3 Tips For Keeping Your Product Line Fresh

When you own or manage a store, it is important to find new ways to boost your sales and profits. This can be a delicate balancing act between pleasing your existing customers and attracting new customers.  Your regulars often like things to remain the same – they know where to look for the exact items they need, but it’s also important to keep things fresh to encourage impulse buys and grow your customer base.  Here are some strategies you can use to keep your product line fresh.

Customize The Shopping Experience

While your regulars probably buy a lot of the same items on each trip, they aren’t necessarily searching for a generic experience. They know your store and trust your store, so make sure to provide them with products they would be interested in trying. Organize new items using innovative merchandising displays that will catch their attention and entice them to pick up something new.

When it comes to snack foods, it’s important to stock enough of each item but to also show a bit of variety in color and packaging. If the snack food is high-end limit the display to two items, known as “one to show and one to go,” in merchandising circles. Customers will think that the items are extremely popular if there are only two on the shelf, and they will be driven by good, old-fashioned FOMO (fear of missing out).  Remember, 60% of purchases are made in less than 30 seconds, so it’s important to make it as easy and enticing as possible to make the purchase.

Pair Items Wisely

Seventy-seven percent of consumers say it is useful for items that they commonly use together to be displayed together in a store.  Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Try to determine why they would be purchasing a particular snack item and think about products that would logically pair with them. If the snack is salty, drinks are the obvious choice. If the snack is healthy, choose water or a health drink over soda when making pairing choices. You might also place throughout your store. Some people like nuts if they are eating a meat-and-cheese plate, so you might consider putting them in the deli, area, for example.

Focus on Freshness

Yes, you need to keep your core products in stock, but it is equally important to surprise shoppers with fresh and new products and displays. Take advantage of holidays, local events, sporting events and pop culture to unveil new products and displays that tie into the things your customers are doing and thinking about.

Partner With The Right Snack Food Vendors

Keeping products fresh and keeping customers coming back for more also requires the right vendor partners. At Mister Snacks, we work with grocery stores, C-stores and specialty shops to ensure that shelves are stocked with high-margin, fast-selling snack foods that speak to the needs of each location’s unique customer base. To learn more about the ways Mister Snacks can help you boost your bottom line, contact our team today.