Thread: Do the Supermarket Shuffle! :-(

On 9/29/2012 7:07 PM, Dave Smith wrote:

> Since I have been retired I have never had more than 2 or 3 people ahead
> of me at a checkout. I can usually roll into a checkout counter as
> someone else is leaving.
>
> My mother never got out of the habit of shopping on Saturday. I never
> understood it. She had not worked "outside of the home" for year,so it
> wasn't a matter of shopping on her day off. My father was paid monthly,
> so it wasn't a matter of shopping on or the day after pay day.

I remember once thinking This is the last time I'll have to shop
at Costco on a Saturday. Now I avoid shopping at all on the weekends
if I can help it. I don't like crowded stores and why gum up the
works if I can shop on weekdays.

nancy

"Nancy Young" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:506783eb$0$7384$[email protected] com...
> On 9/29/2012 7:07 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>
>> Since I have been retired I have never had more than 2 or 3 people ahead
>> of me at a checkout. I can usually roll into a checkout counter as
>> someone else is leaving.
>>
>> My mother never got out of the habit of shopping on Saturday. I never
>> understood it. She had not worked "outside of the home" for year,so it
>> wasn't a matter of shopping on her day off. My father was paid monthly,
>> so it wasn't a matter of shopping on or the day after pay day.
>
> I remember once thinking This is the last time I'll have to shop
> at Costco on a Saturday. Now I avoid shopping at all on the weekends
> if I can help it. I don't like crowded stores and why gum up the
> works if I can shop on weekdays.
>
> nancy



Same here. I like to shop mid-week for the majority of groceries, and just
on an as needed basis for the rest of the week, always early morning. I hate
crowded stores.

Cheri

On 9/29/2012 8:37 PM, Cheri wrote:
> "Nancy Young" <[email protected]> wrote in message

>> I remember once thinking This is the last time I'll have to shop
>> at Costco on a Saturday. Now I avoid shopping at all on the weekends
>> if I can help it. I don't like crowded stores and why gum up the
>> works if I can shop on weekdays.

> Same here. I like to shop mid-week for the majority of groceries, and
> just on an as needed basis for the rest of the week, always early
> morning. I hate crowded stores.

Really. For years I didn't have much of a choice, I guess I was used
to it, but I still appreciate that I don't have to do it anymore.

Now I just need to get grocery shopping done by two, or it's all
school buses and parents rushing to pick up something for dinner.

nancy

In article <k47l76$v0v$[email protected]>,
dsi1 <[email protected]> wrote:

> The layout of the store is designed to have you going through all the
> aisles in an easy flowing manner with no traffic tie-ups.

They probably want to minimize traffic jams, but they also want you to
take a long meandering route through the store. As others in this
thread have already noted, this maximizes the likelihood that you will
spot things not on your shopping list and make impulse buys.

I once heard a store design consultant explain some parts of this
strategy. Did you ever notice that the staples you buy most often
(juice, milk, beer, eggs, etc.) are usually at the back of the store?
Part of that is because these are high turnover or perishable items, and
they want them close to the loading dock. But did you also notice that
other items which might be bought together (bread and jelly, pasta and
sauce) are in different aisles? Frozen foods on the opposite side of
the store from fresh produce? These choices are not accidental. The
store designers simulate a typical shopper's path, trying to make it
long and irregular. I think the term they use for this goal is
"turbulence". The strategies are not unlike the sneaky things they do
in Las Vegas casinos to keep you engaged, energized, and discouraged
from leaving = some of that stuff is VERY interesting, but outside the
scope of this NG.

The level of tech in grocery stores is always increasing. A few weeks
ago, I got into a conversation with a manager in one of our local
mega-markets (QFC in Seattle). I noticed some round white objects in
the ceiling over the checkout area, and was curious to know what they
were for. He told me they were heat sensors, used to measure the number
of people in the checkout lines. The data feed into a central computer
system, and used to dynamically allocate staff assignments. When the
lines get longer, they pull workers from other tasks and put them at the
checkouts. It sounds a bit creepy, but I guess it benefits the
customers.

In the future we will see new developments that some of us will find
annoying or intrusive. Shopping carts and aisle displays will have LCD
screens with updating advertisements as we pass through various areas in
the store. Sensors will detect tags in our smart phones, or the
products already in our cart, and the ads will be tailored to what you
have already bought, or what the internet databases know about you.
Remember the film "Minority Report"? That stuff is coming.

--
Julian Vrieslander

On 9/30/2012 11:05 PM, Julian Vrieslander wrote:
> In article <k47l76$v0v$[email protected]>,
> dsi1 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> The layout of the store is designed to have you going through all the
>> aisles in an easy flowing manner with no traffic tie-ups.
>
> They probably want to minimize traffic jams, but they also want you to
> take a long meandering route through the store. As others in this
> thread have already noted, this maximizes the likelihood that you will
> spot things not on your shopping list and make impulse buys.
>
> I once heard a store design consultant explain some parts of this
> strategy. Did you ever notice that the staples you buy most often
> (juice, milk, beer, eggs, etc.) are usually at the back of the store?
> Part of that is because these are high turnover or perishable items, and
> they want them close to the loading dock. But did you also notice that
> other items which might be bought together (bread and jelly, pasta and
> sauce) are in different aisles? Frozen foods on the opposite side of
> the store from fresh produce? These choices are not accidental. The
> store designers simulate a typical shopper's path, trying to make it
> long and irregular. I think the term they use for this goal is
> "turbulence". The strategies are not unlike the sneaky things they do
> in Las Vegas casinos to keep you engaged, energized, and discouraged
> from leaving = some of that stuff is VERY interesting, but outside the
> scope of this NG.
>
> The level of tech in grocery stores is always increasing. A few weeks
> ago, I got into a conversation with a manager in one of our local
> mega-markets (QFC in Seattle). I noticed some round white objects in
> the ceiling over the checkout area, and was curious to know what they
> were for. He told me they were heat sensors, used to measure the number
> of people in the checkout lines. The data feed into a central computer
> system, and used to dynamically allocate staff assignments. When the
> lines get longer, they pull workers from other tasks and put them at the
> checkouts. It sounds a bit creepy, but I guess it benefits the
> customers.
>
> In the future we will see new developments that some of us will find
> annoying or intrusive. Shopping carts and aisle displays will have LCD
> screens with updating advertisements as we pass through various areas in
> the store. Sensors will detect tags in our smart phones, or the
> products already in our cart, and the ads will be tailored to what you
> have already bought, or what the internet databases know about you.
> Remember the film "Minority Report"? That stuff is coming.
>

Sooner than we think. We're already being tracked and are bombarded by
personalized messages based on our every actions.

Julian Vrieslander <MY_FIRST_NAME@MY_LAST_NAME.com> wrote:

> In the future we will see new developments that some of us
> will find annoying or intrusive. Shopping carts and aisle
> displays will have LCD screens with updating advertisements
> as we pass through various areas in the store. Sensors
> will detect tags in our smart phones, or the products
> already in our cart, and the ads will be tailored to what
> you have already bought, or what the internet databases
> know about you. Remember the film "Minority Report"? That
> stuff is coming.



Julian,

That future came and went in 1992. When we moved here we found a
market that had carts with color tablet screens on each cart,
with an antenna pole to send and receive data. It had multiple
screens to show where you were in an aisle, what products were
in that aisle and if you walked past a coupon sale item, it
displayed the product coupon. After you shopped a few feet past
the coupon screen would vanish.

It was great future tech but it was short lived. After six
months they scrapped the system for some reason. Too 1984 Big
Brother-ish? Underutilized by low tech shoppers? Stolen tablets?
Too costly to maintain and support?

Best,

Andy

On 10/1/2012 5:05 AM, Julian Vrieslander wrote:
> In article <k47l76$v0v$[email protected]>,
> dsi1 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> The layout of the store is designed to have you going through all the
>> aisles in an easy flowing manner with no traffic tie-ups.
>
> They probably want to minimize traffic jams, but they also want you to
> take a long meandering route through the store. As others in this
> thread have already noted, this maximizes the likelihood that you will
> spot things not on your shopping list and make impulse buys.
>
> I once heard a store design consultant explain some parts of this
> strategy. Did you ever notice that the staples you buy most often
> (juice, milk, beer, eggs, etc.) are usually at the back of the store?
> Part of that is because these are high turnover or perishable items, and
> they want them close to the loading dock. But did you also notice that
> other items which might be bought together (bread and jelly, pasta and
> sauce) are in different aisles? Frozen foods on the opposite side of
> the store from fresh produce? These choices are not accidental. The
> store designers simulate a typical shopper's path, trying to make it
> long and irregular. I think the term they use for this goal is
> "turbulence". The strategies are not unlike the sneaky things they do
> in Las Vegas casinos to keep you engaged, energized, and discouraged
> from leaving = some of that stuff is VERY interesting, but outside the
> scope of this NG.
>
> The level of tech in grocery stores is always increasing. A few weeks
> ago, I got into a conversation with a manager in one of our local
> mega-markets (QFC in Seattle). I noticed some round white objects in
> the ceiling over the checkout area, and was curious to know what they
> were for. He told me they were heat sensors, used to measure the number
> of people in the checkout lines. The data feed into a central computer
> system, and used to dynamically allocate staff assignments. When the
> lines get longer, they pull workers from other tasks and put them at the
> checkouts. It sounds a bit creepy, but I guess it benefits the
> customers.
>
> In the future we will see new developments that some of us will find
> annoying or intrusive. Shopping carts and aisle displays will have LCD
> screens with updating advertisements as we pass through various areas in
> the store. Sensors will detect tags in our smart phones, or the
> products already in our cart, and the ads will be tailored to what you
> have already bought, or what the internet databases know about you.
> Remember the film "Minority Report"? That stuff is coming.
>

Very interesting indeed! You describe my grocery store very well and I
live on the opposite side of the country.

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

On Sep 29, 7:12*am, Nancy Young <rjynlynos...@vverizon.net> wrote:
>
> On 9/29/2012 6:42 AM, jmcquown wrote:
>
> > Publix does have a nifty online shopping list feature. *You can create
> > and print a shopping list based on what is currently available in the
> > store nearest you. *You specify the store location, go to the weekly
> > flier (flyer?) and create a printable shopping list. *No, I don't work
> > for Publix. LOL *I just think it's a handy feature.
>
> It is handy, just click on what you want and you wind up with a
> printable list. *I only really use it at this one local store, and
> if I had a nit to pick, they organize my choices under department
> headings and I don't care for that extra clutter.
>
> nancy

>
>
So does Kroger.

On 10/1/12 5:05 AM, Julian Vrieslander wrote:
> ....pasta and sauce) are in different aisles?

Not in any supermarket I've been in.

-- Larry

On Mon, 01 Oct 2012 02:05:05 -0700, Julian Vrieslander wrote:

> The data feed into a central computer
> system, and used to dynamically allocate staff assignments. When the
> lines get longer, they pull workers from other tasks and put them at the
> checkouts. It sounds a bit creepy, but I guess it benefits the
> customers.

Sounds like an expensive solution to good 'ol eyesight.

-sw

On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 06:19:44 -0700 (PDT), "[email protected]"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sep 29, 7:12*am, Nancy Young <rjynlynos...@vverizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> On 9/29/2012 6:42 AM, jmcquown wrote:
>>
>> > Publix does have a nifty online shopping list feature. *You can create
>> > and print a shopping list based on what is currently available in the
>> > store nearest you. *You specify the store location, go to the weekly
>> > flier (flyer?) and create a printable shopping list. *No, I don't work
>> > for Publix. LOL *I just think it's a handy feature.
>>
>> It is handy, just click on what you want and you wind up with a
>> printable list. *I only really use it at this one local store, and
>> if I had a nit to pick, they organize my choices under department
>> headings and I don't care for that extra clutter.
>>
>> nancy
>
>So does Kroger.

Most stupidmarkets, even the little market in town here has the
shopping list app at their web site.
http://www.gufamilymarkets.com/Shop/WeeklyAd.aspx
You need to register at a store to access the list.

On Oct 1, 9:54*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 06:19:44 -0700 (PDT), "itsjoannotjo...@webtv.net"
>
>
> >> It is handy, just click on what you want and you wind up with a
> >> printable list. I only really use it at this one local store, and
> >> if I had a nit to pick, they organize my choices under department
> >> headings and I don't care for that extra clutter.
>
> >> nancy
>
> >So does Kroger.
>
> Most stupidmarkets, even the little market in town here has the
> shopping list app at their web site.http://www.gufamilymarkets.com/Shop/WeeklyAd.aspx
> You need to register at a store to access the list.
>
>
There is one very, very small chain here who is not online. I find it
annoying to have to wait for their sale paper to be delivered in the
mail or drop by the store and pick one up just to see if they have any
decent bargains that week. I don't shop there very frequently but
they do have some outstanding sales throughout the year that I like to
hit. Other larger stores/chains are online and I like to see if they
have anything worth my time and gasoline to shop.

On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 08:48:15 -0700 (PDT), "[email protected]"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Oct 1, 9:54*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 06:19:44 -0700 (PDT), "itsjoannotjo...@webtv.net"
>>
>>
>> >> It is handy, just click on what you want and you wind up with a
>> >> printable list. I only really use it at this one local store, and
>> >> if I had a nit to pick, they organize my choices under department
>> >> headings and I don't care for that extra clutter.
>>
>> >> nancy
>>
>> >So does Kroger.
>>
>> Most stupidmarkets, even the little market in town here has the
>> shopping list app at their web site.
>> http://www.gufamilymarkets.com/Shop/WeeklyAd.aspx
>> You need to register at a store to access the list.
>>
>>
>There is one very, very small chain here who is not online. I find it
>annoying to have to wait for their sale paper to be delivered in the
>mail or drop by the store and pick one up just to see if they have any
>decent bargains that week. I don't shop there very frequently but
>they do have some outstanding sales throughout the year that I like to
>hit. Other larger stores/chains are online and I like to see if they
>have anything worth my time and gasoline to shop.

The sale circulars are weekly, so you have all week to get to the
store. Here the new sale starts on Sunday but I rarely get there
until a midweek day. And I'd not be surprised that if you searched
carefully you'd find a web site for your small chain market and it
will have the weekly circular on line. Was like five years before I
found the web site for the market here, its parent company kept
changing and one day by accident I discoverred it was under Grand
Union, a defunct chain. And of just a few days ago I discovered that
a company by the name of "Tops" bought this store... I noticed
yesterday that changes were beginning, they got all new scales, the
labels on the meat and deli are different, and the registers at check
out are all new. The person who owns this entire strip mall property
lives in Ohio.

"[email protected]" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> On Oct 1, 9:54*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 06:19:44 -0700 (PDT),
>> "itsjoannotjo...@webtv.net"
>>
>>
>> >> It is handy, just click on what you want and you wind
>> >> up with a printable list. I only really use it at this
>> >> one local store, and if I had a nit to pick, they
>> >> organize my choices under department headings and I
>> >> don't care for that extra clutter.
>>
>> >> nancy
>>
>> >So does Kroger.
>>
>> Most stupidmarkets, even the little market in town here
>> has the shopping list app at their web
>> site.http://www.gufamilymarkets.com/Shop/W
> eeklyAd.aspx
>> You need to register at a store to access the list.
>>
>>
> There is one very, very small chain here who is not online.
> I find it annoying to have to wait for their sale paper to
> be delivered in the mail or drop by the store and pick one
> up just to see if they have any decent bargains that week.
> I don't shop there very frequently but they do have some
> outstanding sales throughout the year that I like to hit.
> Other larger stores/chains are online and I like to see if
> they have anything worth my time and gasoline to shop.



At one time some sales and finder apps that were great ideas but
poorly managed and maintained and quickly died out.

One app you could search for a product and it would list all the
markets nearby with price comparisons. The prices were so rarely
updated it was useless.

Another similar app would read the barcode and do basically the
same but more broad in scope in that you could receive hardware,
dollar store, BB&B etc. items. Again outdated prices.

One ambitious app let you create a list of products and if while
driving, if a store was in your proximity It popped up the
stores, mapping from you to them and the products. A good idea
if you were passing through an unknown town for that six pack of
Bud Light. This app just as quickly "faded to black."

Two of my supermarkets are online that I registered to but only
to do product availability and price comparisons.

I also registered at the recipe website allrecipes.com to store
selected recipes in my recipe box. If I need a list of a
recipe's ingredients it's a few clicks away with smarts to let
you exclude ingredients you have in stock along with recipe
scaling.

I make up my staple shopping lists using "ShopShop" on the
iPhone. The most intuitive, easy, flexible and beautiful GUI.
Once an item is in your cart, just tapping it in the list red-
lines the item and moves it to the bottom of the list. Items can
be arranged into aisles.

It's a free app at the Appstore.:

Here's my lists
http://oi47.tinypic.com/357edco.jpg

I also keep all my saved PC recipes on the iPhone to refer to
when shopping or email recipes upon request from anywhere to
anyone.

I used to have every free cookbook app available. While novel
they were all to much eye strain to follow. A rapid passing
interest.

Andy

On Oct 1, 12:34*pm, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>
>
> The sale circulars are weekly, so you have all week to get to the
> store. *Here the new sale starts on Sunday but I rarely get there
> until a midweek day. *And I'd not be surprised that if you searched
> carefully you'd find a web site for your small chain market and it
> will have the weekly circular on line.
>
>
I wish I could say they are hiding their online ad from me, but that
would be a big fib. Truthfully, they don't have anything online, the
store chain (4 of 5 stores) is owned by an old codger. He probably
has no idea he could put his ad online and if it would cost him a
penny to do it he would not.

Cheri wrote:
> "Andy" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]..
>>
>> I asked one of the staff, "the old aisle pattern was so
>> logical, why change it?" He shrugged and said "that's what the
>> bosses want."
>>
>> I felt bad for the staff AND shoppers.
>>
>> [Sigh]
>>
>> Andy
>
>
> I really, really hate it when they do that, sometimes for no rhyme or
> reason except maybe some pencil pusher decided that a change would be
> nice...definitely not!
>
> Cheri

I have decided, perhaps incorrectly, that they LIKE making folks
pay attention to more things in the store instead of just
continuing to zero in on the products they want. Perhaps if
people have to look around, they will end up discovering products
that are either new or new to them, and buying said products.
That being said, I really don't like it.

--

On Oct 1, 8:16*pm, "Jean B." <jb...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
>
> I have decided, perhaps incorrectly, that they LIKE making folks
> pay attention to more things in the store instead of just
> continuing to zero in on the products they want. *Perhaps if
> people have to look around, they will end up discovering products
> that are either new or new to them, and buying said products.
> That being said, I really don't like it.
>
>
I agree completely.

On Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:16:29 -0400, "Jean B." <[email protected]> wrote:

>Cheri wrote:
>> "Andy" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]..
>>>
>>> I asked one of the staff, "the old aisle pattern was so
>>> logical, why change it?" He shrugged and said "that's what the
>>> bosses want."
>>>
>>> I felt bad for the staff AND shoppers.
>>>
>>> [Sigh]
>>>
>>> Andy
>>
>>
>> I really, really hate it when they do that, sometimes for no rhyme or
>> reason except maybe some pencil pusher decided that a change would be
>> nice...definitely not!
>>
>> Cheri
>
>I have decided, perhaps incorrectly, that they LIKE making folks
>pay attention to more things in the store instead of just
>continuing to zero in on the products they want. Perhaps if
>people have to look around, they will end up discovering products
>that are either new or new to them, and buying said products.
>That being said, I really don't like it.


There is an entire industry that studies ideal placement of products
in parts of the store and more specifically, on the shelves.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2741065/
http://www.markettools.com/market-re...duct-placement

Boron

On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 08:48:15 -0700 (PDT), "[email protected]"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> On Oct 1, 9:54*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 06:19:44 -0700 (PDT), "itsjoannotjo...@webtv.net"
> >
> >
> > >> It is handy, just click on what you want and you wind up with a
> > >> printable list. I only really use it at this one local store, and
> > >> if I had a nit to pick, they organize my choices under department
> > >> headings and I don't care for that extra clutter.
> >
> > >> nancy
> >
> > >So does Kroger.
> >
> > Most stupidmarkets, even the little market in town here has the
> > shopping list app at their web site.http://www.gufamilymarkets.com/Shop/WeeklyAd.aspx
> > You need to register at a store to access the list.
> >
> >
> There is one very, very small chain here who is not online. I find it
> annoying to have to wait for their sale paper to be delivered in the
> mail or drop by the store and pick one up just to see if they have any
> decent bargains that week. I don't shop there very frequently but
> they do have some outstanding sales throughout the year that I like to
> hit. Other larger stores/chains are online and I like to see if they
> have anything worth my time and gasoline to shop.

I guess there are two camps. Those who read those things and those
who don't. I want to shop when I feel like shopping. If something is
on sale, fine. If it's not and I want to buy it, I don't care. I'm
certainly not going to build my life around some grocery sale pamphlet
(or whatever those things are called).

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila