1. The most common items available in the store are dry, packaged goods. This includes cleaning products and several aisles of non-food items, as in one aisle offering pet food and pet supplies. Frozen and refrigerated foods make up about one-quarter of the displays, just as a single large section is for produce and baked goods. The products most difficult to find are specialty items, such as ethnic foods and less identifiable brands.
2. Both the store and the products make claims to appeal to buyers. The store’s claims consistently emphasize deals, or bargain pricing for certain items temporarily discounted. With the products, the claims more relate to taste, ease of preparation, and nutritional value. Many also stress value, as in how many more servings the brand offers as compared to other brands, or how much more cleaning may be done with that particular product for a lower cost.
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3. Generally speaking, the refrigerated meats are the most expensive items in the entire store, with the better cuts of beef asking the highest prices of all. Dry goods are arranged in ways gradating price; the more expensive items are at eye-level, while generic brands at lower process are on the lowest shelves. This is true in all the aisles, from food to non-food products.
4. Shopper behavior is consistent in one way: interactions are rare and shoppers behave with little awareness of others. There is a reflex of courtesy, at the same time. Few or no words are exchanged when shoppers maneuver the carts around one another, but it is clear that most are considerate of sharing the physical spaces. Interactions seem to happen only when there are pauses in such maneuvers, and brief apologies are made. Far more evident is shoppers interacting with employees, and mainly asking about locations of items. Silence, however, usually defines the shopper experience regarding others in the store, and no matter the crowd.
5. As is usual, meat and poultry products are displayed in clear packaging, to allow the shopper to see as much of the product as possible. Labeling provides information as to weight, price per pound, date of packaging, and many such items have larger labels promoting the quality, as in being farm-raised, lean, and non-GMO. Virtually no packaging here suggests the original animal, and the language refers only to parts and styles of cuts. Only whole chickens and turkeys suggest the actual animal, and simply because the shapes must indicate this.
6. With so many products available in different sizes, the implication is that different consumers are targeted. For example, all candies and snack foods are offered in wide ranges of sizes, and the labeling indicates “party size” for the largest. The same strategy is in prepared and frozen meals; the larger are presented as “for the whole family” and smaller items are marked as “single-serving.” All this implies the understanding that different customers live differently, with some alone and others more social, and/or interested in feeding friends or family.
7. Foods from various racial/ethnic groups can be found in most aisles, but are usually not at eye-level. Sauces, beans, and other such items tend to be placed on high or very low shelves, as with lower-priced items. At the same time, the more expensive such items are prominently placed. This indicates ideas of ethnic product quality as determined by cost, or that the expensive ethnic food is “better” and more exotic, and desirable, simply because it costs more.
8. In terms of cultural values, the entire supermarket experience powerfully presents a single idea: homogeneity. This, in turn, is connected to a kind of overt Americanism. Bright colors, emphatic punctation, and appealing product packaging combine to express a sense of goodness as necessary, if the shopper is to enjoy a good life. Adding to the effect is the popular music playing and the very bright lighting.
