> Grocery stores buy the produce, around the periphery, but in many cases just rent the shelf space to the manufacturers of the finished products. Presumably this is not always the case
There's an interesting balancing dynamic there. Brands really like to be at or below eye level. On the other hand, if I went to a grocery store and the store didn't carry Oreos, I would have a pretty negative opinion of that store (and I don't even like Oreos, personally). Based on that, I assume famous brands have a good amount of market power relative to stores. But I care very little about what shows up in the toilet paper aisle; I would guess payment-for-placement is more significant over there.
You may not shop there because there are Oreos. But Oreo is not negotiating in a vacuum; they have to fight off the Keeblers and the Chips Ahoy and the Pepperidge people for that same shelf space. You don't want to wind up in a situation where your competitors have better placement than you (e.g., Uber ads being shown above the fold in a search for Lyft).
Empirically, I see Oreos, Keebler cookies of various varieties, Pepperidge Farm cookies, Chips Ahoy, Nutter Butters, all at the same altitude. It's a long aisle.
Also, Oreos vs. Chips Ahoy isn't a fight; those are both Nabisco cookies.
There's an interesting balancing dynamic there. Brands really like to be at or below eye level. On the other hand, if I went to a grocery store and the store didn't carry Oreos, I would have a pretty negative opinion of that store (and I don't even like Oreos, personally). Based on that, I assume famous brands have a good amount of market power relative to stores. But I care very little about what shows up in the toilet paper aisle; I would guess payment-for-placement is more significant over there.