Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ways of Organising Assortment

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Assortment and Merchandising Strategy

  • 1676 Accesses

Abstract

Strong evidence is given to show that the different ways of organising a category have a larger impact on sales than the amount of space allocated to the products. Rules of thumb are no longer sufficient and category managers have the opportunity to make more rational, fact-based driven decisions on space allocation. Berkhout suggests some 15 techniques that make the way of merchandising more effective. These are all supported with academic studies and can be implemented both in online and brick-and-mortar stores.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Argo, J. J., Dahl, W. D., & Morales, A. C. (2006). Consumer Contamination: How Consumers React to Products Touched by Others. Journal of Marketing, 70, 81–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atalay, A. S., Bodur, H. O., & Rasolofoarison, D. (2012). Shining in the Center: Central Gaze Cascade Effect on Product Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(4), 848–866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christenfeld, N. (1995). Choices from Identical Options. Psychological Science, 6(1), 50–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng, X., Kahn, B. E., Unnava, H. R., & Lee, H. (2016). A “Wide” Variety: Effects of Horizontal Versus Vertical Display on Assortment Processing, Perceived Variety, and Choice. Journal of Marketing Research, 53(5), 682–698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diehl, K., Van Herpen, E., & Lamberton, C. (2015). Organizing Products with Complements versus Substitutes: Effects on Store Preferences as a Function of Effort and Assortment Perceptions. Journal of Retailing, 91(1), 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drèze, X., Hoch, S. J., & Purk, M. E. (1994). Shelf Management and Space Elasticity. Journal of Retailing, 70(4), 301–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, J. M., Raut, S., & Swami, S. (2010). Retail Shelf Allocation: A Comparative Analysis of Heuristic and Meta-Heuristic Approaches. Journal of Retailing, 86(1), 94–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huffman, C., & Kahn, B. (1998). Variety for Sale: Mass Customization or Mass Confusion. Journal of Retailing, 74(4), 491–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, B., & Wansink, B. (2004). The Influence of Assortment Structure on Perceived Variety and Consumption Quantities. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 519–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamberton, C. P., & Diehl, K. (2013). Retail Choice Architecture: The Effects of Benefit- and Attribute-Based Assortment Organization on Consumer Perceptions and Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 40, 393–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meier, B. P., & Robinson, M. D. (2004). Why the Sunny Side Is Up: Associations between Affect and Vertical Position. Psychological Science, 15(4), 243–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mogilner, C., Rudnick, T., & Iyengar, S. S. (2008). The Mere Categorization Effect: How the Presence of Categories Increases Choosers’ Perceptions of Assortment Variety and Outcome Satisfaction. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 202–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morales, A., Kahn, B. E., McAlister, L., & Broniarczyk, S. M. (2005). Perceptions of Assortment Variety: The Effects of Congruency between Consumers’ Internal and Retailers’ External Organization. Journal of Retailing, 81(2), 159–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, L. D., & Simmons, J. P. (2009). On Southbound Ease and Northbound Fees: Literal Consequences of the Metaphoric Link between Vertical Position and Cardinal Direction. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(6), 715–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, J. R., & Lehmann, D. R. (2011). When Shelf-Based Scarcity Impacts Consumer Preferences. Journal of Retailing, 87(2), 142–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S. G., Brady, M. K., Lemonc, K. N., & Giebelhausen, M. (2016). Less of This One? I’ll Take It: New Insights on the Influence of Shelf-based Scarcity. International Journal of Marketing, 33(4), 961–965.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, J. I., Bergen, J. E., Brown, C. A., & Gallagher, M. E. (2000). Centrality Preferences in Choices among Similar Options. Journal of General Psychology, 127(2), 157–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, C., & Kahn, B. (2014). The Visual Preference Heuristic: The Influence of Visual Versus Verbal Depiction on Assortment Processing, Perceived Variety, and Choice Overload. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(5), 993–1015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valenzuela, A., & Raghubir, P. (2015). Are Consumers Aware of Top-Bottom But Not of Left-Right Inferences? Implications for Shelf Space Positions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 21(3), 224–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valenzuela, A., Raghubir, P., & Mitakakis, C. (2013). Shelf Space Schemas: Myth or Reality? Journal of Business Research, 66, 881–888.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Nierop, E., Fok, D., & Franses, P. H. (2006). Interaction between Shelf Layout and Marketing Effectiveness and Its Impact on Optimizing Shelf Arrangements, Erasmus Research Institute of Management, ERS-2006-013-MKT.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rijnbrug Advies, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Constant Berkhout

Authors
  1. Constant Berkhout
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Berkhout, C. (2019). Ways of Organising Assortment. In: Assortment and Merchandising Strategy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11163-2_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation