“Would you like to add a special item for 99 cents?” If you’ve ever ordered at a fast-food chain, you’ve no doubt heard of this casual attempt at upselling. And if you’ve shopped online, you’ve certainly been shown items related to the product you’re checking out or bundles of related items sold for less than what they would cost if bought separately.
So is this a deal? Only if you were planning to do it, to begin with. When you think of it, $0.99 is nothing, especially when you are about to spend much more on whatever it is you are buying. But stop for a moment and think how many customers in one day, add $0.99. That works out to a little bit more than nothing.
Not Exactly
A prospective student's interest might be piqued when they come across this sign, thinking that they can finally get that university degree or diploma they wanted. But if we look closely, we can see that they've sneakily added the word "equivalent" in-between "University" and "Degrees."
Don't let these signs fool you and remember, the rules of this game are pretty easy to follow. There are no shortcuts. If you want a university degree, you will have to go to university, and if you want something that is equivalent to it, then you can settle for Richfield.
Liberal Return Policies
Common sense would tell us that we return more purchases when retailers have liberal return policies on their products. This may be true — but retailers have also found that shoppers are more likely to buy in the first place when these flexible policies are in place. Interestingly, longer return windows also mean there are fewer returns, probably because shoppers feel less urgency to decide whether to return their purchases and can even forget.
We come to learn that behind every rule and regulation, there is reasoning and a story. We find it hard to believe shops have voluntarily extended the return period. they knew the longer you wait, the less chances of you turning up.
Social Proof
There's a reason that a brand you've never heard of is broadcasting all its five-star reviews in a gush of Facebook ads. You'll probably be a lot more interested in a product — and more inclined to buy, of course — if "everyone" is raving about it. This simple concept is called "social proof" in marketing and it also applies to companies when they have expert testimonials or include sales numbers in their advertising.
Are all of these reviews genuine? We don't know. Did all of the hotel visitors on Booking, really stay at the hotel? We can't say. What we can say is, reviews are objective, nine times out of ten they are written by someone who has a personal interest, and at the end of the day, personal experience os the best measure of product quality.
Strategic Store Layouts
Even the most faithful Ikea enthusiasts will reveal how hard it is to navigate the maze-like store. Want to sound smart? It's called the "Gruen effect" — the simple idea behind this is that exposing you to more products will encourage you to purchase even more products. You can also see this in action at your local supermarket, where you'll need to cross through as much of the store as possible to get that gallon of milk tucked away in the furthest back corner.
Another thing Ikea does very well, is the exhibition rooms at the front of the store, making you see how beautiful the sofa you want to buy, will look with four exquisite cushions, for $65 apiece.