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The Systematic Inefficiencies of Grocery Paths

“…researchers visited stores and calculated the ‘optimal paths’ among products, the most efficient routes necessary to acquire these items and then leave the store. They then studied how 1,000 shoppers adhered to these routes. Even allowing for customers’ lack of knowledge about the exact location of specific products, shoppers tended to spend more time in stores than efficient shopping required. And we’re not just talking about small amounts: almost 70 percent of grocery shoppers’ time was spent not buying things.”