10-Min. Merchandiser

New Year’s traffic and volume is among the heaviest all year. And just because the Christmas rush is over, it’s no reason to let your guard down and miss out on even more terrific sales opportunities. New Year’s promotions are all about the ‘Big Three’ – New Year’s, Weight Loss, and last but not least – Bowl Games.

New Year’s Merchandising

In the week following Christmas, you will likely experience a day or two of flat sales. But don’t let this lull you into a sense of false security.

 You’ll need an ample supply of: Pineapple; a blend of fresh, cuts and cores-for traditional holiday hams. Count on a renewed attack on your in-shell nut displays, too. With all the entertaining going on, this is an ideal time to have plenty of vegetable and fruit trays in the value-added section for all the impulse shoppers, as well as having plenty of relish items on hand too, such as cherry tomatoes, soft squash, peppers, green onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots-to name just a few. This is also a great opportunity to sell extra citrus. Spillover displays of oranges, lemons and limes will all move well for seafood dishes and mixer drinks.

Weight Loss Merchandising

New Year’s is traditionally the time of year that shoppers resolve to lose weight. Over the years this has proven to be a huge opportunity for produce departments to take full advantage of these resolutions and generate extra sales.

 Push the value-added pre-made salads, as well as other items in this category such as broccoli and cauli florets, mini-carrots and the dozens of other convenience packs as well.

 Remember to stock up on all the raw salad ingredients: Cukes, bell peppers, radishes, leafy greens and iceberg lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes too. One produce manager suggests that prominent tomato displays be built in two places: one near the wet rack with the raw product, and another near the prepackaged salad cases. “Two kinds of customers need two separate displays.” 

 You can always count on grapefruit practically flying off the shelves as the stereotypical ‘diet’ fruit for New Year’s shoppers. Thankfully the timing is perfect and this item is in peak season. Build spillover displays of this and other volume items too: Oranges, apples, bananas, as well as the ‘comfort food’ table of onions and potatoes.

 

"Big Game" Merchandising

January is tailor-made for pushing tailgate merchandise. College bowls, basketball and professional football games saturate the schedule throughout the entire month.

Fresh produce merchandising enjoys a fair share of the menu items:  Tomatoes, onions, and chilies for salsa, along with fresh cilantro to give it zest. All the fresh and value-added items can easily carry over to the same kind of entertaining push that went on prior to New Year’s Eve, so it’s not a bad idea to continue to push the fruit and vegetable trays, along with hefty amounts of relish items and refrigerated dips to go with this fare.

Of course, avocados present the biggest opportunity for added volume for bowl game merchandising. Work with your warehouse or supplier ahead of time to ensure that you have the correct ripeness range, timed to move the most amount of fruit. This is also a key period to arrange active sampling with your demo program and offer plenty of guacamole samples to spur these sales even further.

 

On to 2012

Many produce departments are caught off-guard in January, believing that this is a slow period. In fact, most produce managers’ report “substantial” sales spikes of 50 percent-or more-during this period.

The increased sales spike comes from many categories gaining in strength: Winter vegetables begin to peak in volume, price, and quality, as do imported grapes and domestic citrus. All these and more add up, thanks to the fortuitous combination of New Year’s volume, diet purchases, and tailgate-item sales.

Order expecting the best, not fearing the worst.