The holidays have plenty of hustle and bustle for shoppers, so convenience, the right variety and value (more than ever) will be at the top of their lists as they stroll into your stores. Time is an increasingly limited commodity for all of us, let alone our shoppers. Give the gift of ease in picking produce to fill their carts, leading to happier customers who visit again.
Let's look at a few ways to frame out your holiday season successes.
Know your customer
This is an excellent first step in holiday planning as there are a variety of religious, ethnic and cultural holidays and observances during December. While Hanukkah and Christmas are the most widely celebrated in the U.S., there are several others that are observed or celebrated, such as Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year's Eve (and Llama Day!). It's important to know the demographics and cultural makeup of your store's customers and surrounding neighborhoods because most holiday traditions center on food, and you want to have the right produce for their celebrations. This is a good starting point to help you plan out your merchandising and sales strategies for the holidays.
Planning perfection
You've likely planned this by now, but just in case: Know what your merchandising plan will look like, where your displays will live for the season, what promotional opportunities and ads you have planned and, of course, what will your labor schedule look like as you get closer to the holidays. Referencing ad data and merchandising notes from the previous year is a great start to that process. Having a “be there before your get there” mindset is a good approach and planning strategy as well.
Create impact
Coming out of the vegetable-heavy Thanksgiving holiday, December is geared more toward fruits; citrus, pears, pomegranates, apples, persimmons and others will see increased movement heading into it.
Create more shelf and floor space for these higher-tonnage holiday items. The season lends itself to building bigger themed displays. Building big, bold displays of navels, mandarins and pears will create impact for both your customer and your sales. Offer holiday gift boxes for navels, mandarins and apples. It's a great touch, plus it's a convenient grab-and-go idea for healthy gift giving. The season is also prime for creative merchandising. From creating a Christmas tree made of broccoli to a partridge in a pear tree, the season is full of awesome opportunities to help make that shopping trip a shopping experience. Your creative flair could make an impact, both in your sales and the image of your department and store.
(Photo courtesy of Brian Dey)
Chestnuts roasting on and open fire
A traditional Christmas classic, right? Indeed it is, and no time of the year lends itself to baking more than the holiday season. Cookies, pies, breads, cakes — you name it, consumers are baking it. With nuts and dried fruit in many holiday recipes, these must-haves for your departments are generally big dollar rings.
Shelled and in-shell nuts, dates, cranberries, pistachios, raisins, dried figs, and yes, chestnuts are key items to have for the holiday season. Make these as visible as possible. Create baking displays in high-traffic areas of your department to make finding these items easy for customers.
Holiday hosting
Make hosting holiday parties easier for shoppers by adding even more convenience. Pre-made fruit and vegetable trays will be great for holiday parties. Pre-cut packs of vegetables, like florets of broccoli cauliflower and snacking tomatoes, also will see an increase in movement. And make it an easy gift option for your customer — and great ring for your department — by having fresh gift baskets available.
(Photo courtesy of Brian Dey)
New Year's resolutions
A lot of consumers go into the New Year hoping to eat and live healthier, and what better way to do just that than to consume more fresh produce?
While not officially a season itself, the few weeks of the new year could indeed be called “Diet Season.” These weeks are so important to create impact, capture additional sales and make great impressions on customers.
The value-added category, especially packaged salads, cut fruit and bags of snacking vegetables, like baby carrots or celery sticks, will see more traffic at their sections. Snacking tomatoes, the citrus category and hand fruit such as apples and pears have also historically seen increased movement as well.
There will be customers who might be juicing more or maybe for the first time. Offer a few recipes at the point of sale for people who might want to try a new juicing recipe.
January is also a great time to introduce new items into your department. Consumers' desire to try new things will be at an all-time high, and the willingness to add variety to the cart is an easier sell. The added variety now could lead to repeat sales.
The new year also brings with it tons of opportunities with sporting events, leading up to the Super Bowl in February. Weekends in January especially are great times to have some vegetable and fruit party trays on hand as well as more display space for avocados and guacamole recipe commodities. Be sure to offer both ripe and unripe avocados for the best sales results. Make more space for nuts, especially peanuts and pistachios, too.
Wishing you and your families a safe, prosperous and happy holiday season.
Brian Dey is senior merchandiser and trainer at Four Seasons Produce, Ephrata, Pa., and a multiple winner of PMG's Produce Artist Award Series, as well as a guest judge.
