The aisle between: Grocery shopping as a liminal journey

This study investigates supermarkets as sites of micro-liminality, where fleeting interruptions during grocery shopping create moments for reflection and negotiation. Building on Turner’s concept of liminality, we extend its application by theorising how liminal experiences can be brief, spatially small, and temporally subtle, yet still hold significant meaning. Using multi-site mobile ethnography in Australia and the UK, we demonstrate how store entrances, promotional middle aisles, and sensory displays act as engineered thresholds that disrupt routine practices and invite consumers into a state of in-betweenness. These micro-liminal moments interrupt the typical supermarket focus on efficiency and frugality, allowing shoppers to explore their curiosity. We suggest that grocery stores, often viewed as mundane sites of rational choice, also function as negotiated societal marketplaces. Our theory of micro-liminality adds to Consumer Culture Theory by refining understandings of time and ritual in ordinary consumption. By recognising these liminal experiences, retailers can better understand and enhance consumer engagement in supermarkets. This research positions supermarkets not merely as transactional spaces but as cultural stages where the ordinary becomes momentarily extraordinary.