Consumer Shopping Habits for Wellness and Environmentally ...

At the exit, relevant actions include:
Reduce or eliminate ―impulse items‖ such as candy, gum, sugary sodas, and gossip
magazines near checkout and the store exit, and replace them with products with that carry
positive H+W overtones such as functional beverages.
Remove vending machines wherever possible from the store exit. Exiting into a ―sea of
vending machines‖ can have a negative effect on H+W perceptions, as those machines
typically contain items that are cheap and/or sugary. As alternatives, vending machines
could be replaced with H+W-enhancing props such as fresh plants, a floral department
could be placed strategically so consumers ―exit through freshness,‖ or H+W informational
feature could be placed in the exit area.
Manage shopping carts in a way that makes them less visible and less likely to serve as
obstacles at the store exit.
Space and Layout Practices to Avoid
There are two particular, common practices of space arrangement which generally tend to detract
from consumer H+W impressions and should be avoided.
OPEN SPACES THAT ACCUMULATE RANDOM SALE GOODS
In many retailers we find that spaces left open tend to accumulate random, typically on-sale
merchandise. While this may serve a useful purpose in ―blowing out‖ extra inventory, it also serves to
reduce the overall consumer quality and H+W impressions of a store. This very common practice
creates ―messiness‖ and/or ―obstacles‖ that many consumers do not appreciate. The two pictures
below illustrate this practice.
Figure 112 - Miscellaneous Sale Goods on the Floor
Retailers are faced with a trade-off here. Using these spaces to sell excess inventory solves an
immediate need. However, avoiding that practice is beneficial in a larger sense to a store‘s overall
quality perception.
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