BrainTrust Query: Perishables Keep Many Retailers from Perishing
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Mark Heckman Consulting blog.
Nothing defines a traditional supermarket chain better than their perishable departments. Survey after survey tells us that superior meat, produce and bakery offerings are consistent reasons why shoppers continue to patronize supermarkets.
Beyond proven increases in average basket size for shoppers that buy two or more perishable items in your store, perishables has become one of the few
advantages that traditional retailers can leverage against increasing competition from the fast growing "price" oriented merchants such as Aldi, Dollar Stores and, of course, Walmart.
I reached out to Jim Richter, EVP of sales for Wilcox Fresh to glean some best practices for elevating the produce department. Jim is a former VP of produce and former colleague of mine at Marsh Supermarkets and Randalls Foods. The following is his list:
Sales-driven approach: Use massive promotional displays (up to four displays in the department) that reflect the season and change weekly in the front area of the produce department;
Differentiate with unique offerings: Develop a strategy that offers key produce items one size larger and one grade higher than the competition;
Stand for something special: "Triple inspected produce" describes your process to insure product quality. This necessitates and reflects that only produce that is inspected at the grower/shipper, then at your distribution center, and finally by the produce professional at your store, passes the muster and reaches your display case;
Train and certify your perishable associates: Invite shoppers to use them as a resource for product selection, product preservation and meal solutions ideas;
Create a homegrown program: Highlight locally grown produce in season and have growers meet with customers in the store;
Meal planning: Consistently set produce display tables to include sections for meal planning and different types of cuisine (Italian, Asian, etc.);
In-department signage: Tell stories with in-department signage by highlighting such things as the count of organic produce items carried and specific homegrown produce currently available. Showcase your grower partners with a brief story about their farms, family history and their community ties;
Offer a freshness guarantee: Make it bold, widely known and consistently reinforced at store level.
We found that touting two or three of these attributes throughout all available media, all the time, and periodically promoting two or three others as seasons and events dictated, developed an image that shoppers remembered and respected.
Instead of squeezing every last cent of margin out of the fresh departments, train your focus on investing in sustainable points of difference, knowing that even though at a slightly lower margin, these departments serve as a magnet for shoppers who value these investments and reward retailers for doing so.