How Understanding Your Grocery Store’s Layout Can Save You Money

freemixer/E+ via Getty Images

Have you ever noticed that when you step foot into a new store, you already have a general idea of where most products are located? You're not imagining it - most supermarkets have a similar layout. And it's not a coincidence. Store design is based on the psychology of what will make you, the customer, spend more money.

Learning how grocery stores are organized can help you become a savvy shopper and save money. So, let's head into the market and learn how to navigate it.

Are grocery stores strategically laid out?

Yes, grocery stores are strategically designed to try to maximize the amount of money you'll spend. Smart retailers rely on statistics and sales data to determine the store layout that will bring in the most money. Grocery marketing is a science, and lots of research is involved.

About 75% of shoppers say they make buying decisions in the store rather than before they shop. So, stores do their best to influence your buying decisions.

Stores rely on you to make "impulse purchases." This is when you buy items that weren't on your list. A strategic supermarket layout will put certain items in your sightline, persuading you to buy them. Bins of food, shelves with colorful displays, and items near checkout counters are also intended to grab your attention.

Studies confirm that the shopping environment can influence food choices and dietary behavior. In fact, if stores had incentives like putting vegetables on sale or featuring fruit at the checkout area instead of candy, people may buy more of those foods. Instead, it's more common for grocers to influence you to purchase less nutritious, ultra-processed food.

What is the typical grocery store layout?

Most grocery stores place fresh foods around the perimeter of the store, with packaged foods in the aisles in the center. Fruits and vegetables sit closest to the entrance, with the bakery nearby. Milk is usually far in the back corner. All these placement choices are deliberate. Let's dive into more detail.

Produce and flowers

Fresh produce and flowers are often the first thing you see when you enter a grocery store. Their bright colors and fresh scents serve a couple of purposes.

First, they signal that the store features fresh products. Secondly, the colors and scents lift your mood, which may make you feel like spending more money. In psychology, this is known as priming, when an experience (seeing bright colors and smelling delicious scents) influences something you'll do later (buy more).

Bakery

Fresh bread and other baked goods are often located behind the produce section. Many grocery stores bake in-house, so the comforting aroma may influence customers' mood (whether or not it entices them to purchase bakery items).

Stores may add signs letting you know that the products are fresh, locally made, or gourmet - all appealing words that may entice you to buy more. Many bakeries offer product samples. All of this is meant to bolster your mood to buy.

Inner aisles

The inner aisles of a grocery store feature everything from canned vegetables to cereal to napkins. It helps to have a general understanding of how products get placed on shelves.

Brands pay grocers for shelf space. That means that best-selling and popular brands with large budgets will be more visible at eye level, compared to no-name or smaller brands, which lack the budget to pay for premium placement. You're more likely to buy what you can see, so expensive products are placed at eye level. Look above or below eye level for better deals.

Front-end cap displays

The ends of aisles often feature single items with colorful displays. Note that these displays don't necessarily signal a sale price. The store may simply be promoting a new item as part of a marketing agreement between a grocer and a brand, or it may be an overstocked item that they're trying to clear out. Check prices to know for sure.

Dairy and eggs

The section farthest from the entrance contains staple items that most households buy, such as milk, eggs, and cheese. This inconvenient location is deliberate. Grocery stores want you to walk through the entire store to get your milk, and they count on you grabbing a few more things along the way. Don't need anything except milk? Stick to your list and don't fall for impulse buys while you walk the length of the store.

Deli and butcher

This area has fresh meat, fish, and poultry, plus ready-made salads and side dishes. It's also usually located on the far end of the store. Read labels here to make sure you choose the freshest meat with the longest shelf life (in case you don't plan to cook it the same day you buy it). The freshest packages may be hidden beneath the ones that expire tomorrow.

Grab-and-go items

At the checkout area, you can usually find candy, gum, chips, and cold drinks. These are the perfect impulse purchases placed in the perfect spot. They tempt you because they are easy to access when your wallet is already open.

Navigating grocery store aisles

As mentioned above, the aisles in the middle of the store contain packaged foods. These aisles house a mix of nutritious pantry staples - like canned tuna, brown rice, and chickpeas - and less nutritious foods like chips and cookies.

Current store design nudges shoppers to buy more of the less healthy packaged foods, which are often ultra-processed foods. Compared to whole foods like vegetables, fruit, and legumes, the ultra-processed products:

• Take up more shelf space in the store

• Are on sale more often

• Are in highly visible locations, such as front-end displays

• Are found near the checkout area to encourage impulse buys

One study found that two-thirds of the products found in prominent locations (eye-level shelves, checkout areas, end caps, etc.) are ultra-processed foods. The study also found that fewer than 1% of foods displayed in these prominent locations were nourishing items, such as fruits or vegetables.

Tips to save money at the supermarket

Now that you know how a store is laid out, you can use these strategies to skip the tricks and save some money on groceries:

• Look beyond eye level. When browsing shelves, be sure to look above and below eye level. This way you'll see well-priced store brands and private label products. These foods are often the same quality as the premium brand but for a better price. In fact, the same manufacturer usually makes both the premium brand and the store-brand product.

• Compare unit prices. The unit price is often displayed on a red tag right next to the retail price. The unit price tells you the price of the product per weight or volume. This lets you compare similar items across different brands and package sizes. Note that larger packages aren't always a better deal, especially if excess food gets wasted.

• Check expiration dates on fresh food, such as milk, meat, and eggs. Sometimes fresher options are hidden behind the older packages, so you may need to dig a bit to get the freshest options. If items have short expiry dates, freeze them to reduce food waste.

• Beware of sales. Sales, two-for-one deals, and promotions are only a bargain if you like the product. Don't be fooled by low prices on items you don't need.

• Shop with a grocery list. Stick with your listed items so you make fewer impulse purchases.

• Use a basket instead of a grocery cart. If you have a short shopping list, use a shopping basket rather than a grocery cart. When you use a big cart, you are more likely to fill it with items you didn't intend to buy.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.