Putting Certain Products Front and Center With the Right Displays

While grocery display solutions are some of the most overlooked aspects of brick-and-mortar stores by customers, it’s no secret that they can play a pivotal role in lifting sales. Today’s displays are all about putting certain items front and center, but how can retailers find the right mix of product, location and hardware to maximize sales?

Mix It Up

Perhaps the most important consideration when looking at display solutions isn’t the hardware itself, but what should go on top of it and how it can flexibly meet that need. From popular store-brand items and seasonal snacks to the latest and greatest in bakery and meats, displays should be able to easily and effectively showcase products that can help drive the bottom line.

[Read more: "Converting Browsers Into Buyers With Shelf-Edge Solutions"]

Bridgeton, Mo.-based Hussmann offers myriad display case options, and those made for specialty items like artisan bread and aged beef can help spotlight products that can make a big impact on sales. The company’s Aged Beef Service Merchandiser has a stainless steel interior and can prominently display several cuts of meat, while its Artisan Bread Wall Case features five adjustable lighted levels for optimal product placement.

Stone crab is another specialty item that grocers can put front and center in a novel way, thanks to custom mobile displays from Garland, Texas-based Atlantic Food Bars. The Iced Stone Crab Merchandiser helps enhance the in-store experience while also offering an add-on mobile clam bar that can hold everything from grab-and-go accessories to iced fresh seafood, crab meat, cold packaged foods, and more.

ALCO Designs, meanwhile, has several types of produce tables that can help grocers refresh their displays and pack even more of a fresh product punch. The Gardena, Calif.-based company’s displays offer what it calls “the ultimate in sensory and visual fulfillment” through modular designs that can easily be updated, as well as built-in shelves that create storage for additional products and provide a great opportunity for cross-merchandising.

X Marks the Spot

In addition to product mix, location is another extremely important consideration when looking at display solutions. Hardware such as island displays and point-of-purchase shelving should be located strategically throughout the store to help encourage cross-merchandising opportunities as well as impulse buys.

According to Racine, Wis.-based Great Northern Instore, “When it comes to promoting products in-store, shoppers can be motivated to buy with a variety of tactics. Great Northern Instore applies proven insights to design activations with the right colors, images [and] structure for an in-store location, so you can tantalize the taste buds of any shopper. Whether your product is a simple everyday snack or part of a gourmet dining experience, customers are likely to make impulse purchases based on artful food retail display signs.”

Great Northern makes custom food merchandising displays that help give certain products prominence in any aisle, end cap or front-of-store area. The company developed a merchandising vehicle to give Pringles additional placement at Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer, for example, by placing gravity-feed solutions on top of coolers at checkout to help drive additional impulse purchases.

Get the Look

Attractiveness, as well as a level of interactivity, in display solutions can also help lead to increased sales. Hussmann’s Isla, for example, is a unique “design-your-own island” merchandiser that offers retailers a flexible way to display refrigerated, hot and dry items all in the same unit. A variety of product types can be aligned and placed with precision inside the unit, giving customers a lot to look at in a sleek and streamlined package. 

When it comes to interactivity, companies like Durham, N.C.-based The Looma Project are offering tech-forward, immersive product experiences on existing shelves or at new displays. The Looma Project’s Loop product consists of a network of smart tablets installed in grocery stores to connect shoppers to the people who made the products, via authentic storytelling or education. Loop says that its offering is two to three times more productive than traditional end caps, and also promises 92% growth of trial rate for featured brands.