-
Six Shelf Management Services Your Business Needs Today
Is your store carrying the right mix of products? Does your store layout do a great job of showcasing them? Should you develop or expand certain categories, such as natural or organic foods or products that are popular with Latino families?
The answers to these and other important questions can be found in quality business analytics. The right data can help provide a deeper understanding of your business, how well you serve your customer base and how well your store(s) stacks up to competing retailers. Here are six of the shelf management programs you should consider utilizing to stay relevant and competitive:
Assortment Optimization: Getting the optimal mix of products in your store can be challenging, yet it’s absolutely critical to the success of your grocery business. We’ll help you analyze which assortment of products will yield the best results for your store and its customer base.
Floor Planning/Schematics: Like product mix, the layout, presentation and flow of your store is critical. We help you make data-driven decisions about what’s the best way to showcase your store.
Shelf Execution: It can have a major impact on your store’s revenues and profits. Is your shelf strategy one that maximizes your store’s profits and sales?
Natural Product Consulting: Sales of natural food products are outpacing sales of conventional products, both before and after the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a new report by IRI and SPINS. The report, “COVID-19 and Navigating the Path Ahead: Supporting the Natural Products Consumer,” shows in March, natural food sales were up a staggering 78% over the same time period last year. Natural food sales since then remain up significantly over last year, even after the Coronavirus-related jump in grocery sales earlier this year. We’ll help you analyze the data to stay on top of the demand for natural foods.
Trending & Attribute Insights: Product attributes are growing in importance. We can provide attribute insights that can help boost your store’s bottom line.
Scan Advantage: This program (currently available only for stores on the West Coast) provides an array of assortment analytics, market trends, and business insights that you can use to remain relevant to your customers. They include:
- Clustering Analysis: You’ll be able to compare your store(s) to like-formats including Price, Specialty & Conventional. UNFI proprietary store clusters provide insights that aren’t available anywhere else.
- Syndicated Market Data: An unbiased view of your store’s data and how well you perform against Nielsen and SPINS markets.
- High Quality Insights: Access to market data and analytics that meet or exceed capabilities of national and large regional chains.
The pandemic also has shifted consumer demand toward the health and wellness category, and that’s expected to be a largely enduring change even after COVID-19 comes to an end. According to the Center for Science in Public Interest 79% of shoppers think supermarkets should do more to make it easier for people to eat healthy. This growing demand has shifted health and wellness from a niche market into a mainstream category and, in order to retain customers, stores will need to offer — and properly showcase — the healthy and ‘functional’ foods their customer base wants. Shoppers are looking for convenience, options, and education when it comes to this category, and they will be expecting your stores to provide all three.
In 2021, consumers are going to start eating out at restaurants again. And without a fresh approach designed to foster lasting customer loyalty, the bump in sales grocery stores experienced during 2020 could quickly evaporate, according to a new Bain & Co. report, The Future of US Grocery: Maintaining the Momentum. Steve Caine, a co-author of the report, believes grocery stores have a rare opportunity to invest and innovate. By taking advantage and seizing the moment, “you can retrain some customers to shift more of their share of wallet to you,” he said in the report.
Knowing what types of investments to make in your grocery business and where to start can be challenging. We’re here to help. Our solutions can help your store not only remain relevant and competitive amid all of these changes, but also increase your market share, revenues and profits.