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Comment by thaumasiotes

2 years ago

Aisle caps commonly feature a product that would ordinarily be found alongside a bunch of closely-related products somewhere else in the store. But I don't think I've ever seen a refrigerated aisle cap.

Obviously, they'd put the most popular flavor way at the back of the store, and the least popular flavors at the front. The store is not in the business of maximizing throughput of customers - quite the opposite, they want customers to spend more time walking and getting lost between shelves, as this maximizes the amount of wares moved.

  • I believe the aisle caps are bid for, and then arranged by, the manufacturers. The store just sells them the space.

    The manufacturer is unlikely to see a problem with putting a display of very popular products right at the front of the store where people can't help but see it.

    • So you think Vanilla Inc, the company that only makes vanilla flavor ice cream, is paying for a whole chiller that they fill with vanilla, since all the other flavors are not as popular?

      Or perhaps, unbeknownst to everyone in the world who uses the word 'vanilla' to mean 'mundane', vanilla ice cream actually enjoys far higher profit margins than all other ice cream.

      5 replies →

..nor would the featured product simply be one flavor of ice cream, as opposed to, say, all the Ben & Jerry's.