this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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It's far from pointless, these large companies hire psychologists to help them with the layouts of their shops. They tend to move staples around so people have to look around for them increasing the chances they'll spot something they don't need but will buybon an impulse. I used to work for one of the largest supermarket chains in the uk, they have an empty store that they use just for planning the layout of goods. Alot of time and money goes into these decisions.
I really want to find out who these psychologists are studying to come up with these findings. Anytime the layout changes or items are placed in obtuse places that make no sense I just get pissed off. I start brisk walking and scanning the aisles faster than normal and ignoring stuff even more. A lot of times I just say screw it and leave without buying anything out of spite. Then go buy the item elsewhere. A month or so later after they move all the stuff around again, I'll randomly find the item in the dumbest place ever, but no longer need it now.
Like I don't want to be shopping, I hate navigating around idiots that block entire aisles for no reason. It's not a leasurely or fun experience. I understand why they want me to stay longer, but they don't seem to understand that no matter how many times I look at the same stupid products my wallet and the lack of fucks I give about their stupid products far outweighs the amount of time I stare at it.
So tired of of having my time wasted by marketing analytics that report a 1% increases if such and such stuff is done. Makes me feel like I'm trapped in an MMO with only hardcore players who optimize their builds for the smallest negligible increases. It's exhausting
Wait, you're onto something here. If you think about it, our entire society is an mmo. The tryhards optimise the fun out of it for everyone, you have to have a competitive edge over other players to succeed in any workplace, it's very pay to win and if you're just a Joe Schmoe wanting to take it easy and casual, you're seen as worthless and have no chance to actually do any of the fun activities due to gatekeeping. Huh
We've cracked the code. The Matrix is real, it's all just a shitty P2W MMO!
But it doesn't really matter what you do. What matters is if it makes the company money, usually meaning what a sizable number of other people do. Even if you spend less, if 5 other people spend more, that's why companies would want to do it.
I don't think this is the only reason though. I think it's also to keep the store feeling like a new store. They want shoppers to feel like they're getting new experiences every now and then. They don't want to be stale. It's like how many people rearrange their furniture every few years. Change gives feelings of novelty. Sure, you could buy a new couch, but just changing which walk the couch is against is a cheaper alternative.
I agree but it’s been shown that simple tactics like releasing fruit scent (melon particularly) can increase sales by as much as 10%. I’m not sure if it’s known exactly why this occurs but you can see why a shop would try various methods to increase their sales. Maybe altering the layout makes enough people change their habits to increase sales that it’s worth confusing/irritating those who aren’t affected by it?
You're probably right and it's worth it for them to do so. But at the same time I've also come to realize that companies are fucking stupid.
On multiple occasions at multiple jobs I've worked. I've watched managers implement awful policies and procedures that percentage wise increased revenue in one sector but decreased it in another by a smaller percentage. However the sector that was decreased was orders of magnitude larger than the sector that got a percebtage increase. So in reality when it came to the actual Dollar amount we actually lost a fuckton of revenue for multiple years until someone spoke up about it.
Idk if that's the case or not with this stuff. I'm just tired of feeling like every annoyance and detail in life is just another stupidly planned out attempt by a corp to try and manipulate another dime out of me
Here in the US, grocery stores of the same chain with the same corporate are all arranged wildly differently.
I just get stressed out and leave when it takes too long to find what I'm looking for...
I think maybe it's pointless in the sense that the average shopper doesn't think it influences them. Statistically, it does, but they may not feel like it does.
It's still shitty, regardless of how effective it may appear. There's a reason the common items are always spread out, as I'm sure you know. Can't have someone grabbing milk, cheese, eggs, bread, and fruit all from the same section, then they'd miss the donuts and the cakes and the frozen pizas and the 'managers discount' almost expired meat section (I like almost expired meat, I'm poor too, but still)
I do like the yellow label section.
If only to witness everyone over 70 in the shop go from George A Romero to 28 Days Later in order to get first dibs on a 20p pack of Smart Price ham.
I'd love to know why they moved the kalamata olives from the section with pickled onions, gherkins etc to a section of shelving next to the pet food, along with other Greek foodstuffs such as antipasti, pesto and Bolognese sauce. Because that one really had me scratching my head.