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Real Life. Real Kitchen.

The Psychology of the Supermarket: Why You Buy More Than Planned

This post may contain affiliate links. Disclosure here.

Supermarket Psychology: Why You Buy More Than Planned

🔗 Quick Links

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👋 Connect with Rebecca Guarino:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccalguarino/

🛒 Why Do We Buy More Than We Planned?

Have you ever popped into the supermarket for milk and somehow emerged with half the weekly shop? There’s a surprising amount of supermarket psychology behind what happens between walking through the doors and reaching the checkout.

In this episode of Real Life. Real Kitchen., I’m joined by retail design expert and fellow mum Rebecca Guarino to discover how supermarkets (or grocery stores, for my American listeners) influence the way we shop.

We explore why essentials aren’t always near the entrance, how supermarket layout psychology encourages us to travel through the store, and the reality of shopping with kids when strategically placed products meet the dreaded “pester power”. Rebecca also explains how lighting, colour and displays affect what catches our attention.

And because this is a podcast about motherhood, we ask a bigger question: what would a supermarket actually look like if it were designed around the needs of busy mums?

✅ In This Episode You’ll Learn

✅ Why supermarkets put fresh food near the entrance

✅ How store layouts encourage unplanned purchases

✅ Why parents are unusually efficient shoppers

✅ How “pester power” influences the family food shop

✅ Why lighting changes how products feel

✅ Who really prefers self-service tills

✅ How Rebecca would redesign supermarkets for busy mums

👋 About Today’s Guest

Rebecca Guarino is a retail design and development expert who has worked with major UK retailers including Sainsbury’s, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer. With a background in Retail Management and customer psychology (and now motherhood herself) she brings a fascinating insider perspective to how shops are designed and how parents navigate them.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccalguarino/

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 Supermarkets: Convenience or Exploitation?

05:00 How Supermarkets Influence Parents and Children

10:11 Self-Service vs Traditional Tills

14:48 The Psychology of Retail Design

19:58 Lighting, Colour and Shopping Psychology

25:07 Designing Supermarkets for Busy Parents Rebecca Guarino

About Real Life. Real Kitchen.

Real Life. Real Kitchen. explores modern motherhood, food, family life and realistic home systems. Join Zoë F. Willis, English mother-of-many and Mum Mentor for intelligent, practical conversations about making everyday family life calmer, more connected and a little less overwhelming.

Subscribe for new conversations about real motherhood and real family life.

Keywords Mentioned

This episode explores supermarket psychology, grocery store psychology, supermarket tricks, supermarket layout, grocery shopping with kids, pester power, consumer behaviour and retail design and what all of this means for busy mums navigating the weekly family food shop.

Transcript
Speaker A: 00:00:06

Becky, are the supermarkets exploiting us with the way they've got, the spaces set up, the way they've got the products set up in the supermarkets?

Speaker A: 00:00:16

Are we being utterly exploited?

Speaker A: 00:00:17

What is going on when we walk into a supermarket?

Speaker A: 00:00:21

Tell me.

Speaker B: 00:00:22

Wow, big one.

Speaker A: 00:00:24

I've gone in big,.

Speaker B: 00:00:27

So hopefully not, is what I would say.

Speaker A: 00:00:31

Good.

Speaker B: 00:00:33

The aim is never to exploit you.

Speaker B: 00:00:36

Supermarkets are designed for convenience, they're designed for ease, but they are also a marketing tool en masse.

Speaker B: 00:00:45

So there may well be bits where we try and influence you a little bit, but the aim is never to exploit.

Speaker A: 00:00:53

I've gone in big with that one because I feel I'm so happy to have met Becky, who has been working in retail for a very long time.

Speaker A: 00:01:04

But specifically the spaces, the retail spaces, which is something that as most consumers, but also mums in particular, we often don't realize how much work and effort goes into creating these spaces for us to move around in.

Speaker A: 00:01:22

So particularly for mums, we're going into supermarkets two, three times a week, nipping in, getting the milk and things.

Speaker A: 00:01:29

Could you pull back the curtain a little bit?

Speaker A: 00:01:33

How does.

Speaker A: 00:01:34

How are supermarkets designed so that we are we influenced, encouraged to put things in our trolleys?

Speaker A: 00:01:41

What should we start noticing when we go into a supermarket?

Speaker B: 00:01:45

So supermarkets specifically will always try and push fresh credentials at the forefront.

Speaker B: 00:01:53

So that's why you get your fruit and veg as soon as you walk in.

Speaker B: 00:01:57

It's meant to automatically make you feel as a customer that you're getting quality, that you're getting freshness, that your food is going to last in the fridge, which we all want to happen, but you'll also get all of the offers and all of the things that, you know, might be.

Speaker B: 00:02:12

It might be seasonality.

Speaker B: 00:02:13

So for us, we're very lucky here where we are, we get lovely fresh strawberries at this time of year.

Speaker B: 00:02:19

That will be at the forefront at this time of year, but also it will be things that we know you might be thinking about, but not necessarily on a mission for.

Speaker A: 00:02:31

So you're going in for milk, but then there's the, oh, I need the butter frozen peas to go with dinner this evening.

Speaker A: 00:02:38

Or, oh, strawberries.

Speaker A: 00:02:40

Healthy.

Speaker A: 00:02:41

Helping the children.

Speaker A: 00:02:42

Is that kind of how the space is working?

Speaker B: 00:02:44

Absolutely.

Speaker B: 00:02:45

And that's why things like your core shop that you'll pop in for, like milk, they're not right at the front and they never are.

Speaker B: 00:02:52

They're kind of nestled into the fridges, normally at the back of the fridges rather than right next to the till.

Speaker B: 00:02:58

That's Ease, because their milk specifically is on trolleys.

Speaker B: 00:03:02

So it's ease in terms of operationally helps us roll them out from the back, put them in.

Speaker B: 00:03:07

But it also means that you're not just popping in and out like you would your local corner shop for a pint of milk, you are having to make a journey into the store to get to that milk.

Speaker B: 00:03:18

So, yeah, there's definitely some, some little tricks that supermarkets will use to, to get you a little bit further in.

Speaker B: 00:03:26

It's the same with the.

Speaker B: 00:03:28

As parents, the, the baby aisle, all those toddler snacks, the nappies, they're never at the front.

Speaker B: 00:03:35

You have to go further into the store.

Speaker B: 00:03:36

And that's because parents are one of the most easily influenced markets and are likely to.

Speaker B: 00:03:45

In, in the way that we are.

Speaker B: 00:03:47

As mums go, oh, I do need that and I need to pick that up and I need to pick that up.

Speaker B: 00:03:50

And suddenly you haven't just gone in for a pack of nappies, you've also picked up half the weekly shop because it's more convenient to do it in that way.

Speaker B: 00:03:56

So it's, you know, it's.

Speaker B: 00:03:58

There's all a theory to it.

Speaker B: 00:03:59

It's just about the size of that space and how we fill it.

Speaker A: 00:04:03

I think what's quite interesting about that is the way mums think, because we are.

Speaker A: 00:04:08

I came across a wonderful phrase, we are Time Lords.

Speaker A: 00:04:10

So we see the puddle, we see the toddler, we see the inevitable 20 things that could happen.

Speaker A: 00:04:16

So the way our brain works.

Speaker A: 00:04:18

I wrote a blog post about this, actually, is.

Speaker A: 00:04:21

It's almost like deadlines.

Speaker A: 00:04:22

We're seeing all the things we've got to prepare for.

Speaker A: 00:04:24

So when you go into the supermarket, it's kind of all there.

Speaker A: 00:04:27

It's not just nappies, it's, well, I'm running out of wet wipes, I need the bum cream.

Speaker A: 00:04:33

Oh, gosh.

Speaker A: 00:04:34

Tomorrow there's a.

Speaker A: 00:04:35

There's.

Speaker B: 00:04:35

We.

Speaker A: 00:04:37

We're going out for the day, so I've got to get the snacks.

Speaker A: 00:04:39

It's all kind of there, so.

Speaker A: 00:04:42

But what.

Speaker A: 00:04:43

So it kind of fits with your mum brain in many respects.

Speaker A: 00:04:47

So what has gone on into sort of the research around the psychology of parents that makes it fit with this space?

Speaker A: 00:04:56

Do you.

Speaker A: 00:04:57

Can you talk about that?

Speaker B: 00:04:59

So it's.

Speaker B: 00:05:00

There's, there's not so much about the psychology of parents, but particularly about the psychology of children shopping with their parents.

Speaker B: 00:05:07

And there is a very, very real phenomenon called pester power.

Speaker B: 00:05:12

I actually wrote about it in my dissertation when I was at university.

Speaker A: 00:05:16

I love this.

Speaker B: 00:05:18

It's Been around for way longer than we have and it is very much about how the things the children want most that will they will find whether they are in a trolley at that level or they are on the floor at eye level, those picky bits that you might not want to buy them will always be at that level.

Speaker B: 00:05:39

The things with the brightest colours and the most exciting characters on them and all of those lovely things, they will always be in a position whether it's shelf level or along an aisle that will draw the children to them, to get them to pester you, to get them to go, mummy, daddy, whoever's with them, grandma, Grandpa, I, I really want this.

Speaker B: 00:06:03

I need this in the way that particularly a toddler will do to say I must have this and I, I cannot cope without it.

Speaker B: 00:06:12

So there's a lot around how we market to children specifically but also on the flip side of that, the safety element of how you market to children.

Speaker B: 00:06:23

So whilst there'll be lots of things that encourage children to pick them out and encourage their parents to purchase quite often just to make life easier so we can get the rest of the shop done, there's also a lot of areas where we can't do that.

Speaker B: 00:06:40

So you don't want bright colors on tobacco and vaping products for example?

Speaker A: 00:06:45

Yep.

Speaker B: 00:06:46

There was a time where there were some stores that put vaping products on the shop floor, not behind a counter.

Speaker B: 00:06:51

And you have to be very careful that you don't attract children to those things and that that filters through to parents as well.

Speaker B: 00:06:59

So the psychology around parents, particularly parents are the most efficient when they shop.

Speaker B: 00:07:07

We are time poor.

Speaker B: 00:07:09

We, we are, we are mission based.

Speaker B: 00:07:12

So very much, yeah, focus.

Speaker B: 00:07:14

We have, we have the list and we are going in for the list and that is all we're getting.

Speaker B: 00:07:19

So the marketing to that and how we place products within a space definitely has to try and entice parents away from that shopping list where they are 0 focus on that and, and how we kind of chuck in the luxury.

Speaker B: 00:07:37

So that's where things like having the digestive biscuits on an island, you just walk past and go actually yeah, when I do finally get that hot cup of tea, I'd love a digestive biscuit.

Speaker A: 00:07:47

With the chocolate, chocolate Hobnob in the tea.

Speaker A: 00:07:50

Job done.

Speaker B: 00:07:51

Exactly, exactly.

Speaker B: 00:07:52

So yeah, it's it.

Speaker B: 00:07:54

Those kind of things are also there and it filters into non food as well.

Speaker B: 00:08:00

So making things that we might not think we need but actually are quite nice.

Speaker B: 00:08:06

Just a little add on, you know, you just want a little pick me up a Nice smelling candle, something like that.

Speaker B: 00:08:11

They'll always be on, on the easy grab ends.

Speaker A: 00:08:14

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:08:15

Onward route.

Speaker A: 00:08:16

What do they call them?

Speaker A: 00:08:17

The bumps and the upsells and all of this sort of thing in the marketing jargon.

Speaker A: 00:08:22

And I was also thinking as well in terms of the colorful bits and bobs is when you are in the shopping trolley just about to pay and you've got to wait and that's a space that must be quite useful, real estate, shall we say, because the child, the children are in the trolleys and they can see what's above the conveyor belt.

Speaker A: 00:08:41

And actually reflecting on it, I know that there's less and less kind of chocolates and nibbly bits there, that there's been a shift away from that.

Speaker A: 00:08:48

But nonetheless, all the nuts, all the kind of virtuous snacks, they're all brightly colored.

Speaker A: 00:08:55

They, they all have that element to it and in sort of portion sized packages.

Speaker A: 00:09:00

So again, it's a really, really interesting actually how much thought has gone into this and looking at the sort of the movement of people around the space and different people as well.

Speaker A: 00:09:15

So.

Speaker B: 00:09:15

Yeah, but the, and that was that, that change in legislation.

Speaker B: 00:09:20

So that was hfss, which is high fat, salt and sugar.

Speaker B: 00:09:24

That was a huge undertaking for the grocery market particularly and really shifted the way that we lay out all of our stores.

Speaker B: 00:09:34

It really made us rethink how we can utilise islands and how we can utilise the till systems because a lot of, you know, brands will pay big money for those till spaces.

Speaker B: 00:09:49

We're seeing a shift because of salt and sugar and high fat.

Speaker B: 00:09:53

But we're also seeing a shift because self service is becoming more of a thing that there are less tills to stand at.

Speaker B: 00:09:59

You know, people want convenience, there's less time to dawdle.

Speaker B: 00:10:02

Particularly as parents, we want convenience, we want to be in and out as quickly as we can.

Speaker B: 00:10:07

That real estate is still valuable but it's shifting in how it's being used.

Speaker A: 00:10:12

Yeah, I have to admit the self service tools are one of my bugbears because I, I do not find them convenient, they do not like me, I always have a problem, so it always goes slower.

Speaker A: 00:10:24

There's also a big part of me that goes, well, I'm not being paid by the supermarket to do this.

Speaker A: 00:10:31

So I will be one of those awkward people who goes, excuse me, excuse me, can you open a till for me please?

Speaker A: 00:10:37

Or I will ask immediately one of the staff to do the self service tills for me because I just, I'm not paid to do This I do not have the time or the skills or the brain power.

Speaker A: 00:10:47

So is there kind of.

Speaker A: 00:10:49

Again, I just find this intriguing because it's so alien to me.

Speaker A: 00:10:52

So customers genuinely prefer the self service tools or is there like a generational element to it or.

Speaker B: 00:10:59

It's a bit of both.

Speaker B: 00:11:01

So there is a generational move in that the millennials are a bit of a mixed bag.

Speaker B: 00:11:12

I'm also millennial.

Speaker B: 00:11:13

So yeah, it's kind of.

Speaker B: 00:11:15

Because that's such a broad span and we are the span that went from dial up Internet to WI fi and all of those kind of things, we kind of take or leave either option.

Speaker B: 00:11:25

But going younger than that, the, the youth that are coming up now tend to be a lot more self doers.

Speaker B: 00:11:36

So they actually don't mind those tills.

Speaker B: 00:11:38

Whereas your older generation, you will find that they much prefer the belted tills.

Speaker B: 00:11:44

They much prefer the interaction with someone.

Speaker B: 00:11:48

And that's why you see such a difference between different retailers as well and different grocers of how they're adapting.

Speaker B: 00:11:55

You will see a lot less self service and a lot more service tills in a Waitrose, for example, because their core clientele are that slightly older demographic or the demographic that have a slightly higher disposable income and want the service element.

Speaker B: 00:12:13

Whereas you go to an Asda, you'll start to see way more of the self service because that's, that's what those, those customers are after.

Speaker B: 00:12:24

So it, it does flex quite a lot.

Speaker B: 00:12:27

But actually a lot of the decision making will be down to, it'll be down to the data for that store specifically.

Speaker B: 00:12:35

If their self service tills that they've had in already are really generating a lot more than their belted tills do, then actually they'll put more self service in because operationally it makes more sense for the store.

Speaker B: 00:12:50

They're a lot less labor intensive, despite what you might think about having someone running around like a headless chicken trying to approve all the alcohol.

Speaker B: 00:12:58

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:12:59

So it's, it does work operationally for the stores as well, but there'll always be a balance for that store specifically of what, what they're balancing.

Speaker B: 00:13:09

Self service versus belted tills.

Speaker A: 00:13:11

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:13:12

And also with the belted tills, there's also the fact you can have a chat with someone which is getting, you know, increasingly important for the older generation who are.

Speaker A: 00:13:24

Yeah, who, who.

Speaker A: 00:13:25

There's a lot of loneliness.

Speaker A: 00:13:26

So to have that kind of contact is really still an important, an important element to it.

Speaker A: 00:13:32

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:13:33

And you find a lot of the, a lot of the older colleagues who want that interaction, they tend to be the people that work on those tills.

Speaker B: 00:13:41

So they might be someone that retired from a corporate life but actually still wants some day to day interaction.

Speaker B: 00:13:48

One retailer that's really good for this is B and Q.

Speaker B: 00:13:52

The amount of knowledge you get from those that have retired and then just got a job at B and Q on a Saturday because they just want something to do, but the knowledge they have is amazing.

Speaker B: 00:14:03

There's one man at our B and Q who my husband loves because he goes in and he asks him all the questions and he gets all the answers and our DIY has improved immensely because of it.

Speaker B: 00:14:15

So, yeah, there are benefits both ways.

Speaker A: 00:14:17

That's lovely.

Speaker A: 00:14:18

I love the fact you've got the younger chap who's looking to the older chap.

Speaker A: 00:14:21

Show me the ways, what size screw?

Speaker A: 00:14:24

Tell me about the hammer and the nails, says Zoe, who.

Speaker A: 00:14:27

This is not my gift.

Speaker A: 00:14:28

I hand that over to others.

Speaker A: 00:14:30

But that's really beautiful to having that interaction as well.

Speaker A: 00:14:34

Now you've also worked, correct me if I'm wrong, but you've worked for John Lewis too.

Speaker A: 00:14:39

So just for the American listeners, we've rattled off some names of supermarkets and we have.

Speaker A: 00:14:45

I know in the US they have an Aldi.

Speaker A: 00:14:46

Asda would be like an Aldi, sort of cheapish, you know, bargains.

Speaker A: 00:14:51

Waitrose and Marks and Spencer's are quite nice.

Speaker A: 00:14:55

Quite nice.

Speaker A: 00:14:56

That's.

Speaker A: 00:14:56

That's lovely things.

Speaker A: 00:14:57

It would almost be like a Whole Foods.

Speaker A: 00:15:00

And then we've got John Lewis which would be.

Speaker A: 00:15:03

Oh, just trying to think of an American department store.

Speaker A: 00:15:05

But it's quite a nice department store.

Speaker A: 00:15:07

They have lovely things.

Speaker A: 00:15:09

It's, it's def.

Speaker A: 00:15:09

It's not a Selfridges like super or Harrods, but it's like down from there.

Speaker A: 00:15:14

So accessible to most sort of middle class people.

Speaker A: 00:15:16

It's very nice.

Speaker A: 00:15:17

Very, very nice indeed.

Speaker A: 00:15:19

Now, kind of the shopping experience you've got, there's a whole lot of.

Speaker A: 00:15:24

It just reminds me I did theater when I like backstage, stage management, set design and stuff when I was at school in university.

Speaker A: 00:15:31

So it really makes me think a lot about the set design and the feeling that you have when you go into those spaces.

Speaker A: 00:15:41

Can you talk to me a little bit about that?

Speaker A: 00:15:44

The staging, if you will?

Speaker B: 00:15:46

Yeah, and John Lewis is a really good example of that because there's so many departments.

Speaker B: 00:15:51

It is very departmental.

Speaker B: 00:15:53

So John Lewis is a really good example of kind of staging itself because there's so many different departments and actually I was lucky enough When I worked there, to work on bringing all of those family elements together.

Speaker B: 00:16:06

And that very much was about staging.

Speaker B: 00:16:09

So that was part of bringing every part of family life to make it easier to shop and staging it as such.

Speaker B: 00:16:19

So toys, obviously there's so much you can do that's exciting and interactive with toys.

Speaker B: 00:16:28

Part of what we did was we created rocket ships that made noises and had lights and constellations above them, which was part of keeping the children entertained.

Speaker B: 00:16:38

So the parents could shop.

Speaker A: 00:16:39

Yes.

Speaker B: 00:16:40

Which is always is benefit to the parents that are shopping and to the.

Speaker B: 00:16:44

To John Lewis, because actually the parents are more likely to have a bigger basket size and spend a bit more if they've had that less stressful experience where the kids are entertained and not hassling.

Speaker A: 00:16:56

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:16:57

Love the podcast and want to help keep the kettle on.

Speaker A: 00:17:00

You can support the show.

Speaker A: 00:17:02

Think of it like buying me a cup of tea or helping cover the cost of the biscuits.

Speaker A: 00:17:06

You'll find the link in the show notes.

Speaker A: 00:17:09

Thank you for keeping this kitchen conversation going.

Speaker B: 00:17:12

But there was also part of what John Lewis does is a lot of service LED bits.

Speaker B: 00:17:17

So they have a great service called All Things Baby.

Speaker B: 00:17:20

I've used it myself as well as been part of the kind of internal team.

Speaker B: 00:17:24

Highly recommend.

Speaker A: 00:17:26

They were very good.

Speaker A: 00:17:27

I remember when I first.

Speaker A: 00:17:28

I went along to the one on Oxford street and you could sort of have a pram tryout, which was quite marvelous.

Speaker A: 00:17:34

It was like sort of trying out for, you know, when you.

Speaker A: 00:17:35

When you.

Speaker A: 00:17:36

When you get a new car, but with prams.

Speaker A: 00:17:38

It was amazing.

Speaker B: 00:17:39

Yes.

Speaker B: 00:17:40

And they'll give you.

Speaker B: 00:17:41

You tell them what you need from a pram, whether you're a walk through the woods kind of person or you're in inner city living and you need something that's small and compact.

Speaker B: 00:17:49

They'll really help you out with that.

Speaker B: 00:17:50

And actually what we did to make the service easier to service, but also to make the customer journey make more sense was we brought all of those elements together.

Speaker B: 00:17:59

So it's not just the buggies in the car seat.

Speaker B: 00:18:01

It was also your baby cameras and how you can utilize them not just in the nursery but also in the rest of the house.

Speaker B: 00:18:10

And how you can connect multiple cameras to one screen and all of those things.

Speaker B: 00:18:14

How you might want something in your car that's a bit more techy or a bit less techy.

Speaker B: 00:18:20

Just a mirror.

Speaker B: 00:18:21

How do you use a mirror in a car when you first got a baby?

Speaker B: 00:18:24

How do you angle it?

Speaker B: 00:18:25

What are you meant to be able to see?

Speaker B: 00:18:27

All of those things.

Speaker B: 00:18:28

And we brought that all into one space.

Speaker B: 00:18:30

Whereas previously, you know, John Lewis stores can be quite an expanse.

Speaker B: 00:18:36

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:18:36

When you are pregnant, the last thing you want to be doing is walking around a huge department store trying to find all the things that you want.

Speaker B: 00:18:44

Likewise, when you're taking children with you, the last thing you want is to cart them around the whole shop to find what you want.

Speaker B: 00:18:51

So it was very much about bringing it all into one space and staging was a huge part of that.

Speaker B: 00:18:56

So we created mock nursery so you could see all of those elements together.

Speaker B: 00:19:02

You know, the furniture, the cameras, the interactive toys for the newborns, the toys on the floor for the toddler that you might have to keep entertained while you're doing a nappy, change everything.

Speaker B: 00:19:15

So, yes, it's very much about staging, particularly in an environment like John Lewis.

Speaker A: 00:19:20

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:19:21

So you can actually.

Speaker A: 00:19:21

It's also really helpful because you will see these objects and I'm not just talking about.

Speaker A: 00:19:27

Not just as like you, a soon to be new mum, but you'll see a lot of these objects and then it's a case of.

Speaker A: 00:19:33

Yes.

Speaker A: 00:19:34

How would it actually work within the space?

Speaker A: 00:19:36

What is the practical application for this and things?

Speaker A: 00:19:40

So having it set up like that?

Speaker A: 00:19:42

Well, it's a bit like the IKEA experience, isn't it, where you're walking through and you're seeing all the rooms and then you get to like, here's the bedroom space, here's the kitchen space and then here's the marketplace.

Speaker A: 00:19:56olutionary at its time in the: 1950Speaker A: 00:20:04

I'm going to presume that's something that you've looked at.

Speaker B: 00:20:07

I would not be doing my job if I hadn't.

Speaker B: 00:20:09

Yes.

Speaker B: 00:20:10

IKEA is a master class in psychological shopping.

Speaker B: 00:20:17

Is the.

Speaker B: 00:20:20

It's bizarrely something that we welcome, is being forced to shop in a certain way now.

Speaker B: 00:20:26

It.

Speaker B: 00:20:26

And it's a testament to IKEA and their brand that they have not had any backlash from that.

Speaker B: 00:20:32

Because if I tried to do that somewhere I had worked, whether that be John Lewis, whether that be Marks and Spencer's, whether that be Sainsbury's, people would walk in and go, but I don't want to go past the fruit to get to the milk, I just want to go to the milk.

Speaker A: 00:20:46

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:20:48

So, yeah, it's definitely a masterclass.

Speaker B: 00:20:51

It's also very clever.

Speaker B: 00:20:52

As they've evolved, they are fantastic at evolving with life.

Speaker B: 00:20:59

So, for example, when Covid hit and suddenly home offices became a much bigger thing than they ever been Before I actually went to Ikea the night before lockdown happened.

Speaker A: 00:21:11

Wow.

Speaker B: 00:21:12

Me and my husband were mid renovation and went, right, we need to go and buy everything we need before.

Speaker B: 00:21:19

Everything that was on the list, we need to get now so we can build it all and get it all sorted while we're in lockdown.

Speaker B: 00:21:27

I felt from my point of view, my, my professional view was very excited because I thought, oh, I'm going to see an IKEA just before they're shutting it down for we don't know how long.

Speaker B: 00:21:36

One benefit, all of the plants were 50p.

Speaker B: 00:21:38

I have quite many plants in my house.

Speaker B: 00:21:40

It's nice.

Speaker B: 00:21:42

But what you did see was they had already started shutting down some of their showrooms and those inspirational displays because I think they knew they were going to have to adapt quite quickly and make space for things that didn't take big space previously.

Speaker B: 00:22:00

Now, you walk around an Ikea and their flow is very much living, living, living, work.

Speaker B: 00:22:08

And then you go into your bedrooms and the comfy stuff.

Speaker B: 00:22:13

So it's.

Speaker A: 00:22:13

I've never thought about that.

Speaker A: 00:22:15

That's.

Speaker A: 00:22:16

That's really clever that, that sort of journey as well.

Speaker B: 00:22:21

And they recognize that it could be in your lounge, that you need to work, it could be in your dining room, or it could be in the spare bedroom.

Speaker B: 00:22:27

So they've put it in between those things so you don't feel like you're shifting from one part of your house to another.

Speaker B: 00:22:35

It's just transitional.

Speaker A: 00:22:37

Yeah, that's so clever.

Speaker A: 00:22:38

I mean, my, my PhD dissertation, I was looking at urban space, medieval spaces, and how they were used for.

Speaker A: 00:22:47

For saint cults.

Speaker A: 00:22:48

So you would have kind of processions and feast days, but also how space was used in a political context.

Speaker A: 00:22:55

So this is, it's oddly not that big a shift across to retail because again, it's kind of movement.

Speaker A: 00:23:06

It's color, it's transitions, it's story, you know, because it's also.

Speaker A: 00:23:12

Where am I placing myself within the IKEA story?

Speaker A: 00:23:14

I can see myself in that bedroom where I.

Speaker A: 00:23:17

With that study and in that kitchen, thank you very much.

Speaker A: 00:23:20

And the same historically, you know, it's like, well, I'm in this political party because this will be the end that we're going to get to, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker A: 00:23:28

So that's really, yeah, really fascinating.

Speaker A: 00:23:31

Really, really interesting, the sort of journeys that we go on.

Speaker A: 00:23:35

And most people, vast majority of people have no idea.

Speaker A: 00:23:38

Now, there must also be quite an interesting tension.

Speaker A: 00:23:40

I am one who finds, with an art history background, I'm sort of, you know, aesthetically, I Can find things quite jangly.

Speaker A: 00:23:50

I'm presuming colour, light, there is a psychology to that as well.

Speaker A: 00:23:56

What is going to entice people in?

Speaker A: 00:23:58

What is going to push them out?

Speaker A: 00:24:00

I mean, I know for one, anything that's dark and has like, doof, doof, doof doof music, I'm gone.

Speaker A: 00:24:05

I'm just gone.

Speaker A: 00:24:07

So can you talk to me a little bit about that as well?

Speaker B: 00:24:10

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:24:11

So lights are a huge draw.

Speaker B: 00:24:14

We'd love to say that we are not all drawn in that way, but the reality is we are.

Speaker B: 00:24:21

Whether you are a child or an adult, something that has lights on will catch your attention.

Speaker B: 00:24:26

And actually what we've seen, particularly in grocery, is that that's really amped up over the last few years.

Speaker A: 00:24:32

Okay.

Speaker B: 00:24:33e of the things I did must be: 2018 Speaker B: 00:24:57

So you walked into a Super drug or a boots and you felt like you were in cosmetics, luxury, it felt like you were getting quality.

Speaker B: 00:25:06

You buy exactly the same thing in a supermarket back then.

Speaker B: 00:25:09

And actually it didn't feel as exciting, it didn't feel as inspirational.

Speaker B: 00:25:13

You just went, I need an eyeliner, I'll pick up an eyeliner and off I go to get my eggs.

Speaker B: 00:25:17

So what, what we did as part of that was actually try and make it more exciting and make it feel like you were getting the experience not just environmentally, but from a service point of view as well.

Speaker B: 00:25:28

But a lot of that was using nicer materials.

Speaker B: 00:25:31

So we introduced wood finishes, which you don't see a lot of in a supermarket.

Speaker B: 00:25:37

And we added a lot of lights and a lot of branding, got a lot of brand support through that.

Speaker B: 00:25:41

And that really amped up that space.

Speaker B: 00:25:43

And actually what we've now seen across multiple grocers and beyond grocery as well, is that that kind of thing has been introduced to areas where we probably wouldn't have done it before.

Speaker B: 00:25:55

So in the fruit and veg section, we wouldn't necessarily put lighting in, but that is now becoming much more of a thing because people don't recognize it as being the Vegas lights of a casino, for example, but actually, actually being a signal of quality and investment in a space.

Speaker B: 00:26:17

Likewise, there'll be lots of spaces that use different materials in terms of your fruit and veg.

Speaker B: 00:26:24

You probably never even noticed, but the flooring might be different.

Speaker B: 00:26:28

The tiling on the walls might be different because all of that just makes you feel like that product is fresher.

Speaker B: 00:26:34

And actually we're now learning to use lighting to entice that and emphasize that freshness rather than detract from it.

Speaker A: 00:26:42

And I was also thinking kind of the fresh fruit and vegetables.

Speaker A: 00:26:46

There's something almost, I'm going to use the word aspirational because it's healthy.

Speaker A: 00:26:51

I mean it is, it is healthy, but it's healthy.

Speaker A: 00:26:54

It's aiming for the cooking from scratch.

Speaker A: 00:26:58

It's.

Speaker A: 00:26:59

There's like a wholesome element to it and yes, having almost the rustic elements of the wood and then the lighting which enhances the colours and makes it all bright and fabulous.

Speaker A: 00:27:11

That's a really powerful.

Speaker A: 00:27:14

Yeah, it's a really powerful nudge.

Speaker A: 00:27:16

I'm going to use that word.

Speaker A: 00:27:17

It's a very powerful nudge in that space because we've had changes locally.

Speaker A: 00:27:22

I mean, you'll know we've got a Tesco's in Pembury which is quite close to where both Becky and I live.

Speaker A: 00:27:27

And there's a new Marks and Spencer's food, also quite close.

Speaker A: 00:27:30

And again, again they have the lighting.

Speaker A: 00:27:34

Although these are certainly Marks and Spencer's is a warehouse.

Speaker A: 00:27:37

The way they have the lighting and the fresh fruit all set up in the entrance way.

Speaker A: 00:27:42

Trying to make you think of like a French market.

Speaker A: 00:27:47

It's very interesting what that's tapping into with our psychology.

Speaker A: 00:27:52

No, it's fascinating.

Speaker B: 00:27:53

The M and S, specifically Marks and Spencer's food, that store is a full range store so it has every piece of food that food and drink that Marks and Spencer's do, which there aren't many of those around, so that's quite a luxury.

Speaker B: 00:28:08

But it also has things like a cheese barge, which internally is what we used to call it but to the naked eye is just a very nice cheese display and makes you feel very.

Speaker B: 00:28:22

It has all of the biscuits next to.

Speaker B: 00:28:24

To it, a bit of wine on the end so you get the full experience of going, oh, that cheese looks nice actually let's have a cheese and wine night.

Speaker B: 00:28:31

And you just treat yourself for absolutely no reason because it looked nice.

Speaker B: 00:28:36

Yes, Marks and Spencers are particularly good at using lighting and the right finishes on their kit to make it feel more luxurious.

Speaker B: 00:28:47

And a lot of us see M S as a luxury choice compared to our day to day.

Speaker B: 00:28:52

So it fits with the brand quite well.

Speaker A: 00:28:54

Yep, yep.

Speaker A: 00:28:55

To go in for your cheese and wine and your nibbles and all of that.

Speaker A: 00:28:58

No, it's really, really interesting now.

Speaker A: 00:29:01

Got A question for you.

Speaker A: 00:29:03

We've already talked about the pester power and the mums who are like, I'm on a mission, I'm on a mission for milk.

Speaker A: 00:29:09

And then you come out with a full trolley load.

Speaker A: 00:29:12

Go on your side quests.

Speaker A: 00:29:14

Now, if you, you're a mother yourself of a wee one.

Speaker A: 00:29:19

If you had to redesign the weekly supermarket experience specifically for this overwhelmed mum, what is it that you would change?

Speaker A: 00:29:29

Are there bits where you've gone, oh, I know we gotta sell stuff, but now I'm experiencing it, what would I change?

Speaker B: 00:29:38

See, I find this really hard because I've done this for so long that I am psychologically tuned to know in any supermarket where things are when I walk in.

Speaker A: 00:29:47

Amazing.

Speaker A: 00:29:48

So actually you're quite mission orientated.

Speaker A: 00:29:50

You're like, I know where the milk is, I know where the nappies are.

Speaker A: 00:29:52

I am focused, I will not focus.

Speaker B: 00:29:54

And I write my shopping list based on the order that the products are in the store.

Speaker A: 00:29:59

You're like my husband.

Speaker A: 00:30:00

You're like my husband.

Speaker A: 00:30:01

I just do a brain dump.

Speaker A: 00:30:02

Like, bleh.

Speaker A: 00:30:03

This is all the things we need.

Speaker A: 00:30:04

And it's sort of.

Speaker A: 00:30:05

And then he will organize it and then he's quite mission focused.

Speaker B: 00:30:09

Role reverse in our house.

Speaker B: 00:30:10

My husband will write it on the list as we need it, and then I will take the list and rewrite it in the right order.

Speaker A: 00:30:17

My goodness, I'm so glad we're not alone.

Speaker A: 00:30:20

I love it.

Speaker B: 00:30:21

So I find this question really hard for that reason, because I'm so tuned to just going, I need this, so I will walk this way in this shop.

Speaker B: 00:30:29

But I think there are certain things that could really benefit parents specifically who are on a mission at the moment.

Speaker B: 00:30:38

All of your, what we call core pantry essentials.

Speaker B: 00:30:43

So your sugar, your eggs, your flour.

Speaker B: 00:30:46

What you will find in a lot of supermarkets is they have specific signage for them.

Speaker B: 00:30:50

So if you walk down the middle aisle of a supermarket, you quite often see there's just a sign that says eggs and there's just a sign that says milk.

Speaker B: 00:30:59

That's because we know that they are cornerstones of every British pantry or cupboard.

Speaker B: 00:31:07

And so we signpost them to make it easier.

Speaker B: 00:31:10

So if you are on that mission, that's fine.

Speaker B: 00:31:12

But actually what you'd want in an ideal world is all of those things right at the front of the store so that you didn't have to go through the baked beans and the pasta and a bit of curry sauce and all sorts of other things to get to them.

Speaker B: 00:31:28

Likewise, you might want eggs, but you're not baking anything, so then you don't need to go down the baking aisle, you just need the eggs.

Speaker B: 00:31:35

So for me, I think I would love almost a mini convenience store at the front of every supermarket.

Speaker A: 00:31:44

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:31:45

So that then if I wanted to go further in and get some other things, I could.

Speaker B: 00:31:49

But I'd quite like to just have the nappies, the milk, the.

Speaker B: 00:31:54

A few little toddler snacks that I. I might pick up now and again.

Speaker B: 00:31:58

And maybe some chocolate and wine for myself, all at the front.

Speaker A: 00:32:01

I love that.

Speaker A: 00:32:02

It's like all the, all the baby stuff and the simple things and then it's like wine red or white, sparkles or no.

Speaker A: 00:32:09

What are you gonna go for?

Speaker A: 00:32:11

You're worth it.

Speaker A: 00:32:12

I love that.

Speaker A: 00:32:13

I love that.

Speaker B: 00:32:14

So I think that that's the dream.

Speaker B: 00:32:16

I know because of what I do, it will never happen.

Speaker A: 00:32:19

Never happen.

Speaker A: 00:32:20

But it's.

Speaker B: 00:32:21

It's essentially building a convenience store within a big supermarket is.

Speaker B: 00:32:26

Is probably what the ideal is.

Speaker B: 00:32:28

Um, but then with my commercial head on, we then never make as much money.

Speaker A: 00:32:34

No, never.

Speaker A: 00:32:34

The bumps and the upsells and.

Speaker A: 00:32:36

And I know certainly supermarkets have such slim margins as well.

Speaker A: 00:32:40

Yeah, it's, it's.

Speaker A: 00:32:41

It is a tricky one.

Speaker A: 00:32:42

And these, these are businesses who employ people and are there to make profits.

Speaker A: 00:32:46

So there we go.

Speaker A: 00:32:48

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:32:48

Speaking of kind of pantry essentials, I'm going to do an outrageous plug, but I've got a.

Speaker A: 00:32:53

You can have a look in the show notes.

Speaker A: 00:32:54

I've got my pantry reset emergency meals for real life.

Speaker A: 00:32:57

So you can go and check that out in the show notes once you have survived the supermarket and have your pantry essentials.

Speaker A: 00:33:03

So, no, this is just.

Speaker A: 00:33:05

Becky, this has just been absolutely fascinating and I think for those who are listening, it's actually quite nice to have a choice, because now you go, right, I can be mission focused and know that there are these things, the extra things there to entice me.

Speaker A: 00:33:22

And you can also have those days where you're like, I'm in the supermarket, big shop and a bit more open to the extra things.

Speaker A: 00:33:30

Does that make sense?

Speaker A: 00:33:31

So you can have your two different sorts of shops.

Speaker A: 00:33:33

I remember years ago, I would sometimes go on a Friday night for my running away time, just a bit of peace, and I go to the supermarket and it was just so lovely to wander around and go, oh, a box of something lovely.

Speaker A: 00:33:49

Shall I have this or not?

Speaker A: 00:33:50

Not today.

Speaker A: 00:33:51

Put that away for now.

Speaker A: 00:33:52

Oh, And I thought, you know, you were having this leisurely time in the supermarket and I would see all the other mums that I'd seen in the playgrounds, also having a very leisurely time.

Speaker A: 00:34:03

And I did think you needed someone going around with pina coladas for the mums on those evenings.

Speaker A: 00:34:07

That would be lovely.

Speaker A: 00:34:09

That would be.

Speaker B: 00:34:09

That's why Christmas shopping is the best, because sometimes there's samples.

Speaker A: 00:34:12

My gosh.

Speaker B: 00:34:13

Excellent point, excellent point.

Speaker A: 00:34:15

I shall remember that.

Speaker A: 00:34:16

Thank you for Friday night wandering around.

Speaker A: 00:34:18

I will be there in one minute.

Speaker A: 00:34:21

I know, but I've got.

Speaker A: 00:34:22

I need one minute.

Speaker A: 00:34:23

Becky, bless you.

Speaker A: 00:34:24

Thank you.

Speaker A: 00:34:25

So where can people get in touch.

Speaker B: 00:34:29

So I can be found on.

Speaker B: 00:34:31

LinkedIn is probably where I'm most prevalent to do a dis.

Speaker B: 00:34:35

So, yes, I'll put.

Speaker A: 00:34:37

I'll put that in the show notes.

Speaker B: 00:34:38

So, yep, my LinkedIn is always open.

Speaker B: 00:34:42

Yes, likewise, you can find me on Instagram.

Speaker B: 00:34:46

I'm quite happy.

Speaker B: 00:34:47

You've got a lovely mum community on there, so I'm quite happy to answer any questions.

Speaker B: 00:34:52

And if you really can't find anything in a shop as well, just let me know.

Speaker B: 00:34:56

I can probably tell you where it'll be.

Speaker A: 00:34:57

Yeah, brilliant.

Speaker A: 00:34:58

Oh, Becky, that was just fantastic.

Speaker A: 00:35:00

Thank you.

Speaker A: 00:35:02

I'll be in touch because I'm sure I'll have more questions pop into mind later on, but thank you, that was just fantastic.

Speaker A: 00:35:07

All right.

Speaker A: 00:35:08

And yes, if anybody's listening, I'm going to put a video up.

Speaker A: 00:35:13

I have a small child in the background, away with she.

Speaker A: 00:35:16

Video up, where.

Speaker A: 00:35:18

I'm just talking about home space, our spaces at home, how we can make them quite sort of tranquil and peaceful.

Speaker A: 00:35:25

Because that is a whole topic in itself, which I think we can take from the psychology of retail and bring it into our homes.

Speaker A: 00:35:32

Oh, bless you.

Speaker A: 00:35:33

Thank you, Becky.

Speaker A: 00:35:34

Have a good day.

Speaker B: 00:35:34

Thank you, Sam.

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