A grocery chain in California did something that sounds like a mistake.
It stopped selling candy at the checkout.
Then it went further. It started putting nutrition scores on shelf tags, rating products in its own store, which means some of its own inventory now carries a label saying it is not a great choice.
Imagine proposing that in a meeting. We are going to tell customers which things we sell are bad for them, and we are going to remove the highest margin impulse items from the most valuable real estate in the building.
Every instinct in retail says no.
The checkout candy rack is one of the most profitable square feet in any grocery store. It exists because tired people with full carts buy things they did not plan to buy.
So why give that up on purpose? And why does it work?