Buyer beware: 5 tricks online retailers use to get you to buy more

Between buy-one, get-one offers, large shopping carts, and the layout of the stores, there are tricks retailers use to get consumers to spend more money. 

And as more shopping has moved online, retailers and advertisers have similarly adjusted these tactics to get more items added to the digital cart, according to the Public Interest Research Group’s consumer watchdog team, which published a new report on Tuesday. 

Being able to identify such tactics may help consumers save money, instead of falling for them. 

Here’s what to watch for:

Urgency appeals like Black Friday

Urgency appeals use time limits to pressure the consumer to act fast, such as on Black Friday, Prime Day or another sale "ending soon." 

Retailers might say things like, "Hurry before it’s over – last chance!" "Don’t miss out!"

"Retailers have long used limited time offers to prompt a sense of urgency in shoppers, but online storefronts have a new trick: the countdown timer," PIRG’s consumer watchdog team said in the report. 

"Watching the seconds tick away until a deal is gone forever gives you a real visceral sense of time running out and, at least for this shopper, can prove a tiny bit anxiety-inducing. It makes it that much harder to think clearly," they added.

But sometimes, such countdown timers aren’t counting down to anything at all, the team said. On Etsy, they found 20 "bestselling or Etsy-curated products" with countdown sales. Of the 20 the team tracked, 80% reset when the clock hit 0, with no change in price, according to the consumer watchdog group. 

The remaining 20% of Etsy shops tracked actually got cheaper when time ran out. 

The scarcity appeal: ‘Only 5 left in stock’

The goal of scarcity appeals is to pressure the consumer to buy now, but instead of time running out, retailers suggest that stock is running low or is in high demand. 

Online retailers can choose how to communicate scarcity, but as the consumer – there’s no way to tell. Websites may state that there are only five left, that a lot of other people have it in their carts, or that an item is selling fast.

"This tactic aims to excite you into making an impulse purchase, discouraging you from taking the time to comparison shop, do more research, or ask yourself ‘do I really need this?,’" the consumer watchdog team said. 

"Maybe 20 people have that coffee maker in their carts, but only an average of one person a week is actually buying it and the store has 100 in stock," the team added.

Tricks with psychological pricing

Retailers have a lot of tricks when it comes to pricing a product. 

Many are familiar with the tactic of rounding down, meaning something seems cheaper if it’s $4.99 instead of $5. Other tricks include removing commas from large amounts ($1200 instead of $1,200) and giving discounts on items a consumer is likely to feel guilty about buying. 

"I don’t need a cookie, but if it’s half off when I buy my coffee, the discount gives me at least some justification," the team gave as an example in its report. 

For some retailers, the prices are rarely real deals. In 2022, Consumers’ Checkbook tracked sale prices at 24 major retailers and found that most stores’ discount claims weren't really discounts at all – but attempts to mislead. Many of the retailers offered the same "sale price" more than half of the time. 

Another price trick consumers may see this shopping season is showing the price broken into monthly installments. Paying monthly can help spread out costs compared to all at once, but this tactic can also change a consumers’ perception of cost, the team said.

"If you can walk away with an item today for 25% of the price, it feels like you’ve gotten a deal when in the end you really haven’t. You’re still going to have to pay the full cost – and sometimes even more in late fees, if you’re not careful," the consumer watchdog team warned. 

This can even lead to more compulsive spending, according to research. A 2022 survey of buy now, pay later users found that two-thirds reported buying more than they otherwise would have if they had to pay the total upfront.

Social proof, including testimonials and influencers

Social proof is a phenomenon where people like to make decisions based on what others are doing. The consumer watchdog team used the example of a neighbor loving his electric leaf blower "and tells you all about it, maybe you’re more likely to buy one yourself." 

Marketers try to manufacture this same tactic using customer testimonials online, including from verified customers paid for their time, or fake ones with hired actors. Influences are also paid to  push products "as if they’re normal, enthusiastic consumers and not someone getting paid to make a pitch."

Meanwhile, fake customer reviews are also growing. A product’s star rating and comment  review section can be helpful for a consumer, but they can also be easily manipulated. According to PIRG’s consumer watchdog team, an estimated 30%-40% of online reviews are fake. 

"Paid-review farms – armies of remote workers who log fake reviews – are responsible for millions of fake reviews every year that retailers can purchase in bulk to help boost their product online," the report stated. "Now with ChatGPT, it’s easier than ever to crank out lots of text for mass fake reviews."

Fear appeals from advertisers

Fear-based appeals from advertisers are a classic tactic, according to the consumer watchdog group. 

First, they "instill, highlight or otherwise remind your customer of a problem/worry/fear, then conveniently offer to sell them the solution." The report offered an example of a home security company sending out a promotional email about "home invasions up in your area," and then let consumers know they’re running a special on their alarm system. 

"Fear appeals try to get you to take action to avoid a bad outcome. At their most benevolent they give PSAs their punch, cautioning you away from harmful behaviors," the consumer watchdog group said. 

It can also become a bit predatory, too, according to the report. 

Health and beauty advertising, for example, is particularly fond of the fear appeal by tapping into one personal anxiety or another.

"Consider hair growth commercials that ask if you really want to be one of those guys who shaves his head, OR if you’d rather pay for a hair treatment – then proceed to show you a lot of men with full heads of hair smiling their way through life, usually with a beautiful woman nearby," the report stated as an example. 

And the rise of data-driven targeted advertising has only exacerbated this issue. Consumers who search about weight loss or whitening their teeth have their data collected by advertisers, meaning "messages about how to fix our perceived flaws" can keep showing up whenever we go online, the report warned.