Walk into any retail environment and you're likely to find some form of impulse merchandising— from snacks near checkout at Trader Joe’s to tech accessories at airport kiosks. Done right, these curated moments convert idle time into revenue. Done wrong, they overwhelm customers, erode trust and can start to feel more like a flea market than a curated and clear retail experience.

As retailers, including c-stores, face increasing pressure to grow basket size in small formats, it’s time to ask: Are we guiding customers or simply shouting at them?

Whether it’s a Whole Foods checkout lane splitting shoppers by “speed” vs. “assistance needed,” or Hudson News using scent and lighting to drive dwell time, smart retailers are designing for intent. These examples point to a broader truth: Impulse buying can be engineered—if the design puts shopper psychology first. Our recommendation: reduce the clutter and design with clear product intent.

Impulse Buying: What Works and What Doesn’t

Recent industry data reveals that impulse buying remains significant, but it's uneven across categories. According to NACS research, about 20% of convenience store shoppers report making an unplanned purchase on every visit, with purchases driven most often by packaged beverages (19.5%), candy (18.2%), and prepared food (10.5%). With the average American spending over $3,300 annually on spontaneous buys, small-format retailers must prioritize strategies that turn quick visits into higher-value transactions.

Shopper Psychology: Curation Wins Over Chaos

Impulse buying is triggered by specific environmental cues:

A sense of ease or curiosity
Visual storytelling that aligns with a shopper’s mission
Strategic product adjacencies

According to NACS, convenience store shoppers are increasingly mission-driven but an aisle packed with mismatched products triggers cognitive overload. Studies show that shoppers in high-clutter environments experience decision fatigue—reducing their tendency to make any purchase, impulse or otherwise. In fact, data shows that impulse sales drop sharply in stores with long lines, messy displays, or overloaded queuing areas.

Industries That Do It Best

Grocery & Supermarkets

Best-in-Class: Trader Joe’s, ALDI, Whole Foods

Tactics:

Seasonal displays and end caps feature exclusive or limited-time items.
Near checkout: snacks, novelty items, magazines, mints, and drinks placed for maximum eye-level exposure.

Why It Works:

They blend familiarity (gum, drinks) with surprise (seasonal treats or private-label finds).
Whole Foods uses impulse zones to upsell premium small-format goods (e.g. artisanal chocolate, kombucha).

Airports & Travel Retail

Best-in-Class: Hudson News, Duty-Free Stores, WHSmith (UK)

Tactics:

Emphasize convenience, indulgence, and “last chance” thinking.
Small luxury items (cosmetics, perfumes, tech accessories), travel-sized snacks, or exclusive promotions near every point of interaction.

Why It Works:

Captive audience + time pressure + guilt-free splurging (gifting, travel treats).
Often, digital displays and lighting are optimized for dwell time and directional flow.

QSR and Coffee Shops

Best-in-Class: Starbucks, Pret a Manger, Panera

Tactics:

Pre-checkout pastry cases and grab-and-go refrigerators loaded with high-margin items (bottled drinks, yogurt parfaits).
Upsell at order kiosks/digital screens (“Would you like to add…” prompts).

Why It Works:

Leverages priming and repetition—you see it, you smell it, you’re offered it.
Starbucks in particular is brilliant at limited-time drinks and impulse cross-sells (cake pops, reusable mugs).

Impulse design is less about pushing product and more about guiding emotion and behavior. The best brands engineer the moment—what you see, when you see it, how it makes you feel.

A Smarter Design Approach

At BDL Partners, our goal is to create intentional impulse moments—not impulse clutter.

Here’s how we help brands shift:

Curated adjacencies: Place single-serve snacks near coffee, not near irrelevant products.
Digital prompts: Let app notifications or checkout screens suggest upsells in context.
Selective merchandising: Keep POS areas clean and focused on 2–3 high-converting categories.
Optimized flow: Guide shoppers through curated displays before they hit the queue—not during.

Data-Driven Outcomes

Research consistently demonstrates that curated placement matters:

1 in 5 convenience store trips include an impulse buy.
Among categories, packaged beverages lead impulse behavior. Alcohol ranks outside of the top five.
Endcap placements double or triple sales lift for beverages—but alcohol performs significantly worse than periodic everyday drinks.
Average impulse spend in 2023 dropped nearly 50%—indicating shoppers are more selective amid economic uncertainty.

Together, these trends underline how vital it is to build impulse opportunities around high-performing, emotionally resonant categories, not filler items.

The Strategic Takeaway

Designing an impulse zone isn’t about maximizing product count, it’s about choosing the right products in the right environment. When the endcap and checkout aren’t cluttered, shoppers feel confident and open to adding something extra—like a snack or drink—not resentful and overstimulated.

Closing Thought: Intentional Retail Design Wins

Impulse has power. But it only works when it’s done intentionally.

C-stores that elevate their queuing experience by removing visual noise and designing for shopper behavior see stronger basket performance, greater trust, and higher customer retention. It’s not about shouting with more stuff. It’s about subtle product relevance.

At BDL Partners, we design for performance - not just presentation. And we believe curated checkout environments are not just good design, they’re good business.