5 ms·

The milk is always at the back of the store.

notahappycamper 8y ago
That is where the loading bays are, so they keep the fridges nearby so cold items have less chance to heat up. Plus milk is often stocked from behind, which can only be done where they have the extra space at the back of the store.
- dvlsg 8y ago
  Not to mention you probably want to pick it up last, so it stays colder longer. This way you don't have to carry milk around the store while you look for all the other items you need. Although, maybe that's an argument for putting it by the checkout lines instead, which I suppose are by the entrance. Hm.
- nostrademons 8y ago
  I could buy this on smaller or older grocery stores, but the Safeways near me have 2 full aisles of frozen goods (and one additional one of refrigerated goods). These aisles extend all the way from the back to the front of the store, and are located in the center of the floor plan. The milk is still in the back, along with perishable juices. The difference between them and the aisles is that processed foods (frozen dinners, vegetables, snacks, brand name yogurt & cheese, ice cream, breakfasts) are all located near the front of the store, while fresh ones (milk, meat, fish) are located at the back, and perishable-but-non-refrigerated goods (fresh fruits & vegetables) are off to the back & side. So it really seems like a deliberate attempt to put the items you would buy frequently as far away from the door as possible, and make you walk through the goods that you might stock up on on impulse.
  - dwighttk 8y ago
    Eh. Most grocery stores I’ve been to have a small milk fridge at the front near self checkout for convenience.
  - fipple 8y ago
    Frozen food doesn’t need to be stocked from the back because they don’t need to make sure the stock turns over very quickly.
    - nostrademons 8y ago
      Still doesn't explain why the cheese/yogurt/eggs aisle is stocked from the front, why the fresh produce displays are stocked from the top, or why cashew/soy/almond milk (which doesn't need to be refrigerated at all, and is in fact stored unrefrigerated in another part of the store if you buy smaller containers) is in with the milk case. I would bet on consumer psychology over logistics here.
      - eropple 8y ago
        > why the cheese/yogurt/eggs aisle is stocked from the front Logistics: because then you don't need rear access to the cooler shelves. That's square footage that you can better use in other ways. (In school I worked in a supermarket that put dairy in the beer/soda cooler, and we stocked it from the back.)
      - eitally 8y ago
        Some groceries -- every Whole Foods I've ever shopped at, for example -- have the eggs & dairy at the back with the milk, and stock those shelves from the back, too. Non-dairy "milks" only don't require refrigeration if they're ultra-pasteurized tetrapaks, which (in my experience) are only in 1Lt/Qt containers. Milk is heavy. It's stocked onto shelves slightly angled forward so the remaining stock slides to the front for ease of reach. This need isn't generally applicable, or desireable, for other refrigerated/frozen foods.
      - fipple 8y ago
        None of that stuff moves as much raw volume of product as milk.
  - srtjstjsj 8y ago
    Most people, given the choice, consume more than only milk.
- lukejduncan 8y ago
  source: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/09/21/494927147/episode-555-why-is-the-milk-in-the-back-of-the-store https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/09/21/494927147/epis...
- spunker540 8y ago
  I'm not sure that's a compelling reason. Why aren't frozen goods at the back of the store then? And are you sure milk needs to be stocked from behind? Is it at the back of the store because it needs to be stocked from behind - or is it stocked from behind simply because its at the back of the store?
  - derekp7 8y ago
    If you stock it from the front, then there could be a couple gallons in the back that never get bought. Unless they let the stock run out completely before restocking. Plus with thing like milk, it is a real pain to push several gallons uphill to put something else in front (ever try to put a milk container back on the sloped shelf? Takes a couple hands and some fidgeting to do it).
    - desas 8y ago
      In the UK I've never seen a rear loaded fridge, you always stock from the front.
    - spunker540 8y ago
      that's a good point about the keeping older milk up front!
  - srtjstjsj 8y ago
    Frozen food has a freezer-life of months. That's what freezing is for. Fridge food has a fridge-live of days.
- kurtisc 8y ago
  >That is where the loading bays are, so they keep the fridges nearby so cold items have less chance to heat up. The distance from bay to fridge plus fridge to the exit is the same wherever it goes.
  - srtjstjsj 8y ago
    Heating up on the way home is the customer's problem, not the store's problem.
- i_made_a_booboo 8y ago
  Plus it's heavy as hell so having to move it far is big driver of this too.
- megy 8y ago
  Except this is not true at all, and we have somehow managed to have the milk out for 30 minutes at a time without going off. Watch when they refill.
tomjen3 8y ago
I am not so sure this matters. At least in my experience if they put the milk in the front of the store I would run through it and be confused.
NegativeLatency 8y ago
Sometimes the organic milk is not at the back of the store
- copperx 8y ago
  That's because organic milk is rarely a loss leader.
CM30 8y ago
Not from what I've seen in the UK. It heavily depends on the store where the products are placed, and the milk could be anywhere from near the door to the back. For example, in Aldi stores, the milk is usually kept quite near the entrance, along with the kind of things you'd keep in the fridge (butter, cheese, etc) and the bread. In the likes of MS and Waitrose, it's usually somewhere near the side of the store, not too far from the entrance but past the fruit and vegetables. Same sort of deal with Tesco, Sainsburys, etc. Smaller convenience stores are usually just kind of random. Nah, if you want real exploitative design, note how many shops are designed to draw out your shopping time as much as possible, by having a nice Z pattern that 'encourages' you to trudge through the whole store before ending up at the checkout. I think in that sense, most over here seem to have taken inspiration from the likes of Ikea or Costco more than anything else. There's also the obvious 'fake sale' dark pattern, as well as the 'move everything round every few weeks to disorientate regular customers' one.
- srtjstjsj 8y ago
  Which shops have a Z pattern? Which shops move products around? I've never seen that. Costco certainly doesn't Costco has aisles, and sections for each major product category. IKEA has a "tour the store" design which is nice for a store you browse because you want something for every section (room in your house). You can go directly where you want if you know what you want.
  - gniv 8y ago
    > Which shops have a Z pattern? Which shops move products around? In the US, Trader Joe's does this.

That is where the loading bays are, so they keep the fridges nearby so cold items have less chance to heat up. Plus milk is often stocked from behind, which can only be done where they have the extra space at the back of the store.

dvlsg 8y ago
Not to mention you probably want to pick it up last, so it stays colder longer. This way you don't have to carry milk around the store while you look for all the other items you need. Although, maybe that's an argument for putting it by the checkout lines instead, which I suppose are by the entrance. Hm.
nostrademons 8y ago
I could buy this on smaller or older grocery stores, but the Safeways near me have 2 full aisles of frozen goods (and one additional one of refrigerated goods). These aisles extend all the way from the back to the front of the store, and are located in the center of the floor plan. The milk is still in the back, along with perishable juices. The difference between them and the aisles is that processed foods (frozen dinners, vegetables, snacks, brand name yogurt & cheese, ice cream, breakfasts) are all located near the front of the store, while fresh ones (milk, meat, fish) are located at the back, and perishable-but-non-refrigerated goods (fresh fruits & vegetables) are off to the back & side. So it really seems like a deliberate attempt to put the items you would buy frequently as far away from the door as possible, and make you walk through the goods that you might stock up on on impulse.
- dwighttk 8y ago
  Eh. Most grocery stores I’ve been to have a small milk fridge at the front near self checkout for convenience.
- fipple 8y ago
  Frozen food doesn’t need to be stocked from the back because they don’t need to make sure the stock turns over very quickly.
  - nostrademons 8y ago
    Still doesn't explain why the cheese/yogurt/eggs aisle is stocked from the front, why the fresh produce displays are stocked from the top, or why cashew/soy/almond milk (which doesn't need to be refrigerated at all, and is in fact stored unrefrigerated in another part of the store if you buy smaller containers) is in with the milk case. I would bet on consumer psychology over logistics here.
    - eropple 8y ago
      > why the cheese/yogurt/eggs aisle is stocked from the front Logistics: because then you don't need rear access to the cooler shelves. That's square footage that you can better use in other ways. (In school I worked in a supermarket that put dairy in the beer/soda cooler, and we stocked it from the back.)
    - eitally 8y ago
      Some groceries -- every Whole Foods I've ever shopped at, for example -- have the eggs & dairy at the back with the milk, and stock those shelves from the back, too. Non-dairy "milks" only don't require refrigeration if they're ultra-pasteurized tetrapaks, which (in my experience) are only in 1Lt/Qt containers. Milk is heavy. It's stocked onto shelves slightly angled forward so the remaining stock slides to the front for ease of reach. This need isn't generally applicable, or desireable, for other refrigerated/frozen foods.
    - fipple 8y ago
      None of that stuff moves as much raw volume of product as milk.
- srtjstjsj 8y ago
  Most people, given the choice, consume more than only milk.
lukejduncan 8y ago
source: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/09/21/494927147/episode-555-why-is-the-milk-in-the-back-of-the-store https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/09/21/494927147/epis...
spunker540 8y ago
I'm not sure that's a compelling reason. Why aren't frozen goods at the back of the store then? And are you sure milk needs to be stocked from behind? Is it at the back of the store because it needs to be stocked from behind - or is it stocked from behind simply because its at the back of the store?
- derekp7 8y ago
  If you stock it from the front, then there could be a couple gallons in the back that never get bought. Unless they let the stock run out completely before restocking. Plus with thing like milk, it is a real pain to push several gallons uphill to put something else in front (ever try to put a milk container back on the sloped shelf? Takes a couple hands and some fidgeting to do it).
  - desas 8y ago
    In the UK I've never seen a rear loaded fridge, you always stock from the front.
  - spunker540 8y ago
    that's a good point about the keeping older milk up front!
- srtjstjsj 8y ago
  Frozen food has a freezer-life of months. That's what freezing is for. Fridge food has a fridge-live of days.
kurtisc 8y ago
>That is where the loading bays are, so they keep the fridges nearby so cold items have less chance to heat up. The distance from bay to fridge plus fridge to the exit is the same wherever it goes.
- srtjstjsj 8y ago
  Heating up on the way home is the customer's problem, not the store's problem.
i_made_a_booboo 8y ago
Plus it's heavy as hell so having to move it far is big driver of this too.
megy 8y ago
Except this is not true at all, and we have somehow managed to have the milk out for 30 minutes at a time without going off. Watch when they refill.

tomjen3 8y ago

I am not so sure this matters. At least in my experience if they put the milk in the front of the store I would run through it and be confused.

NegativeLatency 8y ago

Sometimes the organic milk is not at the back of the store

copperx 8y ago
That's because organic milk is rarely a loss leader.

CM30 8y ago

Not from what I've seen in the UK. It heavily depends on the store where the products are placed, and the milk could be anywhere from near the door to the back. For example, in Aldi stores, the milk is usually kept quite near the entrance, along with the kind of things you'd keep in the fridge (butter, cheese, etc) and the bread. In the likes of MS and Waitrose, it's usually somewhere near the side of the store, not too far from the entrance but past the fruit and vegetables. Same sort of deal with Tesco, Sainsburys, etc. Smaller convenience stores are usually just kind of random. Nah, if you want real exploitative design, note how many shops are designed to draw out your shopping time as much as possible, by having a nice Z pattern that 'encourages' you to trudge through the whole store before ending up at the checkout. I think in that sense, most over here seem to have taken inspiration from the likes of Ikea or Costco more than anything else. There's also the obvious 'fake sale' dark pattern, as well as the 'move everything round every few weeks to disorientate regular customers' one.

srtjstjsj 8y ago
Which shops have a Z pattern? Which shops move products around? I've never seen that. Costco certainly doesn't Costco has aisles, and sections for each major product category. IKEA has a "tour the store" design which is nice for a store you browse because you want something for every section (room in your house). You can go directly where you want if you know what you want.
- gniv 8y ago
  > Which shops have a Z pattern? Which shops move products around? In the US, Trader Joe's does this.