Why is milk located in the back of grocery stores? (cream, cereal)

[Jayess1]

Note too though that Milk/dairy/refrigerated goods are along the walls in Convenience stores as well as nearest the loading dock/entry. "Increasing sales" has nothing to do w/it.

[OIF VET]

i'd rather walk across the huge parking lot to pay $3 for a gallon of milk rather than $5 for a gallon at a convenience store.

plus the beer is always cheaper at the grocery stores, like getting a tall boy of Keystone Ice for 99 cents!

[ovcatto]

Here's my meager take based upon two years working in a supermarket... You can stock and store dairy in a single cooling unit that can be loaded from the rear of the display case without having to take the product out to the floor. Unlike frozen food that has a longer handling time, dairy which is just cooled requires a shorter stocking time before the temp rises about safe handling practices.

[fennec2009]

Originally Posted by Pikantari

Most of the time I have noticed the milk to be along the back where the storage cooler area is. I think this does help in stocking milk, but I also have to walk through a lot of other products to get to the milk.

Many more expensive items are also placed at eye level to adults as well. (or items they really want you to see and buy)

Yep, a lot of stores stock store brand items either above or below eye level. They want you to see the more expensive brand name items first. They also put popular kids snack foods closer to the ground, so they beg and plead their parents to buy them. Just another reason not to take kids shopping.

[Avalon08]

I had always heard it was to make you go through the entire store and get side-tracked buying additional items. And as a person with a problem walking, it's a real pain (literally) for me -- supermarkets are BIG. Which is why, if I just need milk, I usually stop at a convenience store. I'm sure I'm paying more, but it's worth it to avoid that long walk to the back of the store.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by ovcatto

Here's my meager take based upon two years working in a supermarket... You can stock and store dairy in a single cooling unit that can be loaded from the rear of the display case without having to take the product out to the floor. Unlike frozen food that has a longer handling time, dairy which is just cooled requires a shorter stocking time before the temp rises about safe handling practices.

Exactly. And the store I just shopped today had the dairy on the side, because that was the logical place to put it at that particular location.

But just watch... this urban myth is so strong, just watch how many people will still comment in this thread to say it's true.

[NJBest]

Where I buy milk (Wegmans), it's located near the registers. However, all the other grocery stores around here do locate them near the back more or less.

[NJBest]

Where I buy milk (Wegmans), the milk is located in the front by the registers. Other grocery stores around here do have them located near the back.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Product placement is a big field with people making a lot of money laying out the stores to maximum profit, but milk is not placed in the back because of that. They have to replenish the shelves often, and do so from the back, so the stocker doesn't get in the way of shoppers.

Basically milk is near the cooler. The cooler is usually at a corner of the back of the store. This means the milk travels very little inbetween cold storage and the shelf. You don't want the pallat of it sitting in the warm air while one lowly clerk loads the shelf in the middle of the store.

[Xeon1210]

for those of you who think this is hogwash, the VP or whatever of walmart stores has said in a documentary that milk is placed at the back so that people browse through the rest of the store on their way there, because it's one of their most popular items.