10-Min. Merchandiser

The old cliché applies especially to fresh produce: “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.”

An interesting effect lingers in consumers’ minds when they walk into the front lobby of a store and, instead of the usual monumental soda and chip displays, they’re met with bins of produce — mounds of inviting freshness, gleaming like neat rows of jewels.

More and more, grocers are electing to present front-end satellite displays of fresh produce as a first impression. This accomplishes several things. It highlights a highly impulsive (and profitable) part of the store’s offerings. It also sends a message that this is merely a sampling of what the store’s produce department has to offer. If the lobby displays are executed well, customers will know your store is serious about its produce.

The question that branches off at this point is: What is the most effective plan for merchandising in the front lobby? click image to zoomPatrick Mills, Sunflower Farmers MarketThis sidewalk near-lobby display can spark any number of menu ideas, and subsequent sales with other items, before customers set foot in the store.

A universal warning heard over the years advised against staging only ad merchandise in lobby displays. Managers believe that customers might shop these areas the hardest and may even avoid venturing to the primary produce area. These guidelines should help you avoid those pitfalls.

The messages lobby merchandising should convey:

• Quality – The produce should be fresh and look newly stocked. This display is, of course, the customer’s first impression of the store.

• Value – The display must be massive, or at least appear to be, with lots of produce to choose from — and priced to sell.

• Variety – If the bin is mostly green bell peppers, can you add in some red or yellow as well?

Lobby  Merchandising Planning

It pays to give some thought before laying out displays in the front lobby. Generally this includes these guidelines:

1. Theme:  Suppose the front lobby has three inclined orchard bins or nesting tables in a row. Presenting cukes, tomatoes-on-vine (TOVs) and bell peppers could suggest a salad theme in a customer’s mind, and from there the impulse would prompt further shopping to complete the necessary ingredients. Perhaps a trio of bagged apples, bananas and pears could follow a brown-bag lunch theme. One enterprising store promoted a display of bread and Miracle Whip salad dressing next to a bin of head lettuce in the weekend after Thanksgiving, knowing the likelihood of leftover turkey and resulting sandwiches.

2. Seasonality: Nothing shouts the advent of a new season or otherwise marked occasion better than by placing like items in the lobby: grapefruit for the January diet crowds, potatoes for February Potato Lover’s month displays. Strawberries or asparagus signal the beginning of spring, crisp apples with bushel-basket décor ring in the fall, and apricots and early-season cherries are a nice, one-two punch in May with dynamic color and contrast. All look great in lobby displays and prompt customers to reach for bags and start shopping.

3. Gross Margin: As many a manager will attest, profit is not a dirty word (and is, after all, the reason for putting up all these displays in the first place). So when planning lobby displays, consider the gross profit margin that each item represents before stocking a single item. If, for example, the navel oranges planned for the lobby are on ad, or otherwise provide only a minimal profit margin, flank the display with red delicious apples that (in our example) provide not just a terrific color break, but a high profit margin as well — something to help balance the margin scales. If you’re going for margin gusto in the lobby, try to group several high-margin items together in the display. High-margin items can be determined by referring to your order guide or by making a call to your supervisor or store manager for direction.

As with so many guidelines for selling fresh produce, there are no hard and fast rules for effective entrance merchandising. Lobby displays provide an excellent opportunity to show off but a sampling of what else is to be had, beckoning customers to venture further back in the produce department.

Coupled with the opportunity to dazzle customers with a great first impression lies the danger of producing quite the opposite effect. This means front lobby displays must be maintained with the highest degree of discipline. Inspect the lobby displays often — culling, straightening and stocking as needed, with special attention to careful rotation.

Keep the creative juices flowing. Make weekly changes to lobby merchandising, however subtle, for the best effect.

Lobby merchandising presents many opportunities to push seasonal items, grow sales and cultivate a program that provides a store with an improved reputation for freshness, while contributing (on average) the highest profit margin of any department in the store.

The high-traffic entrance areas are, in many ways, definitely worth lobbying for.