The Secrets Stores Don't Want You to Know: More ways to beat stores at their own game!

hop in a clockwise fashion

Research has shown that most people tend to shop in a counterclockwise direction. Therefore, store planners place products with this in mind.

Have a shopping list and plan your route around the store based on that list

Staples such as milk and meat are usually in the back of the store, to make sure customers pass other products they may find desirable. Kleman says it's not that stores don't understand their customers' needs: They dounderstand them, and they use it to their advantage.

Weigh the cost of convenience

For instance, it costs less to buy a head of iceberg lettuce and bag of carrots than to buy that produce already shredded. A block of Jarlsberg cheese is cheaper than cheese you get sliced at the store deli.

Beware of gimmicks

If you see a sign that says you can buy 10 cans of soup for $10, you can probably buy two cans for $2. The sign is trying to get you to think of buying a larger quantity, but you should buy what you need. Another tactic stores use is to put a cold beverage such as Snapple in a case up front, but you will probably find that it's cheaper on the shelf.

Try store brands

Store-brand products have become really good over the years and are usually cheaper than their brand-name counterparts.

Compare Unit Prices

Big packages aren't always more economical than smaller packages of the same product. Kleman says cereal is a good place to look for this; also, tuna, peanut butter, catsup, coffee in a can, and frozen orange juice.

Don't try to find everything at one store

Some stores have better prices on produce, others on meat, for example.