Grocery store customers would spend more or less money depending on whether they used a particular type of shopping cart. For example, customers would spend up to 25 percent less when shopping with a traditional shopping cart with horizontal handles. That’s according to a new study from the Bayes Business School.
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The study examines how using the standard shopping cart with a horizontal handlebar, such as you would likely find in a supermarket, activates the triceps muscle of the arm. In contrast, a newly designed shopping cart with parallel handles, like those of a wheelbarrow, activates the biceps muscle. Psychological research has shown that an activation of the triceps is associated with rejecting things we don’t like, such as when we push or hold something away from us. An activation of the biceps is associated with things we do like, for example when we pull something towards us.
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“Loose buying muscles”
When testing the newly designed shopping cart on consumers in a supermarket, the study’s researchers, Professors Zachary Estes and Mathias Streicher, found that those who used shopping carts with parallel handles bought more products and spent up to 25 percent more money than those who used the shopping cart with parallel handles. standard shopping cart. Estes described the results of the study as “shocking”: “It’s shocking to find that making a small change in the position of the handles can have such a big impact on shoppers’ spending. The handles literally make us loosen up our buying muscles.”
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The traditional shopping carts can act as a welcome and unexpected brake to keep unnecessary purchases out of the cart
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The findings indicate that supermarket chains are likely to increase sales by offering customers the new shopping carts. However, interviews revealed that leading shopping cart manufacturers had not yet considered using parallel handles on their carts. They were therefore surprised that the position of the handles could affect sales. “While Covid-19 caused Black Friday sales to plummet in 2020, we can now expect stores to be overrun this weekend with consumers looking to stock up for the holiday season. But it seems that the traders are missing an opportunity if they want to increase their sales even more,” said Estes.
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Also useful for consumers
Estes then concluded that the result of the study can also be usefully used by consumers: “Conversely, the results of the study could also be very useful for consumers, now that Christmas is just around the corner. If they want to keep their shopping trips to a minimum and buy all their gifts in one go, they can work their biceps to put things in their cart. However, if they want to keep their spending to a minimum, traditional shopping carts can act as a welcome and unexpected brake to keep unnecessary purchases out of the cart.”
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