4 ms·

Your local supermarket almost certainly does do that for that reason.

JoshTriplett 3y ago
Which is one of several good reasons to never shop in person.
lotsofpulp 3y ago
I have lived in many US states, and I have never experienced this in 30+ years. The end caps might change periodically, but the location of 99% of items is the same every time I have gone. Costco would probably be guilty of moving things around the most, but I assume this is partly due to their logistics and partly due to them wanting people to browse.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  My father, an inveterate Costco shopper, has a half-joke about this, because also the cashiers will routinely inquire if you "found everything OK?" He says that this is actually a threshold poll, and if too many people respond "yes" that triggers the Grand Reshuffling of Merchandise overnight! I actually think he's exactly right. Why does a cashier care whether you found everything? You're already checking out, it's too late to go hunting for more, and the cashier can't be the one who could help you look. So it's not an invitation to customer service, it's simply gauging your satisfaction.
chrisandchris 3y ago
Maybe in the US? The supermarkets I go to have the same layout over years.
- fidotron 3y ago
  I have encountered this in multiple countries in Europe and North America. Part of the reason is I obsessively form a routine and optimize the route around and consequently am incredibly sensitive to changes . . . Which I am not claiming is a healthy habit! UK supermarkets go so far as to randomly drop free promo items “by accident” into baskets for online delivery in the knowledge that people will get hooked on the new thing, so you can’t escape it just by going online.
- dagw 3y ago
  Supermarket I go to in Sweden moves stuff around all the time.
yomlica8 3y ago
Supermarkets can probably only do this to a very limited extent. Moving entire aisles of product has a large human labor and training cost they would need to pay for, not to mention physical space and plate wiring limitations. They can't just chain a few code blocks every time some one gets a bright idea. I will say costco will often move a product I regularly buy to an endcap to put it on sale. Then I can't find it anymore and am unable to buy it that week. I've tried asking the employees where it went but they never know either. Now I do a brief scan and then give up. For all I know they stopped carrying the product entirely.

Which is one of several good reasons to never shop in person.

I have lived in many US states, and I have never experienced this in 30+ years. The end caps might change periodically, but the location of 99% of items is the same every time I have gone. Costco would probably be guilty of moving things around the most, but I assume this is partly due to their logistics and partly due to them wanting people to browse.

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
My father, an inveterate Costco shopper, has a half-joke about this, because also the cashiers will routinely inquire if you "found everything OK?" He says that this is actually a threshold poll, and if too many people respond "yes" that triggers the Grand Reshuffling of Merchandise overnight! I actually think he's exactly right. Why does a cashier care whether you found everything? You're already checking out, it's too late to go hunting for more, and the cashier can't be the one who could help you look. So it's not an invitation to customer service, it's simply gauging your satisfaction.

chrisandchris 3y ago

Maybe in the US? The supermarkets I go to have the same layout over years.

fidotron 3y ago
I have encountered this in multiple countries in Europe and North America. Part of the reason is I obsessively form a routine and optimize the route around and consequently am incredibly sensitive to changes . . . Which I am not claiming is a healthy habit! UK supermarkets go so far as to randomly drop free promo items “by accident” into baskets for online delivery in the knowledge that people will get hooked on the new thing, so you can’t escape it just by going online.
dagw 3y ago
Supermarket I go to in Sweden moves stuff around all the time.

yomlica8 3y ago

Supermarkets can probably only do this to a very limited extent. Moving entire aisles of product has a large human labor and training cost they would need to pay for, not to mention physical space and plate wiring limitations. They can't just chain a few code blocks every time some one gets a bright idea. I will say costco will often move a product I regularly buy to an endcap to put it on sale. Then I can't find it anymore and am unable to buy it that week. I've tried asking the employees where it went but they never know either. Now I do a brief scan and then give up. For all I know they stopped carrying the product entirely.