I don't think you're going to get a concrete answer here. I've heard anecdotes justifying both layouts but in all major instances it's by design and not an arbi

I don't think you're going to get a concrete answer here. I've heard anecdotes justifying both layouts but in all major instances it's by design and not an arbitrary choice. In theory, forcing people to walk in an unnatural direction (clockwise) will make them go slower but be more on edge. This[1] paper suggests clockwise layouts result in higher sales in discount stores. If you want to put your customers at ease it may not be a good idea to go with a clockwise layout. This[2] article interviews a few retail strategists that describe their intent. This[3] article contends that 'legged-ness' does not matter at all (albeit with a very small pool). The science is soft enough that I wouldn't put too much weight in the grocery store example specifically. As I recall the trend in the '80's was initially pushing for CW stores to make customers browse slowly but shifted to CCW in the late '90's to make them feel more comfortable. I've heard other stores about shifting the grocery store layout from aisles to the "ring." This roughly coincides with Target stores pre-95 that were competing with Kmart for the blue collar and post '95 that focused on curated, upmarket design for the middle class. From personal experience, products on end caps absolutely do sell better by 30-60% than those in aisle. [1] http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/eacr/vol8/eacr_vol8_153.pdf http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/eacr/vol8/eacr_vol8_153.pd... [2] http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223808 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223808 [3] http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post/do-people-really-walk-in-circles-2009-08-20/?id=do-people-really-walk-in-circles-2009-08-20 http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post/do-people-really... & http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1207918/Find-walking-circles-Scientists-reveal-struggle-walk-straight-line.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1207918/Find-...