Supermarkets are from a design perspective, which belies a lot of marketing and psychological cues and pandering that goes unseen, are a veritable vision quest of encouragement and reinforcement. Having some the tricks of the trade revealed and realizing that there is little departure from the established layout—although I am one to generally be overwhelmed and bewildered by an over-abundant selection—makes me think of those theories that ethnologists sometimes apply to mysterious ruins, suggesting that worn trails and monolithic configurations were ritual paths to entitlement and re-birth. That’s quite possible but we can’t access the intentions of the ancients, and it’s strange that we know grocers big and small have planned their sites not as a larder or granary but as sort of cake-walk, an anti-obstacle-course.
The tactics are not limited to the obvious ploy of putting top-shelf items at eye level, with the less profitable products require stooping, and impulse buys at the checkout, but even the industry-standard, modern shopping buggy has evolved over the years, precise and finely balanced so shoppers don’t feel added resistance as they fill their cart and the wagons are dipped slightly (not so the carts can be stacked) but rather so groceries will roll to the front and spark the acquisitive instinct, into over-drive. Entryways are regaled with fresh produce, not for ease of daily deliveries since most loading bays are in the back, but in order to rather lull shoppers into the mood for scavenging—lasting even into the depths of the freezer-section. Butcheries and fromageries framing their prepackaged and processed counterparts are not there to generate money but rather add ease for the array of less-labour intensive articles the demonstration booths surround. Finally, when next at the supermarket, take note of the times you bear left—that’s an intentional comfort too, intended to placate our self-defense mechanisms in an environment of albeit subdued and civilised safaris: most people better able to snatch and grab or attack from their rights, having to glance to the left might become a shopping distraction. These methods are not necessarily dirty tricks nor are they irresistibly effective, but immunity to the gimmicks is something only slowly acquired.
