Grocery Store Merchandising Tips

For more information on Promolux lighting or to request a quote, click on the links to the right.

Retail lighting coupled with several viable grocery store merchandising tips will definitely lead to steady business growth. Having a fast moving stock minimizes chances of incurring huge losses in your grocery store as the items you are trading have a very limited shelf life. Putting up a cooling system and then waiting for customers to walk into your store is not enough. Come up with practical ideas on how to keep items on the shelves for a longer period, attracting and retaining customers. Run out of ideas? Here are some viable merchandise tips for you.

Shelf display

Shelf display is the first practical factor that determines whether customers will buy your commodities or not. You need to manage the shelf display in your grocery store with the aim of compelling customers to make some purchase. Shelf placement should be done to allow the customers to view all the commodities displayed on them. For successful display of items, divide each shelf into four levels and follow the food display techniques shown below:

Top shelf

This is the uppermost shelf, designed to be viewed when the customer raises their eyes. The items with the highest prices in the store should be displayed on this shelf in each category of commodities.

Reach shelf

This is the shelf placed at customer’s eye level in every commodity category stand. The secret of making sales using this shelf is identifying the commodities with high impulse buying rates, with high demand and competitive prices. Place such commodities on this shelf to woo the customers to purchase.

Lower shelf

On this shelf located just below the reach shelf, place the essential items that customers buy regularly. Be creative in displaying them in an attractive way to beat the competition.

Bottom shelf

This is the last shelf located at the lowest level. Make a collection of items that are least popular as well as the generic ones. Though unpopular, you still want to make some sales from them, so display them in an eye catching style.

Promotional tactics

Product promotion is a major technique that increases sales in a grocery store. Remember that your aim is to attract more customers and retain them to facilitate swift stock clearance on high profit margins. To achieve this, introduce promotional price tagging using dump-bins and offer bins especially for items that are going out of stock or the ones you want to sell out urgently.  This tagging technique entices the customers who perceive the prices as being cheap but in the real sense you will still pocket a profit. Also, display competitive commodities with the highest profit margin on the end caps and gondolas in your grocery store. For example, placing a top store brand in the store’s promotional space is a brilliant idea. Install a Promolux display lighting system in the store’s promotional space, to enhance the visibility of offer bins, dump bins and end caps.

Engage smart store planning

Be smart by planning to have the shelves for milk, bread and eggs at the furthest corner of the store. When customers walk in to pick these essential commodities, they will take notice of other items on sale in your grocery store making additional purchases. However, make the products visible and attractive right from the store’s entrance by installing dairy display case lighting from Promolux.

Grocery Store Management Tips

For more information on Promolux LED lighting or to request a quote, click on the links to the right.

Grocery lighting is a major consideration when applying other store management tips. Proper management practices helps in keeping the displayed veggies, fruits, meat and other highly perishable items fresh for a prolonged period. This attracts customers to buy the items leading to high sales hence profit. Lack of grocery management skills may result in huge losses due to spoiling items and lack of power to entice potential buyers. Here are some management practices that extend the finite shelf life of items in a grocery store.

Avoid moisture

Moisture creates an ideal atmosphere for growth and multiplication of micro-organisms responsible for food substances decay. When combined with a considerable degree of warmth, moisture may lead to mold growth that renders foodstuffs inedible. You can keep off moisture by regularly wiping the fruits and some types of veggies piled up together on the display shelves. Also, ensure that the meat display glass is wiped constantly, keeping it dry all the time. Increased ventilation in the grocery store is a major practice that keeps moisture forming warmth away from the grocery store. In this case, you can consider installing an air conditioner especially during warm seasons such as summer to reduce heat. In addition, the lack of a suitable commercial lighting system may lead to increased heat generation in the store. This increases moisture production in the displayed food substances hence premature decay. Installing Promolux lamps help in preventing the heating menace in the store.

Regular spoiled item checks

When running a grocery store, regular checks for rotting items is a must. Many would argue that a once a day check is adequate and this is where many go wrong! In order to keep track of the freshness of the food stuffs especially the fruits and veggies, the checks should be performed at least thrice a day. The checks are aimed at identifying the items with signs of rotting and removing them from the shelves. This is an essential exercise as one rotten item can initiate a premature rotting process in dozens of items next to it, leading to a great loss. However, regular checks cannot be successful without adequate lighting. LED lighting by Promolux provides the needed light for accurate grocery item checks both during the day and at night.

Arrange items systematically

The arrangement of the items in the grocery stores is vital as it prolongs their shelf life while attracting customers. The items should be neatly arranged according to their respective categories in an artistic way to enhance aesthetic value. When arranging the items, the delicate ones should be on top while the strong ones at the bottom. For example, fresh leafy spinach should be placed in a section of their own other than arranging them next to cabbages as the latter may crush them. It should be remembered that some food substances accelerate the rotting process of other food stuffs. For example, onions generate a gas that activates premature rotting in potatoes. After arranging the items neatly, a Promolux LED lighting system should be installed to enhance the display.