Nancy Young wrote:

> Reader's Digest had comments from supermarket experts,
> some of which I question.
>
> For instance: The average customer tends to remember the
> price of only four items: milk, bread, bananas, and eggs.
> Ninety-five percent of shoppers have no idea what all the
> other items cost and don't know if they're getting a good
> deal when they buy them?
>
>-- snipped --
>
> Seriously, it's happened to me I spent $40 when I only
> planned to get a couple of items, but $250? Has it ever
> happened to you? Happens enough that it winds up being
> mentioned in an article as if it happens every day?
>
> nancy

Some trivia I've seen in the news on this topic. These type of reports
have also made it into local news and IIRC on "60 Minutes".

Some of the things I remember is that in some cases popular selling
items are put on the bottom shelf so that when you reach down you'll
see other stuff on the shelves and perhaps buy more. But stuff geared
to kids was put at eye level for them so that they can "remind" mom or
dad that they want that goodie. :-) There was also some statistic I
don't remember about how much of a grocery bill is for impulse items.
That's why they want you to linger and to walk the aisles. Like
someone else wrote, the longer you stay there, the greater the
likelihood you'll buy something more than you intended.

Perhaps complicating things these days is that, at least at three of
the national/regional grocers I shop at, the grocery chain actually
sells (rents maybe) shelf space to the food manufacturer and therefore
the grocery chain has limited control over what or how that
manufacturer's products are displayed or restocked. What are called
"end caps" (I think) are prime display areas.

So like the others I may get annoyed with the grocer re-arranging
things, but, if financial analysts' reviews of grocers are accurate,
then the grocer business may only earn 3-5% profit on sales volume so
that every trick that gives the grocer an edge to sell their product is
important.