impulse buys: These work effectively together as all that needs
to be done is to place displays of products that are on offer around the store
and at each checkout, so the customer can‟t miss them and as a result,
achieve an „impulse‟ buy. Most shoppers that enter stores come out with
more things then they intended to buy.
7. Advertising: Shoppers cannot fail to notice printed offers, as they are
everywhere and produced in bright colours and bold fonts.
8. One of the most popular techniques employed by Asda is the use of product
placement when it comes to its own branded goods. As their own branding
isn‟t very appealing and is cheap they put it on the bottom shelf so shoppers
because it doesn‟t look appealing, so they end up buying a more expensive
product. Whereas Tesco and Sainsbury‟s like to promote their own brand
products because they look appealing and worth buying which they place in
their own sections.
If a supermarket not yet employing the techniques mentioned within this dissertation,
it would benefit them to adopt them.
In conclusion and in answer to the question “What visual methods are employed by
UK supermarkets to influence product choice?”, it was found that there are specific
and strategic techniques that are continually applied by UK supermarkets.
Much information was mainly sourced from the internet as well as from books, the
library‟s EBSCO host, case studies and print articles. Images were also taken
personally of Morrisons as primary research and to also gain a better understanding
of visual merchandising first hand as a shopper. This proved to be highly affective as
much knowledge and information was gained on the shop floor.
However, it would have been more beneficial to produce a questionnaire in order to
ascertain from a number of people what and which areas stand out. It would also
have helped to add more in-depth research by examining other supermarkets other
than the „Big Four‟ which were included as part of this investigation.

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Bibliography
Internet
http://www.shopfitdirect.co.uk/blog/2011/01/supermarket-psychology-%E2%80%93-
think-like-the-retail-giants/. ShopfitDIRECT.co.uk, 31/10/11
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1690713/How-to-beat-supermarket-
tricks.html. Thisismoney.co.uk, 31/10/11
http://today.ninemsn.com.au/moneyandconsumer/598695/supermarket-tricks.
ninemsn.com, Christopher Zinn from CHOICE, 18/09/11
http://www.digitalskratch.com/color-psychology.php. Digitalskratch.com, pantone,
31/10/11
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html. David Johnson, 31/10/11
http://www.spacehijackers.org/html/ideas/archipsy/tricks.html. Spacehijackers.org,
18/09/11
http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9652000/9652944.stm.
Panaroma, BBC, 5/12/11
Books
Lindstrom, Martin, BUY-OLOGY, Random House Business Books, 2009
Interview
Ward, Joe, Head of in-store Marketing, Morrison‟s, 31/10/11
Articles
Ilsley, Charles, Research Director at Fifth Dimension, and was published in
Research Magazine page 46 in June 2005
Groeber, Janet, Display & Design Ideas, June 2011, Vol. 23, Issue 4, p40-44, 5p
Watts, Anita, Film Journal International, Aug 2008, Vol. 111, Issue 8, p48-48, 3/4p
Caines, Richard, Design Week, The Big Picture Retail, Store Design, July 2003, p31-
33
Dowdy, Clare, Design Week, The Big Picture Retail, Point-Of-Sale, July 2003, p35-
37
TV
The Truth About Supermarket Price Wars, BBC One, Mon 5 Dec 2011, 20:30

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Case Study
W.M.C.B. Wanninayake, PradeepRandiwela, The impact of visual merchandising on
consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan supermarkets, October 13-14, 2007

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References
“All supermarkets employ these tricks, some more overtly than others.
Everything from lighting, music and product placement is controlled by
the supermarket in order to have you spend more.” p20
“An executive for a paint company received complaints from workers
in a blue office that the office was too cold. When the offices were painted
a warm peach, the sweaters came off even though the temperature had
not changed” p21
http://www.digitalskratch.com/color-psychology.php. Digitalskratch.com,
pantone, 31/10/11
“Supermarkets have taken this research and used it to their advantage by
changing the colour in different parts of the store” p21
“The majority of customers respond to the lighting more positively.
They specially mentioned that lighting helps to select correct products,
reduce the time wasted and feel relaxation during shopping tours.
Therefore managers can select appropriate lighting system that
creates satisfaction of psychological needs of customers” p21-22
W.M.C.B. Wanninayake, PradeepRandiwela, The impact of visual
merchandising on consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan
supermarkets, October 13-14, 2007
"They are triggering the same reaction as when you eat chocolate.
The offer will still attract your attention and a lot of people will not look
at the single unit price." p25
The Truth About Supermarket Price Wars, BBC One, Mon 5 Dec 2011, 20:30

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37
Figures
1.A supermarket in Sweden in 1941
2. Packaged food aisles in a Fred
Meyer store in Portland, Oregon
3. Picture I took of the revolving door and the posters
in the window, when I went to my local Morrisons

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38
4. Another picture of a big display, advertising an offer
in Morrisons
5. A basket of products on offer in Morrisons in the middle
of the aisle, used as an obstacle
6. Another display showing offers as you walk into
Morrisons

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39
7. Picture showing the display stands at the end of
aisles
8. This is where impulse buys happen most, at the
checkout with cheap sweats
9. A picture of a product of the Tesco‟s Finest range

VC601: Dissertation
40
10. A picture of a range of Asda‟s own brand
products
11. A product off the Sainsbury‟s Taste the Difference
section
12. A picture showing the Morrison‟s Price
Crunched logo in action and the amount of things on offer, in the colours red and
yellow

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41
13. A picture showing the big signs advertising Great
Buys
14. Sainsbury‟s Taste the Difference logo
15. Showing how Morrison‟s used pictures of their
products in a cooked state to advertise.
products in its raw state to advertise

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products in its serving state to advertise
18. Big piles of Special Offer products all over Morrison‟s
shop floor
19. Showing how the multi buy option isn‟t always
cheaper
20. Showing how the offer doesn‟t actually start or end

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21. Showing how the big pack don‟t always save us
money
22. Tesco‟s Big Price Drop Logo
23. Morrison‟s Price Crunch Logo
24. Asda‟s Strap Line
Logo
25. Tesco‟s Strap Line Logo
26. Sainsbury‟s Strap Line Logo
27. Asda‟s Price Guarantee Logo
28. Morrison‟s Come To Us for Christmas Logo
29. Tesco‟s Finest Logo

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30. Morrison‟s Logo
31. Waitrose‟s Logo
32. Tesco‟s Logo
33. Sainsbury‟s Logo
34. M&S Logo
35. Asda Logo

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Appendix
1.
2.

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3.
4.

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5.

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6.

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7.

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8.

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