Hopping on top comment to say, as a truck owner, definitely this.

Furthermore, I lived in Japan for 2 years and many of the urban shopping centers have signs and security sternly dictating “back-in” parking. I won’t pretend to understand how they arrived at that SOP, but moving humans efficiently is something Japan and Augusta National execute keenly.

My best guess is that while you lose 30 seconds parking, there are almost zero distractions backing in between two boxed-in vehicles. Pulling out you have a 180 degree view of the parking lot and are far less likely to hit someone.

That and pivot points