The New York Times posted a story today that is relevant to all retailers, especially super markets. It highlights a recent study to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research, which found that while shoppers can accurately predict how much they end up spending per grocery store visit, they only go into that transaction knowing only 2/3rds of what they want. Meaning they’ve designated a part of their budget to items they see along the way.

The study further determined that those shoppers who limited themselves to only walking the aisles on their list, spent under that designated mental reserve, while shoppers that cruised up and down the store indeed did spent what they had in mind.

Karen M. Stilley, from the University of Pittsburgh’s business school who is one of the paper’s authors, sums it up best: “It’s kind of crazy that there are people walking into the store, expecting to spend money, and the store is leaving it on the table.”

This calls for in-aisle deals that you just can’t walk by. It’s an open invitation for compelling signage and cohesive pricing programs.