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>Another bizarre thing was positioning items right on the edge of the shelf, as if they are about to fall off. Apparently this creates some kind of psychologica

>Another bizarre thing was positioning items right on the edge of the shelf, as if they are about to fall off. Apparently this creates some kind of psychological impulse as well. This practice was called "zoning" where I used to work. It was explained to me that people think the shelves are more full and will report in surveys etc. that the store has a better selection.

m463 2y ago
I definitely remember a grocery store I went to years ago was going out of business. Asking the cashiers only said "nah, not happening". But the shelves were getting bare. there was space around cans and bottles on the shelves, and there were a limited number in each row. It definitely gave you a feeling of impending demise. That the store was sad and unhealthy, and that prosperity was limited. also, all of this stuff also works in casinos, where every part of the design is carefully chosen. Dimmer warm lighting, since you and your companions always look happier and healthier even a 4am when complexions are actually pale, eyes are bleary, and makeup is smudged.
hnick 2y ago
In Australia they called it "facing up" (e: seems there's a wiki article calling it "facing" and maybe my boss just Aussied it a bit) and it was something I had to do every night while/after packing the stock. It also helped find stuff that people put back in the wrong place, or had expired (you're meant to pack back to front but people get lazy and then those fish fingers have been there for months).
- cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
  I worked retail in Australia and they used the same language. Though I only worked at Dick Smith (entirely during it being a WOW company) so it could’ve just been WOW language. However by the time I left I’d completely adopted the language and have used it in passing when e.g. asking someone something in another store, and they all seemed to get it. - “There’s only one facing of these hard drives”. - “There aren’t customers, go face up”. I haven’t worked retail in well over a decade yet I still sometimes subconsciously face up shelves when I go shopping, especially if I take something off a shelf. It’s a curse.
  - hnick 2y ago
    Yeah this was Woolies too, but late 90s. And I also still do the casual facing up. It's kind of satisfying, but also my wife is a bit short so there are times when someone her height can't see any stock left and I've had to dig for it so I guess it's nice to be helpful and bring it forward so people can at least see it's there.
  - sv0t 2y ago
    I worked in DSE in the 90s, "there aren't customers, go face up" triggered me ..and yeh, I don't leave behind a mess if I buy something off the shelf.
  - dkdbejwi383 2y ago
    My first job was at Woolies and we used the same terminology. > I haven’t worked retail in well over a decade yet I still sometimes subconsciously face up shelves when I go shopping, especially if I take something off a shelf. It’s a curse. Same here! Worked at a couple of fashion retailers after Woolies and will also ensure clothes hangers are always facing the same way.
- selimthegrim 2y ago
  fronting or front-facing in America (from my brief stint at an AutoZone)
choilive 2y ago
Grocery store I used to work called it "facing", and it does make the store look neat and organized, but we were never instructed to make it look like they are about to fall off which seems strange to me.
- throwanem 2y ago
  I learned the name "fronting" for it. Still do it, too, when I happen on the occasion. Partly that's because it's no effort and it helps keep the store looking nice, because I shop there too, and because Giant management gives the people who work there more than enough problems already. And partly it's because fronting shelves in passing, in the days when stocking and bagging were my summer job in high school, was what prompted the first compliment I ever had in my life that I knew I'd really earned. Leaving things to look like they're about to fall off a shelf isn't how you get told "you ain't no scrub," by a man who looks as if he's worked that store for five hundred years and has absolutely no reason to waste words he doesn't mean on a weird nerdy high school kid. So I do it right.
fp64 2y ago
When I was a little kid, my mom often took me with her for shopping. One time there was a big barrel full of some cheap products, and bored and weird as I was, I started sorting and stacking everything in the barrel. Looked really nice. At some point a clerk came over and explained to me that this is not in the best interest of the shop, as people are more likely to buy stuff if it's in this cluttered mess, as it's more inviting to quickly grab something. For some reason that made sense to my 6 year old self so I happily abandon the stacking and moved to something else. Note, I'm generally rather a messy person. Maybe it's the fault of that clerk.

m463 2y ago

I definitely remember a grocery store I went to years ago was going out of business. Asking the cashiers only said "nah, not happening". But the shelves were getting bare. there was space around cans and bottles on the shelves, and there were a limited number in each row. It definitely gave you a feeling of impending demise. That the store was sad and unhealthy, and that prosperity was limited. also, all of this stuff also works in casinos, where every part of the design is carefully chosen. Dimmer warm lighting, since you and your companions always look happier and healthier even a 4am when complexions are actually pale, eyes are bleary, and makeup is smudged.

hnick 2y ago

In Australia they called it "facing up" (e: seems there's a wiki article calling it "facing" and maybe my boss just Aussied it a bit) and it was something I had to do every night while/after packing the stock. It also helped find stuff that people put back in the wrong place, or had expired (you're meant to pack back to front but people get lazy and then those fish fingers have been there for months).

cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
I worked retail in Australia and they used the same language. Though I only worked at Dick Smith (entirely during it being a WOW company) so it could’ve just been WOW language. However by the time I left I’d completely adopted the language and have used it in passing when e.g. asking someone something in another store, and they all seemed to get it. - “There’s only one facing of these hard drives”. - “There aren’t customers, go face up”. I haven’t worked retail in well over a decade yet I still sometimes subconsciously face up shelves when I go shopping, especially if I take something off a shelf. It’s a curse.
- hnick 2y ago
  Yeah this was Woolies too, but late 90s. And I also still do the casual facing up. It's kind of satisfying, but also my wife is a bit short so there are times when someone her height can't see any stock left and I've had to dig for it so I guess it's nice to be helpful and bring it forward so people can at least see it's there.
- sv0t 2y ago
  I worked in DSE in the 90s, "there aren't customers, go face up" triggered me ..and yeh, I don't leave behind a mess if I buy something off the shelf.
- dkdbejwi383 2y ago
  My first job was at Woolies and we used the same terminology. > I haven’t worked retail in well over a decade yet I still sometimes subconsciously face up shelves when I go shopping, especially if I take something off a shelf. It’s a curse. Same here! Worked at a couple of fashion retailers after Woolies and will also ensure clothes hangers are always facing the same way.
selimthegrim 2y ago
fronting or front-facing in America (from my brief stint at an AutoZone)

choilive 2y ago

Grocery store I used to work called it "facing", and it does make the store look neat and organized, but we were never instructed to make it look like they are about to fall off which seems strange to me.

throwanem 2y ago
I learned the name "fronting" for it. Still do it, too, when I happen on the occasion. Partly that's because it's no effort and it helps keep the store looking nice, because I shop there too, and because Giant management gives the people who work there more than enough problems already. And partly it's because fronting shelves in passing, in the days when stocking and bagging were my summer job in high school, was what prompted the first compliment I ever had in my life that I knew I'd really earned. Leaving things to look like they're about to fall off a shelf isn't how you get told "you ain't no scrub," by a man who looks as if he's worked that store for five hundred years and has absolutely no reason to waste words he doesn't mean on a weird nerdy high school kid. So I do it right.

fp64 2y ago

When I was a little kid, my mom often took me with her for shopping. One time there was a big barrel full of some cheap products, and bored and weird as I was, I started sorting and stacking everything in the barrel. Looked really nice. At some point a clerk came over and explained to me that this is not in the best interest of the shop, as people are more likely to buy stuff if it's in this cluttered mess, as it's more inviting to quickly grab something. For some reason that made sense to my 6 year old self so I happily abandon the stacking and moved to something else. Note, I'm generally rather a messy person. Maybe it's the fault of that clerk.