Supermarkets’ small-package candy sales dropped 43% after checkout-lane law

The study estimated a 43% decline in sales of small‑package candy at Berkeley supermarkets after the checkout restrictions took effect. That figure reflects the difference between Berkeley's before‑and‑after sales trajectory and the combined trajectories of the comparison cities.

The law's impact concentrated on the types of candy most tied to impulse purchases at checkout. The study did not find a statistically significant decline in candy sales overall across stores, indicating shoppers may still be buying candy elsewhere in the store or substituting to other formats.

Justin White, an associate professor at Boston University and a co‑author of the paper, said the findings suggest healthy checkout policies can reduce impulsive purchases and encourage healthier snack choices. The research links placement policy to immediate changes in a common impulse category.

The Berkeley policy sits alongside broader regulatory attention to added sugars and labeling. The Food and Drug Administration has proposed a front‑of‑package nutrition label showing per‑serving percentages of added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium and indicating whether the amount is low, medium, or high. The FDA aims to finalize that rule in December, with multi‑year compliance timelines for larger and smaller companies.

Checkout displays have long been used to capture last‑minute purchases that boost basket value. A near‑50% drop in a checkout‑dependent category demonstrates how placement rules can quickly alter purchase behavior. Retailers should consider where shoppers find products in store and how policy changes could shift unit sales and merchandising strategies.

The research shows a notable reduction in small‑package candy sales at checkout but does not demonstrate long‑term changes in total snack consumption or health outcomes. It also does not provide a granular breakdown of whether lost checkout candy sales were fully replaced by candy purchases elsewhere in the store or by other snack categories.

Berkeley's checkout restriction produced a large immediate decline in small‑package candy sales at supermarkets, consistent with reduced impulse buys at registers. The finding demonstrates that placement rules can change shopper behavior at the point of sale, while broader effects on overall candy consumption remain unclear.