What is the science or psychology behind the way how they display their products?
I understand that it’s supposed to drive sales, but what is the reason behind their method?
Why, or how does it work?
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Is there a method to their Madness or a Madness to their method?
Is there a method to their Madness or a Madness to their method?
One rule is to have the most sought-after but cheap stuff in the back, so you have to walk past other, high-markup items. Conversely, the high-markup items are right near the registers.
Yes it’s supposed to drive sales but how it drives sales can be complex.
For example, a store may want you to buy something the store makes no profit off of… Out of hopes that you do buy something the store profits off of. This is called a “loss leader.” This would make the store put no profit items near high profit items.
And don’t forget the store isn’t the only actor here: the producer of the goods is also an actor.
For example, a toy company might pay the store to put their toys at a good location. The store makes extra money off the deal from the toy company rather than just their customers.
There are psychology tricks about how humans tend to look straight ahead, then down, then up. So placing items on high shelves tends to be a bad idea for impulse purchases, but fine for required goods that people will actively search for if they need it.
I’m not sure necessarily there’s a science behind it other than what generates the most profit:
1/ who’s willing to pay for the most premium shelf space (eye level vs bottom shelf)
2/ productivity of those products (are the products selling? If not, they will be rotated out to make room for other products that are in demand)
3/ putting things next to each other that likely will increase upsell / cross-sell (so think putting a little hanger of chip clips next to potato chips)
What is something you’re likely gonna find in everyones house?
Milk.
Where is the best place to out milk in a store? As far away from the entrance as possible.
Why?
Because when someone goes to buy milk, you want them walking to potentially see something they didnt know they wanted.
Where do you put the toy section?
In between the kids clothes and the entrance
Why?
So when parents walk in to get clothes for their kids, their kid sees a shiny new toy and nags their parents for it.
Etc etc
There is usually a method to their madness
There’s a lot going on. The stuff they want you to buy more will be at eye level. Cheaper alternatives will be on the bottom shelf. For some items, they may also include one overpriced option to allow the 2nd most expensive option to seem like a better value.
They’ll also put related products close to each other. If you buy a bag of chips, you may not go down a separate aisle to buy a jar of dip, but you might pick up a jar of dip that is right there on the same shelf.
Most stores have modular shelves in 4 foot units that will allow them to put shelves at the exact height they need to minimize wasted space vertically. They’ll also try and extend the same shelving strategy for multiple 4 foot segments. If the shelves change too frequently, it can be really jarring to look at and actually distract away from the products.
For most larger stores, the endcaps at the end of the aisles will either be used for extra space for a promotion on a regular product, or the permanent home of a seasonal product. In some smaller stores that are tight on space for all of their inventory, the endcaps might actually be the permanent home for a product.
Ever notice at the grocery store that the milk and bread are almost always on complete opposite ends of the store? That’s so you have to walk past literally EVERYTHING else. End caps are organized with bright colors, large signage, etc. this is to grab your eye as you’re walking with a loaf of bread to get a dozen eggs and make you think “Man, I didn’t even realize I wanted diet, sugar free, pea flavored Gatorade!”.
Likewise, if you wander down the cereal isle, all bright colored, high sugar “kids” cereals are at eye level to a child. This is designed for the “Mommy/Daddy I want THIS one!”
Checkout – ever notice all of the candy – at the same height as the seat in the cart – same as the cereal isle.
That’s how a quick trip to the store for milk and eggs ends in a $200 grocery bill.
Most / All Big Box stores operate under the same principles. Get the people in front of the product so they’ll buy it.
When I worked at Target, end caps were sometimes paid for by brands to put their stuff out so more people would see it/walk by it.
At the most basic level, the easier it is to see, the more likely it is to sell. Either people happen to glance at it and you get an impulse purchase, or people looking for it find it fast or first.
Too high or too low, and it’s less likely to be bought.
You also sometimes put complimentary products next to each other, like salsas and queso being sold next to chips.
Finally, some people also mentioned putting things in certain areas of the store…this can be either low profit items in harder to find places so people look at more stuff on the way, or similarly with high demand items being put in the back so you walk by lots on your way to get them.
They do a lot of research to figure out what will make the most money. Generally it’s actually the manufacturers, not the stores themselves, that do the research, and then they will negotiate with the stores to get the shelves arranged in the way their research suggests will perform best. Sometimes the manufacturers will even “buy” space for their products, or premium locations in the aisle, by giving the retailer a discount on the wholesale price.
It’s complicated to describe what the “best” arrangement might look like because there are many factors involved and it can vary from category to category, but here are some things you might consider when arranging the shelf:
1. It’s generally better to be near one end of the aisle or the other, because some shoppers will just grab the first thing they find rather than comparing between options.
2. Similarly, being at “eye level” on the shelf means your product is more likely to be noticed. These first two points taken together mean that manufacturers are often going to want their products in a leading position at eye level, while retailers are going to want to use this space for the products that are most profitable for them.
3. Products that are next to each other on the shelf are naturally going to be compared to each other frequently. If you make cheap pasta, you might want to avoid being next to the store brand pasta because it’s even cheaper and now why would a shopper pick your product when “we’re cheap” isn’t even a winning point for you? On the other hand, if you have the “best” product, maybe you want to be next to cheap alternatives, because people who are there to buy your premium, organic, handcrafted, etc pasta aren’t going to instead opt for the store brand because it’s cheaper.
4. The aisles should be arranged in a manner that makes it easy for shoppers to find what they’re looking for. You could arrange the pet food aisle by brand, with all of the Purina cat and dog food in one location, all of the Royal Canin in a block next to that, and so on, but no one does that because then you’d have to look at each individual product to figure out if it’s for dogs or cats. Instead you start by arranging things by pet type, and then by brand within each section.
5. There are practical concerns like putting larger, heavier items at the bottom because they’re more likely to be dropped, damaging the product and potentially injuring the shopper.
There’s a lot more things to consider, but hopefully this gives you an idea. If you stop for a bit and examine a shelf with these sorts of things in mind, you can probably guess why it’s set up the way that it is.
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