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Comment by jrockway | Hacker News Reader

This is probably only partially true. If the goal was really to confuse you, they would not put related products near each other (the cheese would be with the bananas, the milk would be with the dishwasher detergent, etc.) They would also rearrange the store every week, so that you wouldn't be able to learn where items are.

Honestly, I've never seen stores arranged for impulse buying except to have certain items promoted above others. Eye-level shelves, displays at the front of aisles, etc. Otherwise, the fruits and vegetables are together, the canned items are together, the milk and cheese are together, etc. Pretty much every grocery store I've ever been in has been laid out in approximately the same way.

So I'm worried that you may be propagating an urban legend.

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Milk isn't next to the dishwasher detergent for practical reasons - refrigeration is one; contamination of milk by odors is another.

On the other hand, milk is invariably at the back of the store to require the shopper to pass areas containing impulse buy items.

Jon,

Thanks for the interesting perspective. I've actually opened, run, and sold a retail store before (mobile phones and accessories) so, while the type of layout logic I referred to in my comment above did not apply to my store (because it wasn't large enough) I did read ALOT on the subject and was part of the local Chamber of Commerce so I can assure you that impulse buying considerations are a big part of why stores get laid out the way they do.

There are even consulting firms that make a tidy income by advising stores on product placements within the store for maximum sales.

A good book that talks about this is Paco Underhill's "Why We Buy".

Sure, but how does a map defeat the measures stores take to get you to buy impulse items. If you want to buy milk, there are two possibilities. The first is, you know exactly which brand of milk you want to buy, and you will seek it out explicitly. Or, you don't care, and will pick whatever's easiest. That's the area for optimization: pick the highest profit milk and make it the first one the doesn't-care-about-milk consumer sees. Put lots of impulse items on the way to the milk. And so on. A map on the phone does nothing to prevent impulse buys.

On the other hand, why even bother going to your store when groceries can be ordered online and delivered? Then you don't need a map at all.

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