The old retail wisdom says that the best deals are always on the bottom shelf. The common advice for shoppers is to “look high and low” to find the bargains. However, a closer look at the modern supermarket reveals that this is not always true. While the bottom shelf is still the home of many great deals, there are a number of strategic reasons why a store will sometimes place a more expensive item on a lower shelf. This can be a confusing and counterintuitive practice for shoppers.
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The “Family-Friendly” Bottom Shelf
The bottom shelf is at the perfect eye level for a child who is sitting in a shopping cart. For this reason, retailers will often place their most kid-friendly, and often more expensive, products on these lower shelves. This includes things like sugary cereals with cartoon characters on the box, fruit snacks, and other items that are designed to trigger a “pester power” request from a child.
The Heavy and Bulky Item Zone
The bottom shelf is also the most practical and the safest place to store heavy and bulky items. This includes things like large bags of pet food, cases of soda, and large jugs of laundry detergent. While these items are often a good value in a “price per ounce” sense, their large size means they have a high upfront cost. This makes the bottom shelf a home for some of the most expensive single items in the entire store.
The Private-Label Premium Tier
In the past, the bottom shelf was for the cheapest, store-brand items. Now, however, many retailers have a “premium” tier of their private-label brand, like Kroger’s “Private Selection” or Safeway’s “Signature SELECT.” The store will often place these more expensive, higher-quality store brands on a lower shelf to differentiate them from the standard, eye-level national brands.
The Psychology of a “Treasure Hunt”
Some shoppers love the thrill of the hunt. They enjoy the feeling of “discovering” a great deal in an unexpected place. A store will sometimes play into this by placing a high-value, but not necessarily cheap, item on a lower shelf. This makes the shopper feel like they have found a secret, insider deal. It is a psychological trick that can make a regular price feel like a bargain.
Rethinking the Shelf Strategy
The old rule of “eye level is expensive, bottom shelf is cheap” is no longer a reliable guide for the modern shopper. A grocery store shelf is a complex and ever-changing environment. It is a place where every single product has been placed for a very specific and strategic reason. The only way to be sure that you are getting a good deal is to ignore the shelf placement altogether. You must focus only on the unit price.
Do you still believe that the best deals are always on the bottom shelf? Have you ever found a surprisingly expensive item in an unexpected place? Let us know your experience!
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