Page 20 - Deli Business June/July 2020

MERCHANDISING REVIEW
S unday dinner from The Fresh Market is simple, savory and
stress free for custom- ers of the 159-store chain headquar-
tered in Greensboro, NC. The
menu starts with a plump juicy
rotisserie chicken. Then, coun-
tertop signage offers a choice of
two sides. Shoppers can opt for traditional dishes, such as creamy macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, a baked potato salad or something trendier like Brussel sprouts with bacon, broccoli cranberry slaw with almonds or an edamame chickpea med- ley. Plus, for an extra 50 cents per side, customers can upscale to one of the deli’s bistro-style sides like lemon orzo salad or a crisp pear and broccoli salad with walnuts.
The Fresh Market rounds out the meal with a side of sweet cornbread and offers it all for a $12.99 deal, or $13.99 with two bistro sides. Thus, the customer who came in for a single item—a rotisserie chicken, now walks out with an entire meal solution and the retail deli has upped its ring by 62 to 75 percent. This is the beauty of cross merchandising.
“Cross merchandising is the most import- ant marketing to achieve incremental sales in your deli,” says Giuliana Pozzuto, market-
ing director for the George DeLallo Co., a Jeanette, PA-based manufacturer of Italian and Mediterranean foods. “In the same way that consumers are influenced by the cre- ative and eye-catching food photos on social media, your deli has the same power to directly influence a purchase in-store.”
There are three overarching elements to assure that cross merchandising in general is successful, according to the Madison,
WI-headquartered International Dairy Deli Bakery Association’s (IDDBA) 2012-pub- lished handout Merchandising – Successful Cross Merchandising. These are creating
combinations that take care of customers’ needs, make for a timely experience and partake of deli employees’ knowledge to inform and suggest. More recently, according to the IDDBA’s What’s In Store 2020, 74.2 percent of shoppers surveyed viewed cross merchandis- ing as an extremely/very important feature at food retail, second only to the offering of prepared foods. The placement of two or more items next to each other is indeed cross merchandising. However, the more creative deli operators are in utilizing this sales strategy, the better the result. Here are six strategies
to get started.
1. CREATE PERFECT PAIRINGS.
Pickles and ice cream might be a logi- cal combination to pregnant women. However, this pairing won’t inspire most shoppers to put both foods in their bas- ket. The sweet spot about the deli is that the department is full of products that do indeed make lip-smacking, impulse-enticing buys.
“There are natural pairings, such as lunchmeat, condiments and breads,” says Tom Orlando, national sales director for Conroy Foods, a Pittsburgh, PA-based maker of Beano’s-brand condiments. “Sometimes, the simplest pairings and cross merchandising techniques work best. For example, when the retailer’s deli is advertising a sale on roast beef, make sure our Beano’s Horse Radish Sauce is close by and prominently featured. It is amazing when products appear to be in sync with one another on a merchandis- ing and promotional level versus hundreds of products autonomously residing in their own space.”
Cross merchandising, or building combo meals, is a good way for supermarket deli operators to take a bite out of foodservice sales.
“Restaurants have been doing this for years, and most importantly they do it every day,” says Bob Sewall, execu- tive vice president of sales and marketing for Fall River, MA-headquartered soup and sides maker, Blount Fine Foods. Just look at the quick serve arena. You drive through and order a combo meal by its
20 DELI BUSINESS JUN/JUL 2020