😲 How Ikea tricks you into buying more stuff

Zachary Crockett explains how Ikea tricks shoppers into buying more. Much of this stems from the layout. As a store, Ikea breaks with common store configurations, such as grid, racetrack, freeform, and spine, to provide a one-way path. This approach does three things:

1. It forces wider product exposure
2. It creates a false sense of scarcity
3. It creates a sense of mystery

In addition to this, there are other tricks, such as strategically placed mirrors, contextual positioning and dirt cheap bins and decoy prices.

Alan Penn, a professor of architecture at University College London, describes this as a ‘submissive experience’. What is intriguing is how much my children love going there as it provides a hands-on experience. I wonder if there has been any research into this?