nuts in the grocery store

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There is actually a plan - if you went in for just nuts, and there was a "just nuts" aisle, you wouldn't stay in the store long. However, if they scatter categories (nuts for baking, nuts for snacking, nuts for ... whatever) then they get you to move around the store to find the specific use, hopefully getting you to look at other merchandise that you may or may not have looked for or at otherwise. I have had two local grocery stores completely change their aisles around in recent memory, and its the same thing - suddenly you "see" things that you ignored before, just because they are in a new spot and its no longer just "background" to the eye. Sinister, inconvenient from a shopper's point of view, but good marketing, I suppose.

Actually, on the side, I am amazed that some group or other hasn't raised concerns about having nuts scattered throughout grocery stores - there are a lot of people with nut allergies, sometimes severe to the point where just touching a contaminated surface may cause a reaction, and it must be a land mine field going into a grocery store.

The more places they put the nuts (within reason, and where people would look for them) the more of them will sell. Health foodies buy them in the produce section. Moms who like to bake buy them in the baking aisle. Snackers buy them along with the peanuts in the snack aisle.

Maybe, but what about the people who can't find exactly the nut they want, or the right nut at the price they want, and end up giving up in frustration and buying less?

Sadly for the consumer, they aren't too concerned if a minority of people are inconvenienced. All they have to do is to get you to buy something, even if it is one item that you didn't intend on buying, except that you were in the store anyway - presumably the people who leave without buying anything is a smaller number than those who stay and make a purchase even if their product isn't available (or not able to be found for whatever reason). The only way it would change is if the store discovered that product is being left on the shelves, or customers are requesting frequently something the store doesn't carry, or store x across town carries it for a better price and that the first store is generally losing customership because of their prices or if their customers are giving up looking for certain things because placement is not logical (customers are not shy when it comes to complaining about that, either, so the stores do get a good deal of feedback). That would force them to change. However, as long as they aren't seeing any significant change in their bottom line, the tendency is to "stay the course" - especially if it is a large chain store. The smaller places tend to be a little more flexible on change.

Having said that, I do understand the frustration, especially nowadays where there is just so much product and price point to sort through, and how little time and patience people can commit to shopping nowadays. What is worse is they seem to be getting rid of staff as much as possible, and there are fewer people to help you find anything. It isn't too bad in a small store, but in a big store you could waste a lot of time looking for one specific item, as as stated above, who has that kind of time any more?