Why do I spend twice as I much as I intended in supermarkets

A.� According to new research, 80 per cent of decisions are made subconsciously as shoppers walk up and down the aisles. People who intended buying three or four items ended up purchasing twice that amount. Researchers, who videoed 125,00 shoppers over�ten years, found they often went home with six items more than they originally planned to buy.

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Q.� Why is that

A.� Some items were bought as a result of subconscious 'prompts' such as lighting or clever displays of well-known brands. Some shoppers couldn't remember picking up certain items or didn't know why they had bought them.

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Q.� What are the most common items bought

A.� The most common include staples such as milk, bread, dairy products, and washing powder. Wine and beer have become a huge part of supermarket shopping in recent years, and convenience food in chiller cabinets such as ready-made lasagne are very popular. Strategic positioning of drinks such as Sunny Delight or special offers prompt buyers on hot days or bargain hunters. People will see the familar red and white of a Coca Cola bottle and load their trolley without checking the brand or price, say researchers. Over 70 per cent of UK meat is sold in supermarkets, making the five big retail gaints - Asda, Safeway, Somerfield, Tesco and Sainsbury's - the most powerful buyers in the market. Four in 10 shoppers now buy organic products in supermarkets. Organic food is the biggest growing sector of the UK food market at 40 per cent a year and it is expected to be worth �1bn by 2002. The five big supermarkets command 80 per cent of UK grocery sales - worth �90billion each year.

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Q.� Why do supermarkets put their best deals near the door

A. Most shoppers automatically turn left when they enter a shop, so the store places the 'best deal of the week'; in a prominent position to the left. Siemon Scamell-Katz of ID Magasin, which carried out the research into the shopping subconscious, said many people find shopping a chore, so tend to switch off and act on auto-pilot. People armed with a list of�ten things, usually bought 60 - the most impulsive choices made on entering the store.

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By Katharine MacColl