strength and Areas of Improvement in this response essay

Student 1

Sample Student

Professor Giannakopoulos

4/4/18

Making the Choice Yours Not Theirs

Everyone has those days where it is hard to decide what to make for tonight’s dinner,

going to the supermarket is such a hassle with the long-lines of customers and outrages prices.

Unfortunately, supermarkets manipulate consumers every time a customer walks into the grocery

store by their outrages prices and placement of items around the store. Supermarkets have

developed a system that allows them to track their customer’s purchases. In addition, they love to

convince the customers to purchase items based on the display of the products . Supermarkets

provide healthy choices for their customers, but it can become very expensive. Nestle makes

strong points about how supermarkets are keeping a record of what their customers purchase and

how product placement is affecting their customers decision on what to purchase based on

the display of the products. However, her claim about supermarkets being at fault for

customers purchasing unhealthy items is incorrect.

Marion Nestle is proficient at writing about healthy food choices because she teaches in

the department of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. More

importantly, nestle explains that, “Researchers are constantly interviewing shoppers and listening

carefully to what they are told. Because of scanners, supermarkets can now track your purchases

and compare what you tell researchers to what you actually buy” (Nestle 498). When the

researchers interviewed the customers, they received a different outcome then what the

customers have gave them. The feedback from the customers can vary from different people not

everyone has the same selection. Supermarkets can use the information that the shopper club

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members have given to the researchers to improve the experience for the customers and this

feedback can provide a choice of products that some customers would prefer. Being a customer

of a shopper’s club can save yourself some money. Nestle explains that, “If you belong to a

supermarket discount ‘shoppers club’, the store gains your loyalty but gets to track your personal

buying habits in exchange” (Nestle 498). This is the information helps the retailers decide which

products to put on display and where to display it in the supermarkets. By obtaining this

information, the supermarkets can keep track of how many products they are selling and how

many items need to be sold to meet their deadline.

I agree with Nestle that your freedom is taken away because the supermarket tracks how

many times your card is scanned and tracks your purchases when you agree to become a member

of the shoppers club but it’s your to choice to become a member but becoming a member also

saves your money and gives you discounts and helps the supermarkets decide what products they

should keep selling and which ones that they can get rid of. By being a member, you can give

feedback to the supermarkets and they can use the feedback to satisfy the choices or products

that you want. Supermarkets have significantly improved their strategies of how to keep track of

items purchased over the years. Keeping track of the products sold in supermarkets has greatly

increased the production of sales in products sold. Nestle explains how the supermarkets keep

track of the products that their customers purchase when they use their shoppers club

membership. This an effective way to identify the products that are more popular depending on

the quantity that the customers purchase.

Supermarkets have designed the store to encourage customer to buy their products. Every

supermarket has the same layout. Nestle clarifies that, “Additional principles, equally well

researched, guided every other aspect of supermarket design: product selection, placement on

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shelves, and display. The guided principle of supermarket layout is the same: products seen most

sell best” (Nestle 500). Nestle points out that the bestselling items are the ones on display in the

supermarket in areas where customer would look the most. The placement of the items are the

first step to convincing customers to purchase products. Real estate is just as completive as

supermarkets. Products share spaces in the supermarkets. Nestle explains that, “Think of the

supermarket as a particularly intense real estate market in which every product competes fiercely

against every other for precious space. Because you can see products most easily at eye level, at

the end of aisles, and at the checkout counters, these areas are prime real estate” (Nestle 500).

Products on the shelfs are in competition of the placement products are placed the most valuable

at set at eye-level. The products that are placed at eye-level are the most valuable to the

supermarkets and they want their customers to see the products, so they can purchase them.

I agree that the placement of items all over the supermarket has caused customers to

forget about the products they intended to pick up from the store. The design of the supermarkets

are meant to distract customers from what is on their mind and all the stress they have in their

life. It is very important to realize that supermarkets try to trick their customers when they are

shopping. This happens when the supermarkets place their most valued items at eye-level for

customers to see, think about if they should buy this item. Placement of the items in the

supermarkets is what it is all about. That is how the customer get distracted from what they really

came to the supermarket for and end up coming out the store with 50 items instead of the 10

items they really came to the store for in the first place. Just because they might be the best-

selling items does not mean you will always need to purchase them when seeing them at the

store just because it might be on sale.

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Additional key point that Nestle makes is that the overall nutrition and healthy food

habits are decreasing due to supermarkets way of selling their products to their customers.

Having a good diet and knowing what you are putting inside your body is one of nestle key

points. She explains that, “If a food company wants its products to be in Wal-Mart, it has to

offer rock-bottom prices. Low prices sound good for people without much money, but

nutritionally, there is a catch. Low prices encourage everyone to buy more food in bigger

packages” (Nestle502). She makes this statement and feels that the supermarkets are at fault for

obesity and unhealthy habits Americans have formed in their daily living. The bigger the size the

less likely customers would refused the product. The lower the prices the more interest

customers will have. Nestle states that, “if you want smaller sizes, you should be willing to pay

more for them. However, if you care about how much you get for a price, you are likely to pick

the larger size. And if you buy the larger sizes, you are likely to drink more Pepsi and take in

more calories; the 8-ounce cans of Pepsi contain 100 calories each, but the 2-liter bottle holds

800 calories” (Nestle 503). Customers prefer one brand of soda over another brand just because

it can just be cheaper and comes in a bulk size. The lower the prices the more customer believe it

can be a sale especially when the product is larger.

This is where I powerfully believe that people make their own choices when deciding

what to eat for their next meal. Some families choose to pick the items that are on sale but come

in a bigger package because they have a big family and it might last them awhile. In the

supermarkets, there are many healthy choices, but it can become very costly when doing so. The

supermarkets are not making the customers purchase their products, but they are honoring the

deals and the customers that do purchase the item that is all up to them. The supermarkets charge

more for the products that contains insignificant amounts. Again, people make their own choices

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when deciding what to eat and most people choose to make bad decisions when choosing what to

eat and usually eat.

Overall, Nestle makes great points that are often overlooked whether you agree or

disagree with the points she has made. Supermarkets are finding more ways to keep track of the

products that is being sold most frequently because they keep a record of the customer’s

purchases. Whether you know about this or not it happens when customer sign up for a shopper’s

club membership by signing up with the store they gain your loyalty but also gets to track your

personal buying habits in exchange. Important to realize that supermarkets are convincing their

customers to purchase the most common item by placing the bestselling items at eye-level.

On the other hand, today everyone in American is deteriorating because people are so quick

to blame others without taking responsibility for their own actions. Slowly but surely, we

can be the nation that takes responsibility for our own actions, but we must want to be a

changed nation. We are all at fault about not taking responsibility for our own actions.

When making a change we can be a better nation by communicating and understanding

others opinion and take that feedback and using it to improve their system.

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Work Cited

Marion, Nestle. “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate” They Say/I Say, The Moves That Matter

in Academic Writing with Readings. Edited by Gerald Graff, Kathy Birkenstein and

Russel Durst. W.W. Norton. 2015. 496-505.