It's not stupid, it's deliberate. I had a friend who did consulting work (in a different area) with a large grocery chain, and they deliberately change the layout so you're spending more time in the store, looking at things, because chances are that you'll buy more. If the store becomes a little too crowded, they'll just change the music to hurry you along.
Exactly. There’s nothing - almost nothing maybe - in larger stores or chains that is not designed to make you buy things. Even the way through, Ikea is obviously god emperor there but other follow closely.
Yeah, the one (and very likely only) time I went to IKEA, I bought almost nothing, because the whole store was just one big stampede, pressing through that singular path.
At first, when Ikea finally came to where I live, I thought that was a cool way to keep traffic flowing and the stress level low. $600 later, after only planning to buy a couple pillows, I realized why the stores are layed out like that.
On the one hand I imagine they've done some kinda analysis on how number go up, on the other it's hard for me to imagine that the money you spend on paying your employees is better directed towards making everyone frustrated rather than just keeping the store a clean and pleasant place to be in