The concept of “mystery carts” is all the rage in supermarkets

Products worth 150 euros, sold for 49 euros, are blindly carried in black plastic-covered trolleys: in supermarkets, customers flock to “mystery trolleys”.

After Auchan, Carrefour also offers mystery carts Filled with small household appliances, household linen, toys and DIY items. No food products. All are sold at discounted prices but blindly. It is impossible for consumers to know in advance what they are buying.

At the Carrefour hypermarket in Drancy, at half past eight in the morning, Jean is one of the first customers. But that’s for buying a microwave, nothing else: “If he has something that isn’t useful to me, I’m not interested at all.” More hesitant, Bouchera examines ten carts wrapped in black plastic: “I got the message this morning. A trolley worth 150 euros for 49 euros… I don’t know.”

Adrenaline, hope and emotion

Severin is playful and with her husband’s lucky number, 4, all hopes are allowed: “Maybe one out of ten shopping carts is interesting, maybe it’s worth it!” After going to the checkout, for Severin, it’s like opening presents: “There are household appliances, I think! Footrest, we do a lot of work on the computer, we’ll be comfortable! To make paella… it’s good, I can’t eat fish. Ah a pasta machine, cool I wanted one ! I haven’t lost everything. And last… a steam generator. I already have one, I’m going to offer it. Later, otherwise yes, I sell again. It’s ok, it’s profitable, maybe We’ll do it again.”

Auchan was the first to start selling a surprise trolley in a store in Dieppe: a forest fire, millions of views on social networks.

The customer has a “feeling of saving”.

Consumer sociologist Patrice Duquemin perfectly understands consumer enthusiasm: “There is a lot of adrenaline, hope, emotions. We forget that the future is not very promising, there is inflation, everyday life is not necessarily fun. We have fun and what’s more, we have something to talk about. You are . Be the first to buy a mystery cart so you’re a VIP. And so consumption can also feed pride.”

In a match for or against, Jean Nguyen, philosopher, expert on the history of consumption, doesn’t beat around the bush: “Consumers spend and have the impression of saving. When a brand claims to be losing money when in fact it is saving. The brand gets rid of things that no longer serve a purpose and brings it back, or what it would cost. . Because these products are no longer in demand, they are unsold. The brand shifts the responsibility of overproduction to the consumer. This always solves the waste problem to get people to consume more.”

At Drancy, in less than an hour and a half, ten carriages and their surprises all set off.