Beer & Nappy in Sri Lankan Context

If you are reading any Data Mining book or Machine Learning book, you would have come across with the classical example of beer and nappy under Association Theory or Market Basket Analysis. The story goes as men who are purchasing beer, tends to buy nappies for their kids on weekends. 

After finding this valuable information, their action was to move the nappy palate closer to the beer palate. By doing so, they were able to increase the sales volume with less time and indirectly improve customer satisfaction as well. 

I had an exicitng and different experience sometime back which is totally opposed to the above case. I was on my way for a picnic and suddenly realise that I had not brought my toothpaste and toothbrush. So I stopped at the supermarket that is not crowded. Now, you don't need machine learning to tell you that people who are buying a toothbrush will buy a toothpaste. However, in this particular supermarket, toothpaste was on the first floor and the toothbrush was on the second floor. After spending time during my rush, on my way to the cashier, I met the manager. Casually, I told him how unsatisfactory I was with the showroom arrangements.  

I received an unexpected answer. He told me that this was done purposefully. In Sri Lankan culture or maybe in other countries, when people more time in the showroom, they tend to buy more items. Therefore, by separating obvious cross-selling items, you can improve the spending time in the showroom.

When actioning an outcome, it is important to look at the cultural aspect as well rather than fully focusing on the technical aspect.