Torturing Shoppers with Chicken Wire: How Retailers Uses Data to Increase Impulsive Buying

Did you know that the first supermarket was the King Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, TN used chicken wire to herd shoppers through all the aisles in order to be sure that they saw every item in the store. This little tidbit fact I discovered this morning reading my Globe and Mail newspaper. The article written by Michael Kesterton went on to report that stores like Walmart use data collected on consumers via scanner registers, radio frequency tagging, etc. to manipulate the retail environment in order to maximize consumer sales especially impulse purchases. My mother who worked in sales for Estee Lauder for 35 years talked about how they would use flashing lights, blaring music, distracting displays (full of flowers, banners, people, colors, etc.)to bewilder and overstimulate consumers. All of this works in my opinion because of what cognitive resource depletion theory states is our limited ability to resist distraction and temptation and the rampant impulsivity and risky behavior that follows depletion. Ever wonder why you feel sooo exhausted and traumatized when shopping in the monster box stores (especially exacerbated when small kids are in tow)? The previously mentioned large retailer allegedly has a database of behavioral information that is 2nd only to the Pentagon...amazing! People don't need to fear government...large corporations are scarier! The retail experience needs innovation and renovation...the consumer should be helped not harangued!