Be a savvy shopper

Every step of your shopping trip is laid out to maximise the pressure on you to spend. Supermarkets and other stores are in the business of making money, and they're remarkably successful at doing just that. British shoppers spent more than £90 billion pounds in supermarkets last year – that's £1,500 for every single person, according to figures from TNS Worldpanel.

First impressions - The first thing you'll notice when you enter a supermarket is plenty of fresh produce and lots of bargains. All that fruit and veg gives a store a healthy image. You'll also notice that the booze is probably tucked away at the back.

Beware of bargains - You're also likely to see many big signs screaming out the fabulous bargains you're going to get. Again, this is all about impression - if you start out thinking 'I've got a great deal here', the chances are you'll keep that state of mind and buy more.

So the psychological battle for your cash is underway and with supermarkets spending big bucks on marketing it's no wonder we can all succumb to the more expensive products from time to time.

Dr James Intrilligator is a Senior Lecturer of Consumer Psychology at Bangor University and an expert in the tactics employed by big supermarkets and stores. While he believes most people are fairly savvy, it's worth being aware of the psychological manipulation we're all subject to:

"The shopper's goal is to pop in and pop out, buying what you need but spending as little time as possible in a store. The supermarkets' goal is to keep you in their store for as long as possible, ideally lost and wandering the aisles."

"It's no coincidence that supermarkets don't provide shoppers with clear maps of the store layout, that the names of aisles are often ambiguous or that they keep moving things around. It's not to improve displays or make shopping more efficient - it's to keep you lost, confused and receptive to their advertising of premium brands and aspirational products. Shoppers need to think of supermarkets as places where you will be advertised to, they're not just for our convenience."

Sucker for signs? - Experts in colour advise the big chains that red is a great colour to attract attention and it's best matched with a neutral colour like yellow or white - which our brains process as a simple message. You may also notice that the signage is repeated throughout the shop even when there's not a deal on offer.

Bare essentials - You might notice that all those essentials you need – bread, milk, veg, frozen peas, and so on – are deliberately spread all around the store. It's a tactic that forces you to wander the aisles, past all those lovely products that they really want you to buy.

Tricks of the trade - Other tricks include displaying items that go together well, such as crackers and cheese or apple pie and cream. This is definitely a way to make you spend more, although many shoppers do enjoy the suggestions that supermarkets make.

 

In the Watchdog supermarket challenge, three pairs of shoppers were asked to buy six basic items. Unknown to them, we employed sales tactics used by all the big supermarket chains, to try to persuade them to spend more than they needed to.

By one, get one free - BOGOFs or similar deals - We offered our shoppers a fantastic deal of two punnets of strawberries for £3. All three teams went for the 'bargain' even though they could have bought one punnet for £1.88. Our tactic had persuaded them to buy twice as much as they needed.

Only buy what you actually need! The government has criticised these sorts of deals because they persuade people to buy food they often end up throwing away.

Multi-buying - Intuitively, we all think if you buy in bulk you get a better deal – but it's not always true. We asked our shoppers to buy loo rolls and cola. In each case, the bigger multi pack was not the most cost effective way to buy.

Even Watchdog's very own savvy shopper Dominic Littlewood gets thrown by the multi-buys: "Recently, I wanted to buy some lager but there were packs of 4, 10, 18 and 20 - it was incredibly hard to work out which were the cheapest. And, just for the record, I am surprisingly good at maths!"

Don't assume that the bigger pack is cheaper! Check the prices – the comparison should be there in the small print.

Discounts - Supermarkets love big discounts, especially on luxury items such as wine. A hefty discount brings much higher sales - how often have you looked for that bargain and found the shelves empty? Our teams went for a bottle of wine reduced from £8 to £5.50, even though there was another bottle for just £5.

Check the small print! The guidelines say that a discounted product must have been at the higher price for at least as long as it has been discounted. However this guidance can be broken if there's a sign explaining what has happened.

Martin Fisher of Trading Standards states that although it is very difficult to prove that the small print on a deal misled a consumer, "consumers should complain if they feel that bargains are daft".

Fresh fruit and veg - Shops are allowed to price loose fruit and vegetables by the kilogram, and yet packaged fruit and veg per pack or per item. This makes it really difficult to work out the cheapest, unless you have scales, a calculator and a degree in maths!

Make the effort! Many stores do put a weight on packs, but when they don't, try grabbing one of the staff and get them to work it out. Loose is often cheapest, but don't just assume that.

Aisle end 'bargains'- You can't fail to spot these, accompanied by huge tempting signs. They will probably be bargains, but they might not offer the best deal or the cheapest price. Two of our teams splashed out on a special aisle-end pasta deal, when the cheapest pasta was just a few feet away in a much less prominent position.

If the deals are for products you actually want to buy, then go for it. But don't be tempted to buy a premium product, when you really want a basic one that's cheaper.

Eye level products - Research shows our eyes are lazy and will generally stick around eye-level when scanning the shelves. Guess what? That's where the most expensive items are on show.

Get into the habit of checking out the top and bottom shelves for cheaper options.

 

Beat the spend-spend-spend psychology:

It may seem boring but always have a shopping list and stick to it.

Don't shop when you're hungry - you'll be more receptive to buying things you don't need.

Equally, avoid shopping when you're in too good or too bad a mood - stores target shoppers with mood-congruent products, like booze or chocolate.

Consider markets for buying fruit and vegetables.