Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Science

Clearing crowded supermarket aisles lifts sales by 11.5% in field tests

Additional product displays in supermarket aisles—so-called secondary placements—are intended to encourage impulse purchases. However, a new study by Mathias C. Streicher of the University of Innsbruck shows that excessive use of secondary displays narrows the aisles, reducing in-aisle browsing and...

Clearing crowded supermarket aisles lifts sales by 11.5% in field tests
Image: Phys.org
Additional product displays in supermarket aisles—so-called secondary placements—are intended to encourage impulse purchases. However, a new study by Mathias C. Streicher of the University of Innsbruck shows that excessive use of secondary displays narrows the aisles, reducing in-aisle browsing and sales. In real-world field experiments, sales rose by about 11.5% after removal of secondary displays from a congested aisle, even though fewer products were on display overall. The study appears in PLOS One.

Originally published at Phys.org

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