The secret reason supermarket reduced stickers are always yellow – and how they help shops make you spend more
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IT'S the supermarket section you can guarantee will always have shoppers crowded around it.
And if you regularly nab reduced items, you might wonder just why the stickers on them are yellow - regardless of the store they're in.
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Have you ever wondered why store reduced stickers are ALWAYS yellow?
Credit: Alamy
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According to a marketing agency, the colour choice is no accident
Credit: Alamy
According to digital marketing agency Add People, the colour of the stickers is no accident - and it's how shops get you to spend more.
"Yellow stickers in supermarkets make use of human psychology. It is the most visible colour to the human eye, especially when placed against contrasting backgrounds — and that makes it ideal for one thing: getting your attention fast," Add People's Jack Bird explained.
He added that yellow is an "action colour", which "it stands out instantly, creates contrast, and tells your brain: look at me now".
"In retail psychology, it's used to create a sense of immediacy — like 'this deal won't be here long'," he said.
The brain can process visual stimuli in just 13 milliseconds, according to research, which means that by the time you spot a yellow sticker, your subconscious has already made the decision to either buy it, or leave it.
And this is "far more effective than just adding a price".
As well as that, using yellow for the stickers ensures they've got "high visibility" for standing out in a crowded aisle.
While we now instinctively link yellow with bargains, thanks to our "trained association".
Yellow stickers also help out store staff too - they're easy to apply and also for tills to recognise.
The stickers to indicate price reductions were first introduced in 1993 by Sainsbury's, and there are now entire communities of people hunting for the bargains on social media.
I work in a supermarket and the worst part about it all are the yellow sticker shoppers - they fight me for discounted food
In fact, the two leading groups on Facebook - Yellow Sticker Society and Yellow Sticker Shopping Tips, tricks and hauls - have almost 500,000 members each.
And with Tesco recently announcing their 'Free after 9.30pm' yellow sticker, the popularity of the cut-price products is likely to increase even more.
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