Stumbled upon this story from MediaPost about a TNS Retail study called "Men in Grocery Stores." The Reuters story is here. According to the story, and I agree, there are very few happy male grocery shoppers. Things are hard to find, layouts are different in every store, and sometimes you can't get good cellphone reception if you need to call your wife/mom/girlfriend to see EXACTLY what she wants.
For many guys, going to the grocery store is like getting a haircut--complete waste of time, but something you have to do. You'd have to pay me to look like the guy below when I'm in a grocery store (unless I'm getting something to grill out, and I can get out fast)
I agree with this part of the article in particular: "there are just too many choices. More is not really more--it's just overwhelming. Supermarkets that can do a better job of editing will be more engaging to men."
I'm all about having choices but sometimes when you want pasta you don't want to examine 10 different brands to find the best one. Pasta is pasta.
If grocery stores wanted to really appeal to guys with some choices they care about (and make it easy for them to find), they should have a guys-only section and stock it with peanuts, snacks, meat, microwaveable entres and beer--and lots of samples, of course. Samples and TV would get me to stay longer, and probably buy more, too.
It could also be cool if brands could tie themselves into the grocery store experience. What if Geico had a section called "Caveman Essentials" in every Harris Teeter. The section would have groceries their "sophisticated" brand mascots purchase, such as roast duck and mango salsa. The Caveman picks could change weekly. This would help both Geico and the food brands as it would get them additional exposure and conversation. Something like this could reenergize the grocery store experience and make it more interesting for guys, in addition to making us stay longer and buy more.