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5 sneaky ways retailers get you to overspend

Be a smart shopper and beware of these tricks designed to separate you from your money.

Updated on August 1, 2024

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Have you ever walked into a store or clicked on a website and come away with much more than you intended to buy? There’s a reason for that. 

Holiday retail sales in 2023 hit a record $964.4 billion, including $276.8 billion in online sales. With all that spending going on, every retailer wants a piece of the action—and they’re willing to spend time and money toShow More

people in a retail boutique
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They tempt you to impulse-buy

In the United States, consumers spend an average of $5,400 a year on impulse buys of food, clothing, and household items, according to one estimate. Since there’s a large body of research on the psychology of impulse buying, marketers know how to (quite literally) capitalize on unfocused, in-storeShow More

elderly woman looking at laptop with perplexed expression
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They follow you around the internet

“Did you ever open up your browser and notice a pair of shoes that you were just looking at advertised on the screen?” asks financial expert Nicole Lapin, author of Miss Independent: A Simple 12-Step Plan to Start Investing and Grow Your Own Wealth. That’s not a coincidence. It’s thanks to cookies.Show More

woman checking out at a retail counter
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They pitch savings with in-store credit cards

If a salesperson offers to set you up with a store credit card that offers a percentage off your purchases or the opportunity to earn rewards, don’t be tempted says Lapin. “It’s not much of a good deal,” she says. 

According to Bankrate.com, store credit card interest rates had an average 28.Show More

roller skates, black and white picture
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They play the nostalgia card

They play holiday songs to bring back childhood memories, run black-and-white ads evoking a more “wholesome” time, and revive classic brands like the Volkswagen Beetle. Many marketers shoot for a feeling of nostalgia among shoppers. That’s because nostalgia weakens the desire for money. ResearchersShow More

sale
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They offer misleading holiday ‘bargains’

Black Friday is the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season and the biggest shopping day of the year. Retail stores get shoppers through the doors by offering steep discounts. But some of these deals aren’t really deals. Instead, many companies engage in a technique called high-lowShow More

Slideshow sources open slideshow sources

National Retail Federation. NRF Says Census Data Shows 2023 Holiday Sales Grew 3.8% to Record $964.4 Billion. January 17, 2024.
POPAI’S 2014 Mass Merchant Shopper Engagement Study. 
Iyer GR, Blut M, Xiao SH et al. Impulse buying: a meta-analytic review. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 48, 384–404; 2020. 
Federal Trade Commission. Internet Cookies. Last updated May 2021.
Bankrate. Retail credit card interest rates skyrocket to 28.9% this holiday season, shoppers beware. October 23, 2023.
Weingarten E, Wei Z. Nostalgia and consumer behavior. Curr Opin Psychol. 2023 Feb;49:101555.
Puente-Díaz, R., Cavazos-Arroyo, J., & Awan, U. (2021). Experiential purchases, as memorable moments in consumers’ lives, trigger nostalgia. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1).
Kulczynski, A., & Hook, M. (2024). Typography Talks: Influencing Vintage Anemoia and Product Safety Perceptions with Vintage Typography. Journal of Marketing, 88(4), 129-153.
Lasaleta JD, Sedikides C, Vohs KD. Nostalgia Weakens the Desire for Money. Journal of Consumer Research. Volume 41, Issue 3, 1 October 2014, Pages 713–729.
Suzanne Kapner. The Dirty Secret of Black Friday 'Discounts': How Retailers Concoct 'Bargains' for the Holidays and Beyond. Wall Street Journal. Updated November 25, 2013.

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