Picture the scene – you’ve dashed into your local supermarket in a rush, desperate for that one missing ingredient or a state-of-emergency multipack of loo roll.
You hoof it to the familiar corner that one product has always been kept in, and... it’s all changed. And not for the better.
Suddenly, the toothpaste aisle homes booze. The corner where your favourite condiment lived is now a canned bean destination.
Why do supermarkets do this? Is it just to confuse us?
Well, some say yes
According to food and drinks site Tasting Table, the move may be strategic ― and can encourage us to load up our trolleys as we make our way through the shop.
Apparently, “put simply, changing the layout of a grocery store forces customers to spend more time looking for their items”.
That makes a bit more sense when you consider that most supermarkets in the UK only had a profit margin of about 1.8% in 2023.
That’s £1.80 per £100, which is still an absolute fortune when you’re selling billions of pounds of stock ― but as a margin, it’s very narrow.
Another reason supermarkets may choose to move their stock is because HFSS (high in fat, sugar, or salt) regulations introduced in October 2022 meant “restrictions on the promotions and placement in retail stores and their online equivalents of certain foods and drinks that are... ‘less healthy’.”
The Grocer writes that this may have affected how supermarkets’ layouts looked.
Is that the only reason?
Probably not. Former senior leader for Whole Foods, The Grocery Store Guy, writes that high-selling products might be moved closer to the front of the store.
And if a new product has been introduced, more established products might be moved so it has more prominence on the shelves. This gives it a better chance of taking off.
Per Grocery Store Guy, there’s also a chance the process means expired, or expiring, stock moves away from the front of the shelf.
To be fair, the last one is a pretty good way of avoiding waste...