Convenience Store Merchandising Tips
October 11, 2022
It’s easy for convenience store owners to take their merchandising for granted. After all, the products in your store can practically sell themselves, right? Wrong! The real truth is that optimized visual merchandising is just as important in a convenience store as it is in a retail clothing boutique or high-end jewelry store. Our experts have brainstormed some convenience store merchandising tips to help your store grow its bottom line.
What Is Merchandising?
At the most basic level, merchandising displays refer to the areas of the grocery store with products in places other than the regular aisles. End caps, free-standing pallet displays, and even point-of-purchase displays are all great examples. These displays can (and should be) changed out frequently. The purpose is to draw attention to specialty products: new arrivals, special deals, or seasonal food and drinks.
However, that’s not to say you should overlook the shelves! Where you put everyday necessities and how they are merchandised throughout the aisles also plays a crucial role in creating loyal customers who know where to find exactly what they’re looking for.
The Benefits of Convenience Store Merchandising
Just like posting on social media to promote your convenience store or even buying a billboard on the side of the highway, visual merchandising in your convenience store is a marketing strategy that you can fully leverage.
Customer Engagement
Worst case scenario? Poor (or lack of) visual merchandising can prevent your convenience store customers from finding the products they’re looking for. Cut through the noise of all the products and branding with proper convenience store merchandising – and maybe even encourage impulse purchases along the way.
Increase In Revenue
It’s reported that a whopping 73% of shoppers make spontaneous in-store purchases on top of the items they already need. Investing in the right visual merchandising strategies can help boost that percentage and your bottom line.
Boost Branding
This is especially important for franchised convenience stores: The right visual merchandising can offer a cohesive branding image for your stores. Customers will know where to find the products they’re looking for in your store, regardless of which location they’re shopping at. Use merchandising as a branding strategy to stand out among the competitors.
Convenience Store Merchandising Best Practices
- Focus on optimizing the merchandising in the front 10 feet of your convenience store. Research shows that customers are paying close attention to this area, and stocking best sellers here will improve the chance they’ll pick it up on the way to get what they need.
- Lighting can illuminate the way for shoppers. Your merchandising displays deserve the best lighting, especially if you have high-end or luxury food and beverage items. Invest in displays that have quality, built-in lighting to make this easy.
- Along with appealing merchandising displays, you can help convenience store shoppers make an educated buying decision with additional signage. Make them as stylish as the rest of your store with plenty of product and pricing information.
- Get creative with your merchandising and encourage customers to share images on social media. Invest in top-quality merchandise displays that look amazing in the background of Instagram photos or provide a canvas for an easily-shared image from your Facebook business page.
Working With PFI
We are your one-stop shop for convenience store merchandising. The advantage we offer over our competitors is the breadth of our capabilities, including temporary corrugated displays, semi-permanent displays, permanent retail fixtures, and premium acrylic displays. Whatever your need for merchandising in the grocery store, we have the capability and experience to execute.
We help drive customers’ brand preferences and, ultimately, sales. From concept through distribution, our capabilities are not limited by the medium, retail channel, customer size, or delivery requirements. We are committed to transforming great ideas into even more remarkable examples of the finest quality merchandising equipment while maximizing the visual impact of our customers’ products.
At PFI, we help you win more sales through innovation and excellence in delivering custom-branded merchandising systems. Our US manufacturing facilities have delivered our award-winning products faster, with less hassle, and at a lower total cost for over 50 years. Consider PFI for your custom-branded display and merchandising solutions. Contact us today to get started!
