Pretty please? With a cherry on top?
This is a well-worn phrase usually delivered as a plea for someone to do something that they’re already inclined to do anyway. And the cherry? Just a visual punctuation to drive the point home.
It’s also the subject of this week’s message about produce merchandising — or the opportunities lost.
It started with a recent, quick shopping trip to my local grocer: the same organization that has given me occasional fits over the years. (On the other hand, I can directly credit the oft-dysfunctional chain for bountiful column material.)
I ducked inside to load up on a few treats, like ice cream and other fun items for the grandsons’ visit last weekend. I bought some Shirley Temple soda and thought that a true kid-beverage like this needs a red cherry riding on top of all the sweet, carbonated fizz, right? Maraschino cherries are the only product for the job.
After many years of throwing freight for all departments, I know my way around a grocery store. So, I started by searching the canned fruit aisle. Nothing doing there. No problem, I thought. Then I checked out the little display of syrup and nut toppings placed near the ice cream case. Nope. Not even a tag that would indicate that the cherries were supposed to be there. Strike two.
Undaunted, I headed for the beverage mixer section. It’s a logical spot where a range of related products can be found for libations — but what? Again? No cherries. Nope. Nada. Zero.
Now I know that among the 50,000 products or so in that store, those cherries had to be somewhere. But without even a single, friendly employee face to recruit in my search, this customer was compelled to finally give up the cherry scavenger hunt.
It’s a first-world problem, I conceded. The grandkids will never even notice the omission.
However, this is what, a $5 ring the store missed out on?
Related: More insight from Armand Lobato
As produce marketers, we’re conditioned to put product in the right place, at the right time, at a competitive price to capture every possible sale. That’s why produce managers frequently stock fresh berries adjacent to the shortcakes, stock foil-wrapped potatoes near the steaks or allow the grocery manager to tie in chips near the avocado display. Lots of common, cross-merchandising placements work great, such as bananas near the fast lane or the cereal aisle.
You get the picture. Secondary displays help build baskets. It all adds up.
So how many of the cherry placements should my grocer have? At least in all the destination sections that I looked, and perhaps one more somewhere. How much linear space could they be sacrificing — a grand total of 6 inches at the most? It’s probably considered an impulse, if not somewhat seasonal or even gourmet purchase.
And that’s what we must do to reinforce or condition in shoppers’ minds to the multiple opportunities to purchase more produce.
Lemons on an entrance bin? Great for holiday libations and dishes. Lemons on the produce “flavor” table, along with items such as garlic, basil, specialty tomatoes and such? Makes sense.
Perhaps a small lemon display near the seafood counter and, last but not least, lemons displayed in — you guessed it — the citrus section of the produce department. That’s just one example. A creative merchandiser can find the space and come up with many more ideas.
If you’re serious about selling fresh produce, display items in the best light while emphasizing within the display that the product is bountiful, a value, beautiful, fresh, delicious and nutritious. Sample and shout out with enhanced signage just how seasonal, local, tasty and easy produce is to prepare or to eat out of hand.
And if you want to move produce items even better, repeat the above steps in different locations. You’d be amazed how many customers will miss the first offering placement. Help them out.
It could be they’re off wandering around in some corner of the store, lost and confused — like me.
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions.