Shopping: The new tactics to get you spending

I’ve taken the title of this blog straight from a BBC article that will catch the attention of those of you who are interested in retail. What tricks have the retailers developed in recent years to get us to part with our hard-earned cash?Here are some hooks to get you into the article:Why are sweets and chocolate always by the till in supermarkets? Why do they put the everyday essentials like bread and milk at the back of shop so you have to walk through as many aisles as possible to reach them?Why is the perfume and jewellery section always at the front of a department store? Why do some shops have low lighting? Why in Ikea do you have to do a loop of the whole shop rather than being able to get straight to the bit you actually want?

According to the article, it seems that the basis of the retailers’ techniques is to find ways to trigger impulse purchasing.

"We have to remember that shops will try to trick us into thinking we're getting something for less money when we're not. It's their job to make money and it's your job to stop them making money," says money saving expert Martin Lewis.

See what you think about the appeal of each of these tactics:

• Getting messy
• Brand blurring
• Location-specific offers
• Eye tracking

…fascinating stuff