Freedom, which we all long for, is a universal value; however, in the market economy and modernity, it seems increasingly distant, unattainable, and costly.
It is a core idea or principle of modern ideologies that contradicts practice; the order, security, and comfort it promises implies increasingly greater, partial losses of freedom, voluntarily and inadvertently.
However, this term continues to be widely used in politics and economics, in marketing, commercialization and communications strategies: be free to choose, free to think, free to express yourself, free to love and want, free to do, free to have, free to be; even metaphorically the adjective "free" is attributed to things, instruments such as, for example: free software, free hardware, free market, etc., to refer to them as means to be free, more free or to consolidate the freedom of the person.
The words "free" and "freedom" have become hooks, bait to lure us into all sorts of strategies. The word "free" is synonymous with "gratis," meaning free of charge, which makes it even more appealing to English speakers.
I maintain the hypothesis that: “There is an instrumentalization of culture and technology to perform the social function of: Social Architecture, Social Engineering, Social Laboratory and Social Control.”
For this reflection, Architecture will be understood in a broad sense as the discipline of knowledge responsible for the management and arrangement of space, aesthetics and user experience, and Engineering as the discipline of knowledge responsible for optimizing and guaranteeing the stability of the processes, flows and structures that make that architectural creation viable.
Imagine these concepts applied to society, its organization, behavior, interaction, and relationships.
The supermarket or self-market is a concrete example of the exercise of this social function with almost a century of practice that goes unnoticed.
The revolutionary supermarket or self-service store
Its invention dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, between the second and third decades, in the United States of America.
Primarily, it functions as a space with products arranged for self-service, allowing you to make your purchases in an enclosed space, with freedom of choice and in comfort.
With it, our way of life changed socially and culturally. Order, planning, and budgeting became commonplace in our homes. The social exchange of goods and the buying and selling of products became less personal, remaining only in the areas designated for meat and deli items, even though there are refrigerators with these packaged products available for self-service and at the checkout. But this will be short-lived, as self-checkout solutions are now available. Oh, and I almost forgot, the security personnel are still there.
The decision to choose and buy is solely the customer's; what greater sense of freedom could one ask for?
Business model
Understanding the business model of these supermarkets can provide some clues as to how they operate; few people know this.
Supermarkets and self-service stores have three sources of income, which are:
- Traditional retail trade. Intermediation income from wholesale purchases and retail sales; the intermediation margin on high-turnover products such as rice, milk, and eggs is between 5% and 10%; on fresh and perishable products (fruits, vegetables, meats, and deli meats) it is around 40%; and on gourmet products or new launches, it is around 30%. If the product is a private label brand, this margin may increase.
Consignment. The supermarket does not pay for the product upfront; it receives it and displays it for sale. It only pays for the product after it is sold and returns any excess stock. The risk is borne by the supplier. This is a typical arrangement for perishable goods, as well as for new products and brands. The intermediary's margin increases.
- Storage and display services. This consists of charging fees for the introduction of new products, allocation of preferential spaces on the site and on the shelves, and participation in supermarket promotions.
Due to the low net profit margins of supermarkets, between 1% and 5%, the following are required: high sales volume, economies of scale, and rapid inventory turnover, optimizing costs.
This income may seem marginal; however, it's an axiom in the retail sector and behavioral economics that between 60% and 70% of purchases in these establishments are impulse buys—driven by emotion and reaction—unplanned purchases. How was this conclusion reached? Through empirical studies, that is, scientifically through observation and experimentation. In this sense, these spaces have also been, and continue to be, social laboratories.
Findings from scientific studies
The layout of space and products in a supermarket is not the result of chance, but rather a scientific discipline known as visual merchandising, retail psychology, and environmental psychology. The central objective of retail architecture in supermarkets and shopping malls is to alter the customer's perception of time, walking speed, and stress levels.
The tour
The Gruen Effect. American architect Victor Gruen, born in 1956 and a designer of shopping malls in the U.S., analyzed how a disorienting yet aesthetically appealing layout caused customers to forget their original reason for shopping and instead wander around the mall, relaxing them and transforming shopping into therapy. This phenomenon is known in marketing psychology as the "Gruen Effect."
-Cold Zones and Hot Zones. In 1971, French marketing researcher Pierre-Louis Dubois coined and experimented with dividing space into "Hot Zones" (areas of natural flow and high visibility, such as the entrance, checkout area, and shelf ends) and "Cold Zones" (hidden corners, dead ends, or dimly lit areas). The psychological strategy involves placing high-demand, essential products in the cold zones to force customers to pass through the hot zones and trigger unplanned purchases.
The attention and perception zones of the shelves
James P. Cairns published (1969, United States) in the Journal of Marketing Research one of the first controlled empirical studies on shelf space allocation. He demonstrated that changes in the number of product "fronts" drastically affected the redemption and purchase rate. These studies and subsequent ones (1980s, 1990s) allowed for the identification of four shelf zones: eye level, the perception zone, occupied by major brands, which command higher prices and can potentially increase sales by up to 35%; hand level, the convenience zone, providing easy access to average and recurring purchase items; floor level, the economy zone, for heavier or cheaper products, such as yellow-cap or regulated brands; and the children's level, for products like cereals, candy, and toys, designed to encourage children's purchases by parents.
sensory stimulation
In 1982, Ronald E. Milliman, in New York City, measured the physical pace of shoppers using music of varying tempos—the rhythm or speed of a musical piece—in a city supermarket. He discovered that when slow-tempo music was played, the flow of people slowed dramatically. Most strikingly, by walking more slowly, customers spent more time in front of the shelves, increasing supermarket sales by 38.2% compared to days with fast-paced music.
Traffic direction and natural turns
Researchers Herb Sorensen and Jeffrey Inman (2008, Philadelphia, USA) confirmed that the vast majority of consumers in the West prefer to move counterclockwise when browsing a supermarket. Pay attention when you visit a supermarket and observe this pattern of behavior.
These studies and their findings apply to both supermarkets and shopping centers.
Imagine how much these studies are enhanced, even globally and in real time, by cutting-edge technologies such as: Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, social media, the Internet of Things, payment methods, and digital money.
We are guinea pigs, laboratory mice, only in more sophisticated mazes.
Are we truly free?
So, how is responsible and intelligent consumption possible?
