[HN Gopher] UK Supermarkets using cardboard cutouts to hide gaps...
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UK Supermarkets using cardboard cutouts to hide gaps left by supply
issues
Author : underscore_ku
Score : 20 points
Date : 2021-10-22 20:01 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
| makomk wrote:
| "Tesco, which has boasted that its sales have been boosted by its
| ability to keep shelves stocked, said the fruit and vegetable
| pictures were not linked to the recent supply chain issues and
| had been in use for many months."
| black_puppydog wrote:
| Yeah this feels like groundhog day here. I could swear I read
| this same headline a few months ago already...
|
| Edit: ah, that was the "pingdemic" news cycle. Oh well...
| blitzar wrote:
| The shelves have been pretty sparse for the last year or so!
| tehbeard wrote:
| Just a "smaller scale" version of those billboards/coverings
| in the high street on empty shopfronts we've seen for
| years...
| quitit wrote:
| wouldn't the purpose of these be so customers don't continually
| ask staff for produce they don't have in stock
| drdaeman wrote:
| It would if there'd be a clear "out of stock" label.
| 1630269196 wrote:
| If I didn't know the shop well and was looking for something
| particular (without knowing where), I'd much rather have
| something identifiable from a distance than scour printed
| labels on empty shelves.
| milesvp wrote:
| I understand this is a fairly well studied phenomenon in
| retail, that empty shelves reduce customer spending.
|
| Years ago when I worked at a big box home store, it was common
| policy for department heads to fill empty shelf space due to
| missing inventory with random nearby product.
|
| I personally hate this, because it looks like someone left a
| mess or worse mislabeled something. But I'm also not sure I
| wouldn't be more turned off by empty shelves.
| politelemon wrote:
| The term Potemkin village springs to mind. It's used to showcase
| a "pristine" version of a town to others, for media and PR
| purposes. While the reality is often something else not reflected
| here.
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village
| kelseyfrog wrote:
| That's how I describe it too: Potemkin Retail. The elders don't
| like the other comparisons that we make to being lucky that
| there are at least bread lines. That means the store has bread
| that day.
| trhway wrote:
| Rising inflation and related rise of supply chain issues with
| empty store shelves - I remember that in USSR 30 years ago.
| Western world had issue with the basics, like food/etc., in 193x,
| in 197x - 2 generations apart allowing people to forget and get
| complacent - and thus i guess we're due for another.
| arooaroo wrote:
| My local Sainsbury's supermarket used to have a cardboard cutout
| police officer in the window as a crime prevention tool.
|
| I seem to recall it being fairly common at the time. Clearly we
| humans are easily nudged with these visual cues.
| buggeryorkshire wrote:
| They still do that at Morrisons, B&M and Home Bargains.
| Apparently it does work to deter theft to some degree.
| timeon wrote:
| > deter theft
|
| and birds
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