Nothing beats the feeling of walking into a grocery store and being greeted by a display of fresh, juicy watermelons on a hot summer day. Or the warm and comforting aroma of pumpkin spice wafting through the air during the fall season.
Seasonal products create a sense of excitement and anticipation for customers — and boosted sales for grocery store owners.
So what do you need to know about stocking seasonal products? Here are six tips to get you started.
1. Know Your Grocery Customers
First things first: The key to successfully stocking seasonal products in your grocery store is to know your customers — and their preferences. Are they health-conscious and looking for fresh fruits and veggies? Are they drawn to sweet treats during the holiday season? Understanding your customers’ buying habits and preferences helps you make informed decisions about what seasonal products to stock and when.
To get a better understanding of your customers, send out surveys or conduct focus groups. You can also gather data from your point of sale (POS) system — such as top-selling items and sales trends — to help inform your decisions.
2. Stay on Top of Seasonal Trends
Keeping up with seasonal trends is another important aspect of stocking seasonal products in your grocery store. During the summer months, customers may be looking for refreshing drinks and snacks to enjoy outdoors, while during the fall season, they may be more interested in cozy comfort foods like soups and stews.
To stay on top of these trends, attend industry events and trade shows, follow food and beverage blogs and social media accounts, and keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. You can also use your point of sale system to track sales trends and identify which seasonal products are performing best.
3. Plan Ahead of the Seasons
When it comes to stocking seasonal products, you have to plan ahead. Before each season begins, take the time to map out a plan for what products you need. This helps you avoid last-minute scrambling, and ensures that you have all the products you need when customers walk through your doors.
You should also consider ordering seasonal products in advance, so you know you’ll have enough inventory on hand. This helps you take advantage of bulk discounts and avoid stockouts, which can be frustrating for customers and hurt your bottom line.
4. Create Eye-Catching Displays
Once you have your seasonal products in stock, it’s important to create eye-catching displays to draw customers in. Use bright, seasonal colors and incorporate props like pumpkins or beach balls to create a sense of excitement and anticipation.
Be sure to place your seasonal products in high-traffic areas of your store, too — try near the entrance or checkout. This increases visibility and encourages last-minute impulse purchases.
5. Offer Promotions and Deals
Another way to boost sales of seasonal products is to offer promotions and deals. Offer a discount on watermelons during the summer season, or run a promotion on pumpkin products during the fall months.
A grocery-specific point of sale system makes it easy to manage and set promotions and deals, so you can identify which promotions are most effective.
6. Monitor Inventory
Finally, it’s important to monitor your inventory of seasonal products — and adjust accordingly. If a product isn’t selling as well as you anticipated, consider reducing your order or running a promotion to move inventory. On the other hand, if a product is selling out quickly, you might consider increasing your order to meet demand.
A POS system can make it easy to monitor inventory and track sales in real time, allowing you to make informed decisions about which products to stock and how much inventory to keep on hand.
Stock Seasonal Products With IT Retail’s POS
Your point of sale system is the backbone of your grocery store, and having an outdated or malfunctioning system can cause a range of issues — like slow checkout times, inaccurate inventory tracking, and difficulty managing promotions and deals.
But with the right POS solution, you can keep your customers excited, engaged, and ready to spend some cash. Plus, grocery-specific POS software can handle most of the ideas highlighted above — making the stocking of seasonal products easier than ever!
If you’re interested in a point of sale system designed by grocers, for grocers, schedule a demo with one of our IT Retail specialists — or use our build and price tool to create your own custom quote.
