A SHOPPING expert has revealed the sneaky reason why supermarkets have put Easter eggs on the shelves already.
Although it’s only the first week of January, retailers have stripped the shelves of festive chocolates and mince pies and stocked up with Easter eggs.
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It happens every year – but many people still wonder why,
According to one expert, it’s a clever psychological trick.
The early stocking of shelves with Easter eggs is supposed to convince shoppers to spend more money.
They buy the chocolate now while it’s available in store – and again when it’s closer to Easter.
Dr. Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a consumer psychologist from Anglia Ruskin University, said shoppers think they are being “practical” – but they actually end up spending more in the long run.
She told the Mirror: “The reason why [supermarkets] do it is that often [the seasonal items] are on special offers.
“People are then thinking ‘ooh but it’s cheap now and if I buy them now, I can store them and keep buying things little by little, then I don’t have to pay it all out at the point in time when perhaps I need to buy lots of it’.
“That’s the reasoning for why they’re doing it – in order to get the consumer to think it’s practical for them.
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“However, that is not why they’re doing it – if you start buying mince pies in October because you want to put them away for December, you think ‘ooh I’ll have one’ and then you have two and then you’ve eaten them and then you go and buy a new packet.
“Then as it’s coming up to the festive period, you’ll buy another one.
“So it’s not because the shops want to start Christmas in October or Easter in January, it’s just purely to get people to buy more and little by little you’ll spend twice as much.”
Dr Jansson-Boyd said shoppers have been “conditioned for a long time to think that consumption is important” – and it’s very hard to change that outlook.
“It’s just the way life has gone and I think we need to become dematerialised and understand that material possessions are not important,” she said.
Another shopping expert has revealed the six phrases you need to know to get refunds on Christmas presents.
She pointed out how shopping should be a level playing field – meaning if there is a problem you have the right to have it corrected.
Another expert explained six hidden ways to get bargains.
