Capture that holiday state of mind with merchandising mastery

We all know the period from Thanksgiving through New Years is a critically important sales period for retailers. And with Christmas as the No. 1 and Thanksgiving the No. 2 food holidays of the year, retailers plan the year around achieving sales and profit goals by capturing every opportunity to sell to consumers.
This year’s parties and gatherings will return much more than last year, presenting abundant opportunities to sell catering and party packs of fresh produce items. Larger friend and family gatherings will provide the backdrop for creating unique experiences missed in 2020. The appetite for celebrating is strong, so meeting consumers where they are may require a different approach to selling during this holiday period.

Product offerings

In the past 20 months, product introductions were more difficult, sampling was halted and even a reduction in product selection persisted at retail. Each of these areas are key to driving incremental business, and the holidays are the pinnacle of incremental sales. Just having an item available does not guarantee success, and with consumers splitting their food dollars across more channels – gaining their attention is more complicated that it once was.

Strategic selection of products, packaging and items designated as holiday-specific offerings can be huge sales drivers that add to the overall performance of the produce department. I believe the sentiment this year will be that retailers are looking for more opportunity to have unique promotions, to re-engage consumers and capture the holiday state of mind.

Winning at holiday merchandising

During my years in retail, when the holidays approached, there was no stone unturned in how we planned to achieve our sales and volume goals. First, a well thought-out plan based on historical data and forecasting, and which could be executed across all stores, but it had to be perfected — in the sense that there would be no chance of unexpected outcomes. We would create show stores and bring the management group in to see how the plan would be executed. It was a time to ask questions, tweak if needed and then send everyone back to their stores to build their own show-store holiday experiences.

From my experience, seeing is believing. When the operations team can touch and feel what they are being asked to create, the buy-in goes up incredibly. You can almost see the wheels turning in their minds in how they can outdo their fellow store and department teams. It is truly the best type of competition within the company, which benefits customers and undoubtedly the results in better sales and volume performance.

Raising the bar

We have all heard the heard the adage “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”:  What is beauty to one, may not be shared by others. So how does beauty factor into being a masterful merchandiser? The mastery is in appealing to the senses of the consumer beyond an item and price. It is creating a feeling of want or need — an experience they just cannot pass up, sometimes as strong as creating a fear of missing out, or FOMO.

The fall-early winter holiday season is the ideal time of year to explore every opportunity to appeal to every human sense:

• Sight: The allure of a picture, a display and a product can be so compelling that the customer is mesmerized and must know more;
• Sound: Harder to achieve, but it’s possible through e-commerce and other digital merchandising spaces that share a message at point-of-sale. Simply having holiday or seasonal music playing in-store to set a happy and relaxing atmosphere can help;
• Smell: This sense can connect one product to another. For instance, the seasonal experience of apple cider can permeate the produce department and open up other senses to be receptive to more holiday produce items;
• Taste: Sampling takes advantage of this most desirable sense. Focus on coordinating products that complement each other when sampling, such as hot cider and new-crop oranges or candied pecans with fresh apples;
• Touch: One of the top three senses consumers use to make purchase decisions, touch is works better with loose, bulk produce rather than packaged items. When merchandising holiday-related products, offer loose items next to their packaged counterparts.

Perspective on holidays

The holiday season was always my favorite when I was in retail for all the challenging work required to achieve our goals. What made it all worthwhile was the happiness and cheer that goes along with the season, and it deserves to be treated with a higher level of thought and preparation. This holiday season will have its own set of challenges, from supply chain to labor, but one constant will remain: People need to connect with one another, and food is a cornerstone to holiday connections. Be mindful of and treasure the opportunity you possess to make this holiday season special for colleagues and consumers.

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This column is part of a series by Joe Watson, who spent 30-plus years as the director of produce for Rouses Markets and was named Produce Retailer of the Year and honored as one of The Packer 25, both in 2014. Joe now serves as a vice president of member engagement and as the retail and foodservice expert for Produce Marketing Association.