How stores use FOMO to make you buy more products

The layout of the biggest stores is rarely a happy accident

Stores use clever marketing tactics to boost sales (danielvfung/iStock)

The second you step into a store, the sights, sounds and smells are geared towards one goal: getting you to spend as much as possible. And stoking a feeling of FOMO, or a fear of missing out, is just one of the many tactics expertly deployed.

Among the most well-known tricks is the “maze” effect of Ikea stores. The Swedish furniture store revolutionised retail with their one-way system that arguably encourages shoppers to adopt a “now or never” mentality when choosing items. The Apple store, meanwhile, pioneered the use of clean, open spaces to foster a sense of exclusivity, innovation and a relaxed atmosphere where the customer is encouraged to play with devices.

“Customers in an Apple Retail Store can spend all the time they want playing with the devices and using the Internet—nobody will pressure them to leave,” explained Forbes business writer Carmine Gallo.

The idea of “when it’s gone is gone” retailing is also said to be used by Zara and Aldi.

But stores that appear to have a hodge-podge of goods are also in on the act. Take TK Maxx, which takes an entirely different approach with the same objective in mind.

That store - particularly its food section with its seemingly random selection of jar foods from pickles and olives to jam and confections - harnesses the power of FOMO.

Victoria Taylor of Victoria’s Gormet bacon spice, which is stocked in TJ Maxx, the US version of the store, called this the “treasure hunt merchandising philosophy”.

Speaking to food website Bon Appetit, she said that the retailer orders a mix of products from manufacturers in order to create excitement among shoppers.

In addition, the store reportedly hones in on more unusual foods. After all, it’s difficult to make a regular pepper grinder seem like a unique product that you need to buy now. Sealing the deal are the stickers that advertise the RRP in comparison to TK Maxx's bargain knock-down price. Once that cut-price jar of artisan pickles is gone, it’s gone.

And while it is risky for manufacturers to sell mixed goods to retailers, TK Maxx is a secure business – one that Talyor has sold to for 16 years.