Merchandising, including meat merchandising, should be seamless, creating an intuitive experience for consumers. Additionally, space within the store needs to be used rationally in order to provide as many options to consumers as possible in a way that is not overwhelming. Organizing merchandise and meat displays in general involves a few key elements:

• Provide consumers with full understanding of the assortment of goods available
• Give products shelf space depending on how much profit they generate
• Place special prices and discounts closer to the front of the store
• Put items that complement each other together even if they are not necessarily in the same category (i.e. putting salsa by tortilla chips)

Retail Space Solutions can help provide input on ways to maximize profits by improving a grocery store’s layout. This is much more than providing a planogram – our design experts will help you choose the right meat merchandising solutions for your space and budget.

According to IBIS World, the factors most important to in-store shoppers are cleanliness (64%) and ease of navigation (61%). In-store shoppers are also more likely to compare brands, products, and prices than online shoppers. In-store shoppers also value information on promotions and deals.

Keeping this in mind, here are several tips for organizing items within meat displays:

• Organize meats by type (poultry, beef, lamb, etc.). This makes it easy for shoppers to find exactly what they’re looking for and to compare different brands/skus of the same meat.
• Keep products front-facing. This helps customers compare items more intuitively.
• Make sure that displays have clear signage with prices and promotions. Again, this helps to create an intuitive experience for shoppers.
• Add related products within sight of those meat displays to encourage customers to explore related items (i.e. putting BBQ sauce close to where ribs are sold). This is another way to potentially increase revenue.
• Make sure that all items within an area are accessible to consumers. If a consumer has difficulty reaching an item, they rare less likely to purchase it.

There are several trends from the past few years that are making a large impact on meat sales. These include:

• Ethical eating: consumers seem to value sustainability more than every before. These options include locally sourced meats, grassfed beef, or meat from pasture-raised animals.
• Prepared food: people are busy, and it’s no surprise that because of this the desire for prepared food is increasing. This could include pre-cooked meats, seasoned meats, and more.
• Attractive inventory: making sure that specific products pop is a trend that has been important in the past and continues to be important now. Making sure that the appropriate signs and colors are used to direct consumers is crucial to maximizing profits in the meat aisle.

For online order pickers, comparing products and experience are not priorities. Their primary goal is to collect goods as quickly as possible to satisfy click-and-collect customers.

This means that display is the primary factor to consider when setting up grocery stores to appeal to online order pickers. Clear signage and clear displays that allow pickers to see product labels will improve their order fulfillment times. Upgrading to use pusher trays where possible for meat products will allow online order pickers to grab products more easily because they are pushed to the front of the shelves.

As an added bonus, if online order pickers can move through the meat aisle more quickly, that means that store experience for traditional in-store shoppers is disrupted as little as possible.