Why Do they Keep Moving Things Around in the Supermarket?

Our A&P became a Stop and Shop last November. I finally was able to find things in the new store and, lo and behold, they moved everything around again. I know it makes sense to someone, but their product placement will never make sense to me. And, they have decided that no one needs extra large eggs. They no longer carry them - at all!! What’s up with these markets. They are so frustrating. I always have to go to more than one to get everything I need.

1 Like

The idea is to get you to walk round the shop more, thus buy more. It’s one of the tricks.

Can’t find the link now but do look up supermarket psychology.

5 Likes

I guess I do know that, but it’s still frustrating! And what do they have against extra large eggs?

Some of it isn’t even that purpose driven. Some groceries buy “packages” from distributors or major multi-brand companies. These companies can strong arm the grocers and essentially say "if you want brand A and these products you also have to carry products B, C, and D. Sometimes these things force them to move things around and change assortments to make enough room or room where they are being forced to create an adjacency.

This pressure could have forced your extra large eggs out - to make room for some egg subgroup (omega eggs for example) that they have to carry.

3 Likes

You know, they do carry those and tons of brown and organic eggs too (non extra large)

1 Like

They move things around so you have to walk around the store more looking for what you want and maybe find more to buy. Marketing 101

2 Likes

That’s certainly annoying that they don’t carry the eggs you prefer, a second stop at another market just for eggs seems silly.
But i agree they move stuff so you can’t find stuff and hopefully accidentally buy more stuff while looking for what you can’t find…!

1 Like

I always thought it is just to keep things interesting. They do that in other stores too (clothing, electronics…etc)

2 Likes

I know they move cosmetics around in the department stores based on sales each quarter. The more sales, the better the spot in the store.

Yureka! A Unified Theory… That must be why the 4 extreme corners of my local Albertsons are: (1) bacon; (2) milk; (3) eggs; and (4) beer. This would also explain why there are two locations for cheese and two more for crackers.

3 Likes

Yes, my market too. Two places for butter, sauerkraut , canned tomatoes. Give me a break!

1 Like

It’s all about merchandising: special incentives stores receive from their suppliers, and what the public craves, quite frankly…

This public craves all the tomatoes in one place :laughing:

7 Likes

I hate when there’s one aisle for “natural” items separate from the rest of the items. Maybe I want to compare organic vs conventional canned tomatoes right next to each other and decide if it’s worth the extra cost. This public as well absolutely wants all the tomatoes in the same place. [quote=“winecountrygirl, post:13, topic:6711”]
This public craves all the tomatoes in one place
[/quote]

3 Likes

Ha, ha! I live in San Francisco and last week went to a market I hadn’t been to before. I couldn’t find the tofu. They have it in two different places. Same products, 2 places. It didn’t even strike me as weird until this post

Last week I was looking for the Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes. They were not with the “regular” or non organic tomatoes and the Muir Glens with the organics - that they had just moved to yet another location!

Supermarket sell spaces, the more you pay the more eye catching places you get.

I discovered that there are 4 places for almonds in my supermarket. One not far away from the cashier, one in the section pastry and the third place organic food and lastly snacks.

1 Like
1 Like

It’s a secret conspiracy between the gerontologists and the store to make you think you have Alzheimer’s:

“But I could have sworn it was there last week…”

3 Likes

Marketing, marketing, marketing. They pay for prime space, so they’re going to get their products where they want them.

But regardless of where the stores move things, I still write my shopping list out the way I did back when I first started grocery shopping at Stop & Shop in NJ: produce in the upper left-hand corner, dairy lower right-hand corner, and the rest throughout the with meats and seafood listed down the middle. Oftentimes, here in MA, I’m finding Dairy and Produce flip-flopped in the store, with Bread in the aisle next to Frozen foods, but at least I know where I would have written it on my list to see if I need it.

2 Likes