Aisles dedicated to male shoppers are coming to stores near you. Recent research has revealed that men shop too <gasp>. Actually, there is a trend that men are doing more of the household shopping. Despite the fact that bachelors have been shopping for themselves for years, it is family level shopping changes that are causing changes in below-the-line marketing.

Supposedly changes are coming from two motivations; (1) higher numbers of jobless men are seeing some household duties shift to them, including grocery shopping, and (2) some men want to be more involved with the household and cooking.

In addition, there is an assertion that men like to experiment more and are more likely to impulse buy, which seems contrary to the idea that they are doing the shopping in lieu of working.

“The mindset has been that she shops, she really knows every inch of the store, she is really organized, has a list, is in a huge hurry,” Calpino said. “We talk to a lot of these millennial guys about shopping, and the biggest headline is they’re not as structured, not as hurried, much more experimental, more adventurous.”

Let’s think about this. The assumption is that men can’t function as well in stores that are set up for women. Aisle shopping is heavily researched. There is a lot of thought and planning put into where items appear on shelves and what they look like. There is also research on store layouts. However, to assume that crowded aisles are more frustrating and less enticing to men than women, as the research implies, is not fair. Of course no one wants to fight a crowded aisle, but are we assuming that men will go without something needed to avoid a crowd? Again, that seems unfair.

Everyone can benefit from a better shopping experience and curating space specific for women’s and men’s needs seems like a no-brainer. However, as shopping responsibilities equalize between both groups, there is room to improve the experience for all.