It’s the Positioning, Stupid

Believe it or not, companies have to pay supermarkets high fees to get prime spots on the shelves for their products. These are called “slotting fees.” It gets more insipid. The front of the store is called the “chill” or “decompression zone.” Items such as flower stands, greeting-card sections, and DVD and gift-card racks are designed to slow the customers down, so they’ll start making impulse purchases.³

The primary reason for supermarket bakeries is to fill the air with a bready aroma so that you’ll get hungry and buy more stuff (the store usually has enough bread on display from its favorite retail partners).

The dairy—milk, eggs, butter, etc.—is kept in the back, which is designed to force the people heading for their purposeful milk-and-egg purchase to make their way through the middle aisles, or past the gift-card and magazine racks, and the temptations therein.