The third principle is alignment, which means that all the items on a page or document should have some visual connection with something else on the same page or in the same document. Nothing should be placed arbitrarily, and a sense of purpose should be at the basis of all the design elements. In a supermarket, this principle can be seen by the one connecting element among all the items, which is that they are all consumer items. Although there is little visual connection between a piece of cheese and a household item like a table cloth, they are bound by their nature as items that are found within a supermarket. All items are then placed within their specific departments. While there is therefore not a clear visual connection between every item within the supermarket, they are connected by the same underlying idea.

The final principle, proximity, means that similar items should be grouped together. This means that items...

This is perhaps the most obvious principle that supermarkets utilize to display their goods. As mentioned, supermarkets have different departments for the different types of items that they sell. The dairy department, for example, would group items such as milk, cheese and yoghurt in proximity to each other, while the canned goods department would include items like canned fruit, beans, etc. In each department, similar items would then also be grouped together to make it easier for consumers to find the goods they are looking for.
When applied to American supermarkets, it is therefore clear that CRAP principles are as applicable to the real-world setting as they are to written documents and visual advertising. Indeed, the principle of visual organization provides supermarkets with a sense of cohesion that attracts and retains customers.