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By Rodrigo Santos Andrade
Milking it: 5 tricks from the supermarket playbook
visibility comment0 event October 26, 2026 timer 22:00
How does a $4 shop become $60 in groceries? The supermarket business model relies on you buying more than you want. Here’s how they do it.
The Conversation, CC BY-SAYou ducked into the shop for milk. You walked out with a basket full of products you didn’t plan to buy – chips, chocolates, sugary cereal. Sound familiar?
You already know supermarkets are carefully engineered environments designed to commandeer our attention, exploit our cognitive vulnerabilities, and increase impulse spending – often without us realising it in the moment. Sort of like casinos.
Our team has spent years documenting how the industry meticulously gathers and analyses data on all of us, to craft strategies to make us buy more and eat more.
➡️ Read the interactive story on the five tactics from the supermarket playbook
Phillip Baker currently receives funding from the University of Sydney, Australian Research Council, and Macdoch Foundation. He is a member of the provisional WHO Guideline Development Group for ultra-processed foods. He has received funding from UNICEF, including as co-author of the report Ultra-processed Foods and Children. He co-led the 2025 Lancet Series on Ultra-processed Foods, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Digital Storytelling Team does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Tags: Academic Journalism, The Conversation, The Conversation Academic News
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