How Is a Casino Like a Supermarket?

Knowing how to best lay out any casino product is vital to a casino’s success. There will always be a rival operator willing to mop up customers who are left underwhelmed by an average presentation.

In order to perfect the ways in which their gaming facilities operate and keep customers coming back, casino managers are always on the lookout for inspiration and ideas that can help them get the most out of the resources they have at their disposal. This inspiration can sometimes come from unusual places. Places like supermarkets.

Everything from the way these shops are lit, right through to how they smell, is being borrowed and expanded upon by casino operations across the globe. Here we explore exactly how supermarkets have influenced casino layouts.

Nothing is Left to Chance

The first thing that casinos have learnt from supermarkets is that every single aspect of their layout must be thought through and exist for a distinct reason. In supermarkets the essential items that everyone always needs (like bread, milk, and eggs) are always set well apart so that people must explore the supermarket to find them – and therefore be more likely to purchase more items on the way. The same can be said of casinos, who will often ensure that their cashier desks are far away from the exit, so that players are given opportunities to jump right back into a game of roulette, blackjack or slots.

Another layout technique that supermarkets employ is to encourage people to shop from right to left; with more expensive items being positioned on a shopper’s right-hand side because they will be more likely to have their eye drawn to them. The same is true in casinos both online and offline. Online casinos will often incorporate their most popular slots on their home page so they are the first thing gamers see, whereas land-based casinos will try to have their customers rotate clockwise around the casino floor with banks of slots on their right-hand side.

Supermarket and casino managers are always on the lookout for ways to improve customer experience

Sound and Smell are Key

They may not realise it, but as soon as a customer sets foot in a supermarket all their senses are subconsciously being aroused by systems designed to have them load up their trolley. If a supermarket is packed on a Saturday morning, then fast paced music will be pumped through the store’s loudspeakers to encourage people to hurry along. Scents are also tightly controlled, with the store’s bakery always being placed right by the entrance so that the smell of fresh bread makes people feel hungry and more likely to stock up on extra food.

In casinos, special scents are pumped round their rooms and halls to promote a sense of luxury and decadence, so that players stick around a little longer rather than braving the average smells of the street or a hotel room. Music is kept to a minimum so that players can hear the clinking of coins (even though most slots do not accept coins these days) and chips across the casino floor.

In online casinos, a slightly different approach is taken as slot games feature high tempo music and sound effects so that reels are kept spinning. Who knows, it might not be long until online casinos also find a way to emit desirable smells as well!