They moved the canned soup in Walbaums Supermarket from aisle 11 to aisle 4 last night and that got me thinking: Who in the hell decides what products go where?
Now I’m not talking about end cap promotions or the placement of more profitable items at eye level, I’m talking those strange product mixes you find within each aisle and those instances where items that normally compliment one another are at opposite ends of the store.
The one thing I do know is there’s absolutely no consistency. Whether you’re comparing two different supermarkets across the street from one another or the same store in a different region, product placement is very unique and quite erratic. I don’t know why that’s the case, I just assume you’d see a little more consistency. Either these competing chains all use different market research firms or they throw caution to the wind and let the store managers use their own discretion.
Here’s what I find most perplexing about the layout at my supermarket:[ul][li]Aisle 1: Fresh Produce - Fine. But instead of also stocking salad dressing (which is in aisle 4 with the vegetable oil) and croutons (which are with the bread in aisle 12) my supermarket opts to keep the baby food & diapers at the end of that aisle.[/li][li]Aisle 5: Beer, Soda & Water on the left, bagged chips, pretzels and housewares on the right. Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to put the nuts and microwave popcorn from aisle 8 in the spot where the mops and light bulbs are – and move those items with the cleaning products in aisle 3?[/li][li]Pasta in aisle 9, grated cheese and jarred tomato sauce in aisle 11. What gives? Take the canned fruits and jelly & move it to the peanut butter aisle – that’ll free up enough space for the Ragu & parmesan.[/ul][/li]I know my local store isn’t the only one to have everything so screwed up. I’ve encountered this phenomenon in every supermarket I’ve ever been to. I hope I’m the only soul out there who’s troubled by such trivial matters, but if not, what layouts in your local mart most bother you?