Donald H. Granbois: Supermarket Management Decisions

There are just a few places everyone goes on a regular basis as an adult. That doesn’t include going into a school and the person’s location of work. The supermarket has to be the most visited place on a regular basis for an average person. Most people go a couple times a week. Over the years many studies and observations of people have led to many supermarket management decisions relating to layouts, store design, product placement. The main goal for the supermarket is to create the opportunity for the customer to spend as much money as possible, which in essence means more profit, but another factor that has to be considered is the customers’ needs and if competitors meet them more. Donald H. Granbois, in an article written about customer instore behavior, focused on the variables that cause someone to purchase more items than they planned when they arrived at the store.[note] What he discovered was that the longer a customer stays in the store the more unplanned items get purchased, which would increase the sales and profit of the store. Another interesting observation was that the larger the party …show more content…
If people feel they are getting a deal, even if they are not, they will more than likely purchase the product and depending on the situation may have purchased more than one. Placing product in a way people can compare prices can increase sales. The displaying of the product is usually meant to influence these decisions. If a store has a surplus in certain items they can use this strategy by changing the display and prices the store can sell those items. Creating and strategically locating intermediate products can create a sense that someone does not have to settle for the best or the worst, but gives a sense of a product that is mid-ranged and mid-price. All of these comparisons and the data that drives them may be different depending on different locations and different people