There is another reason why grocery stores have a particular layout. It is because they want the customer to walk in a certain way. The most profitable products are always placed at the eye level or at the front end to grab the maximum attention of the customer. Some common departments of all the grocery stores are
Meat and Seafood Produce departmentDairy Section Health and Beauty departmentDeli and Bakery and
Let’s navigate through each section to help you know where to find what!
Why are there so many sections in grocery stores?
Before we describe each section in detail let us find out why grocery stores are divided into so many sections and departments.
To keep the products in an organized way
It is as simple as keeping ingredients in your kitchen in a certain way. It makes it easy to use them each time you are cooking. Similarly, grocery stores follow a system to keep the products organized. There are so many brands and varieties of each item. A customer may find it difficult to find a product if each time they visit, the location of the items is changed.
For marketing
Supermarkets have their own unsaid ways of marketing. They place some products at places where we are compelled to buy them. We can do nothing about it, it’s just human psychology. For example, the milk and dairy section is always at the end because when you are going for billing, your eyes automatically lay on the dairy section and you tend to buy some items.
Layout Logics
All the grocery stores have a particular layout to make you walk from the left to the right. Starting from the produce section and ending at the cooling or freezing section just before the cash counter. Next time you visit a grocery store make sure you notice these points!
What are the different departments in a grocery store?
The produce section
The center of the grocery store is always occupied by the produce section. It includes all fresh fruits and vegetables. This department also has pre-cut vegetables and fruits, salad mixes, salad dressings, and more. Products from the produce section are placed in the center because they have a short shelf- life.
Dairy Products Department
This department consists of everything related to dairies like milk, yogurt, cheese, sour cream, and more! Here, you will get all types of milk; soy, almond, and coconut. But if you are looking for flavored milk then it would be in the candy aisle and not in the dairy department. The dairy section is often towards the end of the store next to the frozen items or the billing counter.
The Meat and Seafood Department
As the name suggests, in this section you can find all types of frozen meat and seafood items. The section will include pork, beef, chicken, mutton, fish, crabs, prawns, and all other kinds of meat available. However, if you are looking for dressings or meat marination you will have to look in the Deli section. This section also has a shorter shelf life.
The Deli and Bakery Department
In the deli section, you will find all ready-to-eat packages and cold-cut meats. Whereas in the bakery you will get all kinds of bread, sandwiches, dips, and baked goods. Here you can also find cookies, cakes, and cupcakes. If you just want to buy the dough you can find it in the bakery section. You can even purchase the bakery items and eat them in the store if you want.
The Grocery Department
The grocery department is the most important of all. Here, you will find all your raw materials to cook a meal. Different kinds of sauces, herbs, toppings, spices, and more you will find everything here. This is the biggest department of all, hence you will find all the aisles quite neatly labeled.
The Health and Beauty Department
Not all grocery stores have a health and beauty department. This department mostly consists of cosmetics and beauty products. Very rarely you may also find some common medicines here.
All grocery stores are arranged cleverly, something that a common shopper may not be able to identify. Due to this arrangement sometimes, we end up buying something which was never on our shopping list! But now that you are aware of the sections and the way the products are placed you can try to avoid impulse buying!
