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8 Ways Grocery Stores Trick You Into Spending More

Stay one step ahead to avoid wasting money at the supermarket

Lisa Lombardi,

AARP

Published September 10, 2026

A shopper pushes a cart through a grocery store full of distractions

Zach Hackman

Key takeaways

Rising grocery prices are squeezing many Americans’ wallets, with more than 4 in 10 adults age 50 and older saying groceries cost more than they can afford.
Supermarkets use store layouts, product pairings and endcap displays to encourage overspending.
Shopping with a list, avoiding free samples and paying attention to unit prices can help curb impulse purchases.

You step into your local grocery store with a plan: Get what you need and get out, without spending a small fortune.

Supermarkets have a different goal: They want you to wander the aisles and load up your cart with as many items as possible. To accomplish that, grocery stores are carefully designed to persuade you to make impulse purchases, says Phil Lempert, a consumer behavior and food industry analyst and host of the podcast Lost in the Supermarket.

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Of course, that’s the last thing older consumers want, especially when food prices are rising fast. More than 4 in 10 U.S. adults age 50 and older in a recent AARP survey said groceries cost more than they can afford.

The encouraging news: You can avoid grocery store spending traps — if you know what tricks they use.

You typically enter the store in the produce section

The play for your wallet starts as soon as you step through the sliding doors and into the produce department, which is often at the front of the store. With its ripe fruit and freshly misted vegetables, “the produce section is almost like aromatherapy,” Lempert says. The sights and scents whet our appetites and make us want to load up on fresh fruits and veggies.

But overbuying fresh produce can lead to costly waste, as it often spoils quickly (though there are ways to keep food fresh longer). And due to extreme weather, high transportation costs and tariffs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects fresh fruit prices will increase 2 percent this year and fresh vegetable prices 6.8 percent.

To not get swept away by the scent of fresh basil and other enticing produce, take a detour. “The first place we shop sets the tone for the shopping trip,” Lempert says. “Start in the center aisles, where those unemotional boxes and jars and cans are.” Save the fruit and veggie aisles until you’re almost ready to check out so you don’t go overboard, he says.

Tempting food groupings encourage you to overspend

You reach for a container of strawberries, only to notice dessert shells and bottles of whipped cream beside it. You weren’t planning to make strawberry shortcake, but suddenly you’re grabbing all three products. Known as cross merchandising, this sales trick encourages you to buy additional items by staging appealing food combinations, like chocolate bars, marshmallows and graham crackers for making s’mores.

“Stores make their margins off what is known as ‘the mix,’ which is the price for a collection of items you put in your basket,” says Benjamin Lorr, the Brooklyn, New York–based author of The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket. Often the add-on items are marked up significantly.

The solution is simple but effective: Make a shopping list and stick to it, advises Dana Hunnes, a clinical dietitian at UCLA Health in Los Angeles. “I know that it seems very obvious, but a lot of people still don’t do it,” she says.

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Before heading to the supermarket, do some basic meal planning so that you know how much food you’ll need for the week. The average household of four wastes more than $2,900 worth of food every year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Shrinkflation is real — and it’s burning a hole in your wallet

You may already know about shrinkflation — the practice of manufacturers downsizing packages and skimping on portions without lowering prices. It’s a form of price inflation, and “it’s cheating the consumer,” Lempert says.

Cereal and coffee companies are two culprits, according to a 2025 report from the federal Government Accountability Office. “The difference is quite dramatic,” Lorr says. Coffee that used to be sold in 12-ounce bags might now be in 8.8-ounce bags — at the same price. Cereal boxes might be the same height, but slimmer.

The practice isn’t limited to packaged foods. “Shrinkflation is showing up in unexpected places, like the size of a bouquet of cilantro or a bundle of broccoli,” Lorr says.

To truly know what you’re getting for your money, look at the product’s unit price, net weight or quantity.

That feel-good music makes you linger

You’re walking down the aisle, nodding your head to the rock classic or new wave hit from the ’80s playing over the speakers. That music is intentional, Lorr says: “When you hear music you like, you’re a little bit more upbeat and in a better mood. And when you’re in a better mood, you’re more likely to indulge in a treat for yourself.”

To make sure you don’t throw logic out the window as you hum along to Tom Petty or Fleetwood Mac, pop in your earbuds and listen to a podcast or book on tape while you shop.

Endcap displays make it seem like you’re getting a deal, but you often aren’t

When you shop at the supermarket, do you gravitate toward the end-of-aisle displays, expecting to find amazing bargains? “Only about one-third of those end-aisle displays are actually on sale,” Lempert says. “Just because it’s at the end of an aisle doesn’t mean that it’s for a cheaper price.”

To avoid overpaying, compare endcap prices with similar products in the aisles — or steer clear of endcaps altogether.

Some buy-one, get-one offers are deceiving

When you see a BOGO promotion, you naturally assume you’re scoring savings. That’s not always the case, Lempert warns.

Sometimes these flashy offers can be misleading. The state of Washington recently sued Albertsons over deceptive BOGO sales: The company, which operates Albertsons, Haggen and Safeway, allegedly raised prices of certain items in advance of the deals. As a result, shoppers who purchased products during a BOGO promotion didn’t get the bargain they thought they were getting, since they paid an inflated price for the first item, Washington’s attorney general claims.

A taste test often leads to a bigger grocery bill

If you’ve ever tried a food at your grocery store and surprised yourself by buying it, you know the power of free samples. “The samples are another way stores get their consumers to buy something they weren’t intending to bring home,” Hunnes says.

Go ahead and try a sample, Hunnes says, but don’t feel guilty if you decide not to buy the product. “Enjoy the taste,” she says, “but if it wasn’t on your list and you have no need for it, it’s better to keep it on the shelf.”

Online shoppers are falling for a sneaky pricing tactic

You may have seen headlines about “surveillance” pricing, where retailers change prices based on your browsing history, past purchases and other personal data. That trend is happening with online grocery sales.

Let’s say you often splurge on a top-shelf coffee brand. The supermarket might hike the online price, since the store knows that you’re willing to pay more for a good cup of joe.

To protect yourself, get in the habit of clearing your internet browser’s cookies, which contain your browsing history, before shopping for groceries online.

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