How Shopping Malls Trick You

The design ideas that lead to impulse purchases

Hello there,

Some of us love shopping malls. Some of us hate them because they remind us of what we don't have (like spare cash to buy Bata sandals). But what most of us often think about is: how the hell did I end up spending so much over there?

You’re not alone. And neither are you uniquely flawed just because you ended up blowing 7 months of salary in one visit.

Malls are designed to make us fall for impulse purchases.

The mecca of impulse buying

It’s a mix of genius thinking and evil intentions. Or you may argue that it’s just business. Whatever- we’re not here to pass moral judgments, but only analyze the devilish tricks being played on us all the time so we can be a little bit smarter the next time we enter those bright, flashing theatres of consumerism. That’s the whole point of this newsletter- to try and be a little less ignorant every day.

Enough context-setting. Here’s a bunch of tricks up the mall designer’s sleeve:

1. Malls are designed to be flashy- bright lights, a flash of colors that can give a splintering headache to even the colorblind, and a general assault on the senses. This disorienting effect isn’t bad design- it’s done on purpose so you feel tired over time. Why? Because when you’re tired, you’re not in control of your decisions. You forget that you promised yourself you won’t max out your credit limit, and are more prone to buying crap you don’t need. That’s exactly what they want.
   
   
   

2. There are never enough open seats or benches, even though the layout may be long enough to tire out even the seasoned marathon winners. Why? Same reason. They want to tire you out, which will lead to impulse decisions. If you want to rest, you have to walk to the food court or some cafe.
   
   
   

3. But while you walk there, the smells are designed to induce hunger and ensure that you at least pick up something to eat or drink. So you may have escaped the tiredness by finally finding a place to sit…but you fell for their alluring aromas and ended up buying something to drink, didn’t you? Mall- 1, You- 0. You can walk away from their tricks, but you can’t hide.
   
   
   

4. Now if you come to shop for shoes and enter a Nike store but want to compare it with other options, you’ll rarely find the other 3 shoe stores right next to it. Why would they want you to make an easy comparison and make a calculated, well-thought-out choice when they can simply make you walk another kilometer to the next shoe store and even make you climb up to the 2nd level for the 3rd store? It’s the same logic- tire them out so they can buy without much thinking.
   
   
   

5. By now, you’ve got a gist of their core purpose. That is also the reason why you have to walk so much to get from one escalator to the other. And also why the whole layout can feel so confusing as if you’re lost somewhere. When you feel disoriented and things don’t seem in your control, the chances of impulsive behavior increase. That’s the same feeling IKEA creates, which powers so much of the unplanned purchases people make in their stores.
   
   
   

6. Discount stores are typically at the ground level- because people feel they’re getting a better deal there and are more likely to buy stuff, while high-end stores are usually at higher levels. Another typical retail trick is to place high-margin items at eye level because we’re more likely to buy them. We either don’t see the cheaper items on top or bottom shelves or don’t have the energy to retrieve them (thanks to the way the mall is designed).

As you can see, the game is rigged against you. So what can you do to avoid these traps, besides never going to the mall again? Awareness is the first weapon, and armed with this knowledge you can do a bunch of things.

One idea is to carry cash instead of cards so there’s a limit to what you spend. Another is to set a time limit for your shopping mall loitering, and also pre-deciding which store you’re going to go to, so you can blind yourself to everything else that’s competing for your attention (and wallet).

This may sound a bit too much but is important if you genuinely face the problem of overspending and constantly falling for these retail tactics.

You’re smarter now, though. So next time you’re there, observe all these design ideas in action and retain total autonomy over your decisions.

Happy shopping.

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