09/06/2026
🛒 Most of us have, at some point, visited a supermarket.
💭 But very few of us think about the secret science behind shopping – how clever little details manipulate us into buying more groceries and, very often, things we don't actually need.
Tesco is by most measures the biggest and most successful supermarket in the UK.
"Tesco controls roughly a quarter of every pound spent on groceries in Britain," explains retail analysis YouTube channel UK Food Exposed. "Almost every part of the shopping experience inside their stores has been designed to make you spend more than you intended."
The analysts have identified 11 key tactics that retail experts employ to make you spend more – and they have some suggestions on how you can avoid them, and save money.
Temptation at the end of the aisle
One of the simplest, but still most effective retail tricks is to create end-of aisle displays. "End of aisle displays are designed to stop you," the video explains. "The products at the end of Tesco aisles feel like promotions because they are displayed like promotions, but many are sold at completely normal prices."
However, research shows that this kind of display can lift sales of a product by more than 30% without any actual price reduction.
To avoid being drawn in by these clever marketing techniques, the best advice is to always know what you need before even setting off to the supermarket, and stick firmly to your shopping list.
Fresh-baked bread
The enticing smell of the in-store bakery makes wandering around your local supermarket a somewhat pleasurable experience. But that mouth-watering aroma isn't just an accidental byproduct of Tesco's bakers making fresh bread, the video claims.
They say: "The smell of fresh bread increases hunger and encourages impulse buying. Tesco knows this. That is why bakeries are often positioned near entrances or high traffic areas."
Baking is timed for the busiest times of day, the video adds, so that the maximum number of shoppers are exposed to that appetising smell. They continued: "Ambient food scents have been shown in published studies to increase grocery basket size by measurable amounts. The smell changes how shoppers behave before they consciously realise it."
Check out the extras
These days, we have become used to checking out groceries ourselves, especially in smaller stores such as Tesco Metro outlets. But self-checkouts often feature enticing displays of little treats – such as sweets or magazines – that encourage impulse buying.
There is less "social friction" around making last-minute impulse purchases at an automated checkout, the analysts say 'Without a cashier present, customers often feel less self-conscious about adding extra items at the last second."
These little impulse buys might seem trivial in themselves, but over the course of a year of weekly shops, those small additions mount up to become a significant proportion of your total grocery bill.
True colours
When you visit the meat counter of Tesco, or any large supermarket, you're presented with row upon row of steaks, lamb chops and other choice cuts that have that red colouring that denotes freshly-butchered meat.
But in fact nearly all red meat quickly loses that colour and, while it's still perfectly good to eat, it doesn't look as tempting as it might. All of the big supermarkets pack their fresh meat in a protective atmosphere that prolongs its shelf appeal.
"That colour can create the illusion of freshness even when the meat has already been sitting packaged for several days," the analysts explain. "The colour tells you almost nothing about how long the meat has been in the package. The defence is to ignore the colour entirely and look at the packed date on the underside of the label.
"The packed on date is the only honest information on the package. Bright red meat packed four days ago is not fresher than darker meat packed yesterday. The colour is engineered. The date is not."
Going upmarket
Very often, when you're shopping using a mobile app, you'll see a tempting "personalised" offer pop up. That might be, for example, a special price on the premium version of a product you buy every week.
The analysts explains: "If you regularly buy standard pasta sauce, the app may tempt you to order a premium version with a temporary discount. Tesco sacrifices margin on that one transaction in the hope that you continue buying the premium version later at full price."
While your supermarket might be making a small loss on the initial discount, the logic is that over time you'll end up spending a lot more on the posh version.
Just as if you were shopping in person, the best policy is making your shopping list before opening the app, and sticking to it. Only take advantage of discounts on the products that are already on your list.
Lost in the supermarket
Supermarket layouts are scientifically formulated to slow you down. Essential such as milk, eggs, bread, and butter are rarely displayed near the entrance because Tesco – or whoever you shop with – want you walking past as many products as possible before reaching the produce you actually came in for.
"Every extra aisle increases the chance of impulse purchases," the analysts explain.
Similarly, occasional redesigns of your supermarket are rarely to make things more convenient for the customer. Instead they're intended to break any habits you might have built up that see you missing certain aisles: "Disoriented shoppers spend longer in store, look at more products, and buy more unplanned items."
Every extra minute you spend in store will increase the amount you end up spending, research has shown.
However the supermarket is laid out, though, you'll nearly always find the "healthy" options such as fruit and veg just inside the entrance. The pattern is consistent enough that the food retail industry has its own term for it: Halo Licensing.
Once you're bought some salad, you're subconsciously more comfortable with the idea of buying some pizza.
Stick with the stickers
Every now and then, as you wander the aisles of your local Tesco you'll find a shelf full of items with yellow 'reduced' stickers, usually signifying something that's coming close to its "best before" date. "Most Tesco stores reduce products in waves throughout the day," the analysts explain.
"Early reductions usually happen in the morning. Larger reductions tend to happen in the afternoon and evening when stores need products cleared before closing."
If you have the time to do some research, the analysts say, you can save yourself a pretty penny. They said: "Spend two weeks learning your local Tesco reduction schedule. Note the times when meat is reduced. Note the times when bakery items are reduced. Within a month, you will have a personal map of the optimal times to shop at your store That map can permanently lower your food bill."
A weekly shopper who takes full advantage of Tesco's yellow sticker system can save up to 30% of their weekly bill – over the course of a year they can end up saving over £1,000.
Remember your dates
The "best before" and "use by" dates printed on food packaging have completely distinct meanings. Tinned tomatoes that are years past their best before date are not likely to dangerous. They might just be slightly less tasty.
"Food waste in British households costs the average family hundreds of pounds per year," the analysts explain. "A significant portion of that waste is driven by date confusion. The rule is simple. 'Use by' means do not eat after this date. 'Best before' means it is no longer at peak quality, but it is still safe."
By monitoring what's in your larder, and understanding when produce is still safe to eat, you can cut down on your food waste and save yourself a sizeable sum of money.
Shop international
As in many other supermarkets, that less-busy World Food aisle is a great place to find bargains. Products such as rice, lentils, spices, coconut milk, tinned beans, sauces, and condiments can often be found at prices significantly lower than similar products elsewhere in the store.
"The products are often similar," the analysts say, "The pricing strategy is not. Tesco knows shoppers browsing the World Foods aisle are generally more price conscious and more likely to compare prices carefully."
A pack of basmati rice in the world food aisle, to pick just one example, can easily be half the price of a near-identical product sold elsewhere in the store.
"Make a habit of checking the World Food section first for staples like rice, lentils, tinned beans, and cooking ingredients," the analysts advise. "The savings add up immediately and they persist week after week."
The devil is in the data
Tesco, like any other big supermarket, isn't just a scaled-up version of your old corner shop. It's a sophisticated data-driven business that analyses customers' individual spending habits in real time to measure their retail habits.
Customers who change brands, or stop buying altogether, in response to price increases are identified and sent entirely different offers and discounts to those shoppers who doggedly stick to the same list every week no matter what their weekly bill comes to.
"This is the part most shoppers never think about," the analysts explain. "Tesco does not just know what you buy. Tesco knows what makes you change your behaviour. They know which prices you tolerate. They know which prices push you toward an alternative. They know whether you respond to discounts, to multi-buys, to premium offers, or to loyalty rewards."
Equally, this huge swath of data is analysed on a nationwide scale, influencing Tesco's buying strategy as well as determining retail prices.
Join the club
Tesco's Club Card scheme is one of the most successful loyalty card schemes of its kind. But in the real world, benefits of such schemes can be mixed. A 2024 report from the government's The Competition and Markets Authority found: "Our comparative price analysis indicates loyalty prices generally do offer shoppers savings when compared with the price of the same product at other supermarkets when it is not on promotion at the other retailers.
"But this is not always the case, and we found several loyalty priced products which were significantly more expensive than the cheapest price available at other supermarkets at that time, so there is value in shopping around."
One reason the Tesco Club Card is certainly worth getting, though, is the reduction it offers for one of its most popular products – the meal deal. Instead of paying £4.25, users pay £3.85.
Essentially, if you have the time to research discount and "yellow sticker" offers carefully, and the discipline to stick to a carefully-planned shopping list, you can save yourself a fortune But for most of us, the convenience of having everything we need in one place more than balances the extra that we spend by sticking to the same supermarket every week.
Tesco were contacted in connection with this story, but as yet have not responded.
✍ Michael Moran
