[ElCee]

Is this aisle change at Woolworths misguided? One shopper sparks debate​

Stocking up on pantry staples like sugar is part of the weekly grocery routine for many.

But what if the next time you went shopping at Woolworths, you discovered that the sugar had been moved to the cordial section, of all places?

This is exactly what happened to one Queensland shopper, Kylie de Waard, who spoke out on social media about the 'weird' change at her local store.

Sharing her experience with thousands of followers, the shopper posted a video stating that she had encountered a Woolworths store in which the sugar was not located in the baking aisle—a sight that she'd never encountered before in all her shopping days.

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One shopper was confused about not seeing sugar in the baking aisle of her local store. Image source: jcomp on Freepik.

According to Kylie, it was her first time seeing the everyday item not close to cake mixes and flour and said that it was ‘wrong’ of Woolies to move the item.

'I just went into a Woolworths where the sugar was not in the baking aisle,' she said.

'And I’ve never been into a supermarket in my entire existence where the sugar is not in the baking aisle.'

'So I need to know, is this a new thing they’re doing? Because it’s wrong.'

You can watch the full video below:

This ignited a debate online. According to some, sugar should most definitely belong in the baking aisle.

'All the Woolies near me, it’s in [the] baking aisle, and I’ve got five Woolies within 10 minutes,’ one commented.

While another argued: 'Every supermarket within 30 minutes of my house the sugar is in the baking aisle. That’s the obvious place.'

'I’ve lived in Adelaide, Melbourne, Shepparton, and Horsham. I’ve literally NEVER seen sugar in the coffee aisle, it’s always with baking?' A third said.

'I’ve always found sugar in the baking section. Never ever seen it with coffee,' a fourth confirmed.

But others asserted that they had usually found it in the coffee aisle.

'I just used my Woolies app for my local store. Sugar is in aisle four also coffee, baking stuff in aisle seven,' one said.

'South East Queensland here. It’s been in the coffee aisle for years,' a second added.

While a third said: 'All the Woolies I’ve ever been to, the sugar is in the coffee aisle.'

To prove her case, the shopper returned to another Woolies store and filmed herself pointing out the sugar in the baking aisle.

'To people who thought I was crazy yesterday, this is my local Woolworths,' she said on another video.

'Look! Sugar, sugar! Cake mix! Oh, look at that, baking aisle - flour, sugar.'

'It’s been a very divisive subject. So weird.'

You can watch her follow-up video here:

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However, it seems that the strange sighting had nothing to do with the store's policy on storage of goods, as the shop where she'd previously seen the misplaced sugar was reportedly undergoing renovations.

Key Takeaways

• A Woolworths customer sparked debate on social media after a local Queensland store moved the sugar range to the cordial section from the baking aisle.
• The shopper's post led to many users arguing, with some claiming that sugar is typically found in the coffee aisle.
• The debate motivated the shopper to visit another Woolworths store where sugar was still located in the baking aisle.

Members, do you think sugar should be in the baking aisle or coffee aisle? Let us know in the poll above or the comments below!

I'm in the baking aisle for sugar category. I mostly use sugar for cooking (baking, jam making).

 

[mylittletibbies]

What I find somewhat painful in supermarkets is the placement of dairy products. Milk in this section, then 30 metres away we have cream, about the closest you can get to milk in composition. Now there's cheese somewhere else! Who actually designs store layouts? Someone with a lack of spatial orientation?

Clever marketers who want to keep you moving around the store and hopefully picking up more things you didn't know you needed.
Nothing to do with common sense, just marketing sense!!!

 

[Ian Crane-Luff]

The stores, from time to time, swap everything around to overcome shoppers becoming conversant with the layout, they only go to the locations they know their requirements are and are not tempted to buy other things in passing.

 

[maggiej]

I was once told by a manager of a Tesco store in the UK that the changes are made so that we the customers have to go into a different aisle when shopping so that we may see something different and end up buying. probably this idea is to get us to find items we have never thought of and are not being sold too often. Just like they place items at the end of an aisle and near the checkouts

 

[Penny4]

I was once told by a manager of a Tesco store in the UK that the changes are made so that we the customers have to go into a different aisle when shopping so that we may see something different and end up buying. probably this idea is to get us to find items we have never thought of and are not being sold too often. Just like they place items at the end of an aisle and near the checkouts

Damn ... we can never be on autopilot lol

 

[AlanQ]

The only thing I took from this was, someone believes they live within 10 minutes of 5 Woolies [or Coles], no indication of where, maybe Kolkata (Calcutta) or Point Cook . That's certainly not the business model for Woolworths, 1 store needs a MINIMUM of 8,000+ residents to justify it's basis of existence.

 

[Suzanne rose]

No thank goodness!!!

Then stop complaining for something you are getting for free.

I pay and don't complain because there is nothing to complain about

Be Happy

 

[Suzanne rose]

I was told by a friend who worked for Cole's that stores constantly move things around.
It's to keep you having to move around the store, Instead of going directly to one place, as you are likely to pick up more things, while searching for the item you went in for.
A marketing ploy, and a very annoying one I think.

Yeh it's like the chocolate bars and magazines they put at the front of the store .

 

[Veggiepatch]

My worst grocery shopping habit is going for 2 litres of milk and walking out with a trolley full.

No need for aisle changes for me!

 

[Suzanne rose]

My worst grocery shopping habit is going for 2 litres of milk and walking out with a trolley full.

No need for aisle changes for me!

I do the same, go in for a couple of things I couldn't get on line and end up spending $100 up

 

[Terry Woodyatt]

I don't understand where the coffee isle came into the story, as in the top of this post it says that she found the sugar had been moved from the baking isle to the cordial isle. Now moving the sugar from the baking isle to the cordial isle is definately ridiculous. People you need to read the stories properly LOL.

 

[Littleboy8]

OH PLEASE, SERIOUSLY. Why are you even giving this oxygen.??? Has this woman not got anything more to worry about than the sugar being placed in a different aisle. Oh dear!! People are homeless,people are starving, there's bushfires raging,floods happening,people can't pay their mortgages,people losing jobs,the planets warming,ETC,ETC,ETC and all she's worried about is where the sugar is.!!!!!!!! All she really wants is an excuse to be on social media and that's why she's whinging about " Oh poor me,I can't find the sugar" . SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!

Totally agree with you another moron

 

[Rob44]

What I find somewhat painful in supermarkets is the placement of dairy products. Milk in this section, then 30 metres away we have cream, about the closest you can get to milk in composition. Now there's cheese somewhere else! Who actually designs store layouts? Someone with a lack of spatial orientation?

I recall when milk was delivered to one's door and it had all the cream on top. It came by EV in recyclable glass bottles that were removed by the "milko" and washed at the dairy before their use next day. That all ended when some idiot, who thus became a millionaire and died a junkie, invented the tetra-pack in around 1972-73 and contributed thereby to yet more rubbish going onto our streets and into the sea.

As for the layout in supermarkets; it is that way so that you are forced to wander around and can buy stuff you don't need at the time.

 

[IAN3005]

My local Coles store is constantly changing isles and not sure why.
I'm glad I now do most of my shopping on line

I'll tell you why....... they want the customer to walk the aisles and SPEND MONEY while trying to find the items they are looking for.
I was in retail all my life in Australia at different levels so I know their sneaky tricks.

 

[Penny4]

It could even be one of those new smaller Metro Woolworths stores. They move products, due to removing other products to fit in the new layout.

 

[GillyH]

There are A4 cards placed hanging at the end of the aisle to guide you where staple items are.

 

[Bullwinkle]

It is called marketing……

Agree with Go Cats, there are more important things happening in our country at the moment, than where the sugar is located in the supermarket!!

 

[Littleboy8]

Yeh it's like the chocolate bars and magazines they put at the

It is called marketing……

Agree with Go Cats, there are more important things happening in our country at the moment, than where the sugar is located in the supermarket!!

You think

 

[Veggiepatch]

You think

I thought I think but on further thought, I don't think so...

 

[Veggiepatch]

I thought I think but on further thought, I don't think so...

That thought just come out of the deep recesses of my warped mind. Please accept my apologies.