How To Get More Sales From Your Current Shelf Space

John Johnston, Griffin Greenhouse SuppliesWhy don’t garden retailers stock more hard goods or other retail products? A common response is that there’s not enough space in the store.

At first glance, this might appear to be true. But a closer look reveals hidden possibilities and techniques that can help you capture more sales without breaking ground for a major expansion of your retail space.

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Every vigilant national retailer tries to improve sales throughout the year. Some even bring in merchandising teams and regional managers to tour stores, with a critical eye toward helping the retailer improve and gain a consistent edge in growing sales. With multi-store operations, consistency is what they strive for.

Why would our industry be any different? Are we looking to constantly improve our displays? Are we analyzing both indoor and outdoor displays? Do we have an achievable plan to drive sales and profits? Some fixes are easy and don’t cost a cent in capital improvement.

Basic Rules Of Shelf Displays

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One simple adjustment you can make is to the dreaded “dead-air” space on store shelves. This occurs when we stock product across a shelf without regard to product height.

  1. The three-finger rule. As a guide, the space between the top of the product and the next shelf above should be enough to insert three fingers together. This allows the consumer to grab the product without asking for assistance (or a crowbar).
  2. Lower shelves to fit the space. The most common areas in which we can maximize space are chemicals, fertilizers, grass seed, pond products, pots and saucers, birding and houseplant items. By moving product to shelf space that’s a bit tighter, we can possibly gain one or two more shelves to display upon. This could equate to an extra two to 24 facings of product per 4-foot section.
  3. Heavy items go on bottom, big stuff go on the right. Other factors to consider when changing up your shelving include keeping heavy products on lower shelves, high-profit items within the “hot” zone (30 to 48 inches from the floor) and larger sizes to the right (because we are predominately right-handed). Also, think about grouping your products in categories by need.

Keep Your Tie-In Products Close To Primary Items

Much has been written about accessories and their placement. Keep an eye out for “retail fracture,” which is caused by having the primary product too far away from the accessory (or tie-in) products. This is very common in our industry; greenhouses and nurseries often have their hard goods far, far away from their plant material.

Many stores position checkouts or outdoor registers ahead of where these extras become visible to customers. These hidden sales opportunities can be brought forward by either cross-merchandising at the point of decision or by providing a sales sign to make the recommendation within the store.

Many retailers through the years have experienced a sales gain of ten times the product volume by cross-merchandising at the “point of decision” versus the same item sold indoors in a normal department location. To prevent shop worn or UV-faded product, create a brightly colored display box or crate and stack vertically. You may also consider topping the crate with hard acrylic or plastic to keep water out.

Another opportunity exists in maintaining display quantities at the point of decision. You can’t sell from an empty bench, and customers won’t buy from one or two items on the shelf if they suspect those items are part of the display and not for sale.

One final suggestion is to walk the return path from your plant yard or greenhouse. Once inside the store, can the consumer see your end caps, perimeter walls and category signage? If not, you may want to turn these towards the doorway or return highways to entice your customer into more add-on sales when heading towards the registers.

When you have lots to offer and want more sales, seeing is believing for your customers. Improve visibility and watch your profits soar!

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