Stores can still sell candy and soda, just not at a child’s eye level in the checkout. The council said the shift to selling more healthy products at checkouts will still be profitable for stores because data shows customers are looking for more low sugar and low sodium products anyway. “The idea of healthy checkout is that it offers parents more opportunities to say yes to their kids, and it also helps us to re-envision what treats are,” said a member of Berkeley’s sugar-sweetened beverage commission. Retailers in test cases around the country and in California have seen dramatic increases in sales of healthy foods since they changed their checkouts to include more fresh options in displays.
As we point out on page 374 of Chapter 9, layout of retail stores is a scientific OM issue whose “objective is to maximize profitability per square foot of floor space.” But checkout counter locations, valuable because of their high exposure rate, are traditionally sold to food manufacturers by the inch!
Classroom discussion questions:
1. Is it a good strategy for governments to dictate supermarket product layouts?
2. Why is this an OM issue?
