Clearing crowded supermarket aisles lifts sales by 11.5% in field tests

Additional product displays in supermarket aisles—so-called secondary placements—are intended to encourage impulse purchases. However, a new study by Mathias C. Streicher of the University of Innsbruck shows that excessive use of secondary displays narrows the aisles, reducing in-aisle browsing and sales. In real-world field experiments, sales rose by about 11.5% after removal of secondary displays from a congested aisle, even though fewer products were on display overall. The study appears in PLOS One.