i cant speak to akodo's specific references but i can see the influence playing out.
a friend of mine managed a hardware store (true value variant, not Home Depot/lowes). he said when his grand-dad ran the store, black and decker, et al, used to come into the store and say: "our big ole display goes here, or else". now, with sales tracking software, even a small retailer can find a ratio of "shelf space to profit" of any given line of items. and will place prominence on promo and location based on this profitability.
so now, the retailer (big, or small with the right tools) says to the supplier/manufacturer: "look, you're 1450th out of 4000 products in profit per 'board foot' of shelving. you don't get front showing now. show me how you can increase your rankings and we'll talk ... "(then see akodo's post).
a friend of mine managed a hardware store (true value variant, not Home Depot/lowes). he said when his grand-dad ran the store, black and decker, et al, used to come into the store and say: "our big ole display goes here, or else". now, with sales tracking software, even a small retailer can find a ratio of "shelf space to profit" of any given line of items. and will place prominence on promo and location based on this profitability.
so now, the retailer (big, or small with the right tools) says to the supplier/manufacturer: "look, you're 1450th out of 4000 products in profit per 'board foot' of shelving. you don't get front showing now. show me how you can increase your rankings and we'll talk ... "(then see akodo's post).