There’s a reason produce displays are near the front of most grocery stores: They have a massive influence on how people perceive your business.
A lackluster produce section might leave customers feeling uneasy about the quality and freshness of your products — and it’s more important than ever to differentiate yourself and stay competitive with bigger brands. Your produce section is a smart place to start.
But how do you display produce in a grocery store effectively? What are some rules of thumb for good produce layout? How is the shelf life of different products affected?
In this article, we’ll go over six effective and affordable tips to help you improve the look of your produce section, encourage upselling, and build brand trust.
Let’s get started.
1. Know Temperature and Freshness Requirements
A produce display isn’t just arranged to look nice, but to maximize the shelf life and freshness of different fruits and vegetables.
Know exactly which fruits and vegetables need to be at room temperature, which need to be refrigerated, and which are misted. This way, you can make sure any adjustments to your produce displays won’t unknowingly lead to spoilage.
If you have limited space, you can build out buffer areas between different climate sections with products that can go either way (e.g. avocados can be stored at room temperature until ripe or refrigerated to extend shelf life). You can also get racks that hang off the bottom of your refrigeration units for products that need to stay cool but not fully refrigerated. (It creates a little more space, too.)
In terms of the overall position of your produce section, locate it near the front of the store but away from areas that receive direct sunlight. If you have a smaller space, cover the window with a light-blocking film (ideally, double it up with your logo or an advertisement to make the most of your window space).
2. Leave Room for Standing Displays for Cross-Selling
In a small grocery store, variety is everything — but that doesn’t mean you should pack everything so tightly that it becomes claustrophobic. Leave plenty of walking space between the various bins and cooling units.
This isn’t simply more convenient for customers — it leaves space for upselling and cross-selling opportunities, too. Get narrow standing shelves and displays that fit in these empty spaces to highlight deals and items that are frequently bought together.
For example, you could:
- Have a display of tortilla chips near avocados to inspire customers to make fresh guacamole (bonus points if you add a written recipe nearby).
- Place popular cereals or yogurts next to your bananas and other fresh fruit.
- Create a spread of healthy dips (e.g. hummus, artichoke dips) near your refrigerated vegetables for a healthy snack option.
Not sure where to start? Use the reports on your point of sale (POS) system to see if there are any items frequently bought with produce. This allows you to create product pairings based on what your customers are already buying.
3. Right-Size Displays To Avoid Waste and Increase Variety
A big, beautiful display of apples might look great from a distance, but it becomes a lot less appealing when you can’t sell enough and have to throw most of them out. Produce displays that are too large are a surprisingly common culprit in food waste.
After all, ensuring produce displays look full is always a good idea — but it’s important to balance display size with actual sales volume.
Filter shrinkage reports to your produce section to see if any particular products or product categories frequently spoil or have to go on sale before they expire. Even without reports, tell your staff to keep an eye out for any produce displays that aren’t being refreshed very often.
The good news is, you don’t have to buy entirely new displays to fix this problem. Here are a few easy fixes:
- Use shelf or section dividers to turn one large bin into several smaller ones.
- For deeper bins, use false bottoms to make them look full without having to fill them completely.
- Use larger bins for onions, garlic, potatoes, and other items that have a naturally long shelf life.
Not only will this cut down on food waste, but dividing your larger displays into several sections gives you more chances to pack a wider variety of produce items into a smaller space.
Remember: Smaller bins empty faster. Regularly check stock levels so displays stay fully stocked (and use the first in, first out (FIFO) method to ensure everything stays fresh).
4. Alternate Colors
One of the main ways people notice variety in the produce section isn’t through signage, but something more basic: color.
As you lay out different types of produce, focus on pairing items logically (e.g. placing white, red, and yellow onions near each other) and creating visual variety (e.g. alternating red, yellow, and green colored peppers).
This simple trick both guides a shoppers’ eye to different types of items while also creating the impression of variety and freshness. It’s worth noting, too, that items with thinner skins (like apples) are more likely to absorb odors, so make sure not to place items like onions or garlic nearby.
Instead, create color variety while maintaining logical groups of products (e.g. citrus fruits and savory staples like onions, garlic, and potatoes).
Related Read: How To Increase Fresh Produce Sales: 5 Tips & Tools
5. Highlight Seasonal Produce
Many customers want to eat more fresh produce but aren’t sure where to start. Guiding your shoppers toward seasonal produce makes finding tasty fruits and vegetables easy — plus, it saves them money (especially in the face of rising tariffs on international goods).
Use bright signage and colored stickers to highlight in-season produce. If you have the space, consider carving out a rotating section for seasonal goods.
Seasonal highlights aside, having clear signage for your various types of produce is always a good idea — many people don’t know the difference between Fuji and Honey Crisp apples or yellow and Vidalia onions by sight alone.
By using a special sticker or color for seasonal items, you can motivate customers to make an impulse purchase on a variety of produce they don’t normally buy.
6. Create Educational Signage To Build Brand Trust
Yes, people want to eat healthier —but many are put off by higher costs or simply not knowing where to start. Why not give people a helpful nudge in a healthier direction?
Place signage near produce to share tips about selecting the freshest items, affordable recipe ideas, healthy snack ideas, and other educational tips. This type of signage differentiates your store by giving it an approachable and trustworthy personality.
Plus, it just might inspire your customers to try something new. Use your POS system to monitor which signage led to increased sales, so you can rotate winning ideas in and out with the seasons (or try new ones!).
BONUS TIP: Don’t Forget Lighting
So far, we’ve focused on layout, colors, and signage, but there’s one more crucial element of displaying produce in a grocery store that we have to mention: light.
Harsh or cold lighting can make even a perfectly planned produce section look unappealing. Make sure the lights in your produce section are warm and not too harsh. If you’re using LED lights to cut costs, find lights with lower color temperatures (i.e. more oranges and yellows).
Notice how different light affects the same shelf of produce.
Depending on your light fixtures, you also want to make sure the light is diffuse (in other words, avoid any harsh shadows). This makes your entire produce section feel more welcoming and fresh.
A Better Produce Display Starts With Increased Visibility
If you’ve read this far, it’s likely for one of two reasons:
- You’re looking to open a new store location (congratulations!).
- You’re seeing a dip in produce sales and wondering how to spice things up.
Regardless of your motivations, it’s hard to make meaningful changes without an unbiased view of how those changes affect sales. Luckily, using an industry-specific POS system like IT Retail helps small grocers improve their produce displays by:
- Allowing you to track expiration dates and detailed product notes
- Helping identify bestselling produce items, along with other less popular items that might need to be moved or ordered less frequently
- Giving them insights into spoilage sources, so you can proactively address problems
- Enabling you to track the effects of produce area display changes, so they keep track of what’s working (and what isn’t)
Working on a tight budget, or aren’t sure how much upgrading your POS system will cost? No problem. Try out our Build and Price tool to configure the perfect system for your grocery store.
by Margaret Thacker
