Although candy is the number one impulse category for convenience stores, it’s also the third largest category for missed purchases, NACS Magazine reports, and 61% of those missed transactions are due to easily preventable causes.
A little attention to your candy shelves can not only help convert those potential sales and make the most out of candy’s high profit margins, but it can also encourage your customers to spend more outside the candle aisle, too.
Here are some best practices that go a long way.
Maximize signage and visibility
Shoppers spend just 31 seconds in the candy aisle, a shopper behavior data agency found, so it’s crucial to make them count. Clear signage and organized shelves can help them find what they’re looking for faster — and make it more inviting for them to browse alluring new products and other potential impulse buys.
Keep it clean
Candy packaging tends to be busy, with many competing colors and designs. That’s all the more reason to keep the shelves themselves simple and orderly. For years Hershey’s has recommended that retailers use clean, white surfaces to make the packages pop. The chocolate maker’s market research also recommends curved shelving over hard edges. Curved edges create visual intrigue and slow shoppers down.
Draw them in with chocolate
Some things never change: Consumers love chocolate. Displaying chocolate at the beginning of an aisle is a proven way to draw them in with a “reward” purchase. On the other end of the aisle, stock more planned purchases, such as gum and mints.
Upgrade those pegs
With many grocers and convenience stores suffering staffing shortages, it’s becoming harder than ever for retailers to keep hanging products on pegs. And since pegs are static, inventory too often gets hidden in the back, making it far too difficult for shoppers to find the candy they’re looking for. SimpliStock™ Peg from Retail Space Solutions solves those problems by converting pegs into pusher displays that easily adjust to fit nearly any packaging size. SimpliStock Peg systems provide an easy way to organize even the most cluttered and unruly candy aisles, and they greatly reduce the time needed for employees to tidy shelves.
Play up emotional brand connections
Brands like Hershey’s, M&M’s and Reese’s are deeply tied to childhood memories, and customers have strong, happy associations with them. Your displays should leverage the warm feelings that these products invite, because happy shoppers spend more. That’s all the more reason to ensure that shopping your candy aisle is a pleasurable experience: Putting your customer in a good mood could encourage them to spend more even beyond the candle aisle.
For more information on center store pusher displays systems from Retail Space Solutions, visit www.retailspacesolutions.com or call 1-800-279-5291.