She must be doing something right with merchandising these mini cupcakes! This great concept had a flashy look and feel and a welcoming staff. Melissa's already got about 11 locations for her chic cupcake outlets in NY and NJ. I love filling blank window panels with signage decals or window clings. These little goodies reminded me more of a fashion designers window than a retail bakery. In a very tiny space, Made by Melissa, really seems to move some cake! Melissa's Food Marketing collateral is top notch! This design is a mini card that features a monthly focus item. These feature menus resonate with the local flab. When it comes to food merchandising,doing something that stands out is important. I like these cards because they feature a specialty item, yet are not your typical print size. The varied size of a collateral piece stands out in a world of 8.5x11, postcard, or business card sizes. Sure sometimes these sized documents are cost effective to print, but who wants to look at the same size piece of paper their entire life. Do something different and you'll stand out a bit in the crowd! Good job Melissa's.
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Written by Steven Lockwood: When I lived in New York State, visiting the farmers markets always seemed like a fun pastime. It was a nice diversion from the normal shopping experience of going to the giant chain grocery store. That’s not the case in northeastern Brazil. The outdoor market (feira) is more of a way of life here. Even small towns have an active feira one day a week. If we miss going to the market in one town on a particular day, we can always go to another one the day after. I love the experience of a trip to the outdoor market in Brazil. From Avocado to Zucchini The outdoor markets here don’t feature only fruits and vegetables. It’s more of a full shopping and cultural experience. In the city of Lajedo, my wife’s home town, the market transforms several city blocks into a beehive of activity. I remember visiting the Lajedo market on my first trip to Brazil. There was a vendor selling sugarcane juice. He took a cane stalk and cranked it through his old-fashioned grinder. I watched the clear liquid flow out of the bottom into the glass. It was sweet and tasty. You can buy shoes or sandals at the market. Leather belts and hats are available. If you need a transformer for an electric appliance, you can find that, too. My father-in-law traveled from town to town to sell kitchen appliances at the outdoor markets. My wife remembers going with him to help sometimes when she was a small girl. They would get up in the middle of the night to be ready for customers at dawn. Some people like to keep caged birds. They’re here, too. There is all manner of what I could only classify as junk. But, of course, one man’s junk … If you don’t mind plucking feathers, you can buy a live chicken at the market. For me, though, the best part of the Brazilian outdoor markets is the produce. In my experience, nothing from the farmers markets in the U.S. can compare to it. Choose from giant mounds of bananas. Next door you might find hills of pineapples or watermelons just as tall. It’s necessary to weave your way through the throng of people, all jostling for position in front of the stalls. The hustle and bustle of the Lajedo outdoor market Culture of the Outdoor Market A vendor may be shouting out the price of his produce, much like a carnival barker. Down one aisle, young boys or grown men push wheelbarrows through the crowd, offering to haul your purchases back home. At the market in Neves, a practitioner of an African religion called Candoblé, offers to divine your future through a shell game called jogo de buzios. It’s all part of the culture of the outdoor markets in northeastern Brazil. Cool weather fruits, such as apples and pears, arrive from as far away as Argentina. Pineapples come from commercial farms in the coastal regions. Much of the produce is grown on local farms. And the variety is impressive. It’s easier for me to mention the vegetables that we see in the U.S. that are not found in northeastern Brazil. Included in that category would be asparagus, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and parsnips. Unfortunately, fresh mushrooms are only a dream here. I guess it’s the climate. We enjoy fresh produce throughout the year because of that fantastic climate. There are times when some items are not as plentiful. But, something is always growing at any given time. The variety of fruits for sale at the outdoor markets is impressive. Bananas come in several varieties that I still have a hard time telling apart. There are small ones and large ones that are especially for eating raw. There are bananas for boiling, and ones that taste delicious fried on the stovetop. Avocados, mangoes, oranges and limes are plentiful. I’m still learning the names of local fruits that are not available in the U.S. We have cashew fruit, pitanga, acerola, pinha, jambo, graviola and sirigüela. My spell-checker doesn’t know what to think! The market stalls have guava, passion fruit, papaya and jack fruit. Even after living in Brazil for over three years, I’m still learning of fruits I had never heard of before. Lajedo outdoor market stalls with fresh produce Lack of Organic Vegetables One issue that I have with the local markets is the inability to tell if any of the produce is organic. It’s best to assume that most of the vegetables are not organic. My sister-in-law and I visited one of the nearby vegetable growers. He explained to us that he is able to grow certain vegetables organically. Lettuce is one. Others he isn’t able to grow that way, such as tomatoes. Unfortunately, tomatoes develop a rot if left to grow without chemical protection. I can grow small tomatoes, such as cherry tomatoes and yellow pear tomatoes, without chemicals. I brought my own seeds from the U.S. – not strictly legal. But, here, we have to be a little “creative” to get the desired result. I grow my own organic tomatoes. Take time out from frequenting the beaches and other more obvious attractions of Brazil and visit a local outdoor market. It’s a great way to experience the culture and try some of the amazing tropical fruits of Brazil. I’m curious to know what others have experienced of outdoor markets in their travels around the world. Steven Lockwood is a copywriter who enjoys writing about adventure travel. When he isn’t blogging about his adopted home in Brazil, he writes web content, e-newsletters, emails, autoresponders and case studies for his clients. Visit his website at www.adventuretravelcommunications.com to learn more about him and how he can help your business with his content writing services.
Written by: Jonathan Asher, Senior VP, Perception Research Services Trend-spotting always grabs attention and makes for intriguing reading. But just citing trends is never enough to make a significant impact on any business or brand. To be really useful, trends must be well understood, appropriately contextualized, and once applied to the brand, confirmed as being effective. Only after all of that has been done can a business begin to benefit from exploiting the latest trends. What are Today’s Trends?PRS conducts some 700 packaging-related research studies every year, giving us a preview as to where design is heading before it is obvious to the world at large. Broad societal trends such as the economy, the environment, technology and fast-paced lifestyles have been covered extensively elsewhere. I will discuss the trends in package design that have emerged from these.
Treading Carefully: Once trends have been identified and their meaning understood, it’s crucial to avoid the pitfalls of going too far when adopting them for a well-established brand. Specifically, with regard to the four trends cited above, the dangers include:
For example, the mass media decried the death of civility as a “trend” after a politician shouted during President Obama’s healthcare speech, Serena Williams cursed at a line judge and Kanye West grabbed Taylor Swift’s microphone at the MTV Awards, all in the same week. As such, it’s essential to have credible data about a sustained interest among your target market before investing your brand’s resources and risking its reputation. To properly assess a trend among a meaningful sample, one must ask the right questions and also ask them the right way. Otherwise, it’s easy to fall into what I call the “Do you love your mother?” trap. When asked directly, very few consumers would say they don’t think it’s important to raise money for breast cancer research, or use packaging that is less harmful to the environment. That’s why it’s critical to frame the question in a shopping context that includes all of the variables that could influence their tendency to purchase (e.g., price, durability, product satisfaction, etc). Applying Trends WiselyOnce a trend has been assessed and confirmed as real, the next crucial step is to determine how best to apply it to your brand. There are three strategies that can be used:
Participating in a trend is a short-term, limited approach. It can consist of contributing a portion of sales to a cause by running a promotion during a specified time. Such promotions enable the brand to benefit from an association with the trend (making a statement) in a way that presents relatively little risk to the brand’s reputation. Of course, this approach is also limited in terms of evolving the brand’s long-term image and presence. By not overly committing, the brand maintains flexibility in its ability to participate in other trends and activities. It also minimizes the possibility that the brand will dilute its core essence or that a significant part of its user base will be permanently turned off by this association. A more significant commitment to a trend would be achieved through extending the brand, such that a permanent entry is introduced into the marketplace that addresses the trend, while the base business remains intact (and secure). Examples of this approach include Clorox’s Greenworks eco-friendly line of household cleaners, and Haagen-Dazs’ Five line of simple (limited number of ingredients) ice cream. In each case, the new line is an obvious and overt means of addressing a trend that goes beyond a short-term promotional gesture, thereby reaping more rewards if the trend really takes hold. And, if the trend turns out to be short-lived or less meaningful than originally thought, then the company will not have risked the survival of the base business. Finally, a brand is transformed when the trend is so compelling that the old way of doing things is no longer feasible. An example is Western Union discontinuing its telegram business in light of e-mail and other emerging communication technologies. More typically, this most significant level of commitment to a trend is realized through new product (and brand) development, such as The EcoSmart line of environmentally safe pesticides. There is an obvious trade-off in choosing which of these strategies to employ. The best option for your brand will depend on how sustainable you believe the trend is, how well it fits with your brand’s essence, whether your brand is thriving or declining, and how this trend is likely to impact that status going forward. Assessing in a Shopping ContextOnce a meaningful trend has been properly identified, determined to fit appropriately with the brand’s essence, and a compelling vehicle has been found to convey the connection between the brand and the trend, there’s one more step to ensure success. The execution must be properly evaluated, or else all of these efforts can turn out to have been for naught (or worse, damaging to the brand). Using online research or focus groups can confirm that the messages are being communicated properly and the brand imagery is being enhanced. But these methods may be limited in assessing the true impact on the brand. That’s because they cannot adequately determine how the shopper will react to this offering in the context of a realistic shelf display that includes competitive products, pricing and merchandising variables. Whether creating a short-term promotion, a brand extension or a new product offering, it is critical to assess whether the packaging performs at the shelf. Specifically, one must determine if the package is:
Written by: Jonathan Asher, Executive Vice President, Director of Account Management of PRS Research
http://www.prsresearch.com/ Written by Guest Blogger: Francesca Nicasio Pinterest. It’s not just for wedding planning, food memes, or fashion anymore. As you’ll find out in this post, food merchandisers such as fresh produce or grocery retailers can also use the site to improve their store’s layout, staffing, and operations. By scouring the image-based social network, you’ll be able to find inspiration for your store displays and marketing collateral. Pinterest can also help you reinvent and reorganize your store so it looks, feels, and works better. Finally, the pins that you pick up from the site can be used for training purposes and enable you to effectively demonstrate (and remember) how to arrange shelves, position products, and more. Ready to get started? Here is a step-by-step guide to get the ball rolling: Step 1: Lay the groundwork First things first. Make it easy for yourself to pin images by installing the Pinterest browser extension. This will enable you to pin images from anywhere on the web with just one click. You may also want to download the Pinterest mobile app so you can access your pins even when you’re not in front of the computer (i.e. when you’re on the store floor or when you’re shopping for new fixtures for your shop). Next, create boards so you can organize and easily find pins later on. How you name your boards is up to you, but we suggest being clear and straightforward. For instance, if you’re collecting pins about store displays, then you can create a board and label it “Display Types.” Or, if you’re organizing pins according to department or type of product, then name your boards accordingly (i.e. “Fresh Produce” or “Dry Goods”). Step 2: Find sources of pin-worthy images Once you’ve set up your account, named your boards, and downloaded the necessary tools, it’s time to pin relevant images and follow the right people and boards. These can be done in a number of ways: a. Use the site’s search function - The easiest way to find pins, boards, and users is by using the site itself. Just type in a relevant keyword on the Pinterest search box found on the upper left corner of the page and the site will serve up related images, boards, and users. For instance, typing the keyword “supermarket” will return of an array of pins, boards, and accounts pertaining to grocery stores, product arrangements, shelf positioning, and more. To help you get started, we’ve listed a few Pinterest boards and users you may want to check out. (But be sure to conduct your own search as well.) Boards: Supermarket by Kazutoshi Kurihara - This board has a vast collection of supermarket displays and designs from all over the world. It consists of both traditional and modern (even futuristic) images and could be a great source of inspiration if you’re looking to re-arrange your store. Supermarket + Grocery Environment Graphics by Innograph - This board focuses on store signage and graphics. It’s a great resource if you’re looking for new ideas on store decoration, marketing collateral, etc. Visual colors by Visual Merchandising NS - This board has a variety of images that can stir up your creative juices if you’re looking to spruce up your store. Pinners: Retail Design – Here’s a great account that regularly pins images pertaining to store design, branding and packaging, and visual merchandising. We Are Pop Up - While this Pinterest account is geared towards pop-up shops, you’ll still be able to find interesting images that you might be able to use in your own store. VMSD magazine - This is the official Pinterest account of VMSD magazine, and it “showcases the latest store designs, industry trends, visual presentations, merchandising strategies and more.” b. Pin images from sites that you follow - You may already follow blogs and publications relevant to your industry. Be sure to check those sites regularly to see if there are any images you can add to your collection. The Pin It browser extension we mentioned earlier will certainly come in handy here. Step 3: Put those pins into good use So you’ve collected a ton of great images and placed them in neatly organized boards. What should you do next? Here are a few suggestions: · Inspiration - The most obvious benefit to pinning stuff is inspiration. All those great looking images can spur your imagination and give you new ideas to implement in your store. · Training - The adage “SHOW, don’t tell” rings very true when training your staff. Instead of just giving them instructions on how to arrange products or position store racks and fixtures, make them see how its done by doing it yourself and by showing them relevant pins that they can reference to. · Get insights on what your audience is thinking - What types of designs would appeal most to your customers? Which store layout is more attractive? Pinterest can help you answer such questions.
Bottom Line As you can see, Pinterest isn’t just about collecting images for your next outfit or meal. When used correctly, you’ll find that it has some practical purposes as well. Do you use Pinterest in your business? Tell us about your experience in the comments. Francesca Nicasio is a retail blogger from Vend, a point-of-sale, inventory, and customer loyalty software that helps over 8,000 retailers manage and grow their business. Connect with Vend on Google+ and LinkedIn Independent Grocery Store owners must seriously consider whether they have positioned their fresh produce departments and managers for successful operations and merchandising. To learn more about learning approaches aimed to minimize information gaps and build strong managers read my last post at the link below. When you're done ask yourself these 3 questions. It will help you understand whether your team is lacking skills or information that is limiting financial success. 1. What prevents your team from executing logical decisions? Does your crew require brain surgery, training, coaching, or simply more labor hours to do the things they already know to perform successfully? Factors beyond competence limit good ordering, shrink, sales, or profits.
2. Is your staff “logical” but missing key data or reports (facts) which prevent good business decisions? Organizations miss opportunities without sharing data necessary to monitor gross profit. Confidentiality concerns, ignorance, or simply lack of strong operational or technology reporting systems tie the hands of even the best in-store managers. Are you preventing your team from making logical decisions? 3. Is your team’s Rhetoric (merchandising execution) failing to resonate with shoppers and translate into profitable business? Does management lack refined visual merchandising skills, creativity, or simply an understanding of your audience demographics? Without proper coaching and development, even highly motivated friendly staff can miss key opportunities. We can help. Learn how we help independent grocery retailers improve their results. Written by: Jonathan Raduns Progressive grocery retailers require well-trained fresh produce managers capable of executing logical and compelling merchandising, which translates to profits. Unfortunately, many companies are limited by management skill sets or informational gaps within the organization, which prevent good business decisions. Retailers lacking excellent produce managers or successful professional development programs may discover three helpful secrets in the “Classical” Greek & Roman Medieval educational method, the Trivium. Trivium means “three ways,” referring to its three components, grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The Trivium is an onion-like layered learning philosophy designed for results. Grocery owners and directors will significantly benefit from more “classically” trained store, perishable, produce managers and clerks. Here’s how:
As you read, imagine taking this how-to article seriously. While probably far fetched, in small fashion we’ve all forgotten to think through minor yet important details before scheduling a successful demo that translates into missed sales opportunities. There’s probably some tongue in cheek grain of truth in each idea. Give it some thought: No fret, it’s easy creating lackluster events! It’s the least you can do for your loyal shoppers. Literally, it’s the least you can do. With little time and effort and almost no strategy foods can be tossed in plastic containers and made available in any number of in-hospitable fashions. Follow these 8 tips below and you’ll be sure to reap what you sow.
Well, why not give these a try. Take it from the professionals, I can pretty much guarantee the results of these tried and true demo techniques! Now who can say that about anything these days. Good Luck! 3 no 4! Simple fresh produce merchandising techniques can quickly enhance displays and expand sales possibilities when hand setting and displaying fresh produce.
It's been said that retail is detail. Although each of these little details is minimal in and of themselves, however a lot of visual hurdles add up to bigger sales limiting factors. Good luck implementing these ideas in your next display.
“Clear correct signage is one of our company’s top 5 objectives.” Accurate signs reflect a retailer’s commitment to detail and the shopper. A major mid-Atlantic wholesaler’s merchandising manager agrees, “The item / price sign completes any display. The more information communicated, the more successful a display will be.”
These ten best-in-class retail sign generator innovations aid retailers while also opening a number of collaborative merchandising support opportunities for grower-shippers. 1. Water-Proof Plastic Signs: Imagine wet racks filled with lamination-free water proof signs. Cutting edge printers and plastic signage stock can be rolled out in-store designed with perforation for easy separation. 2. Software As A Service (SAAS): Online subscription services exist for retail sign generation. Customizable retailer-branded portals communicate with data from existing corporate pricing systems or can be over-ridden for price changes in-store. Independent retailers may benefit from lower entry costs when compared to developing internal custom software. 3. In-Store or Off-site Print Fulfillment: In-store printing on plastic or thick paper is now accessible. Alternatively, during new store openings, major resets, busy seasons, or broken printer issues produce managers may conveniently outsource sign print fulfillment. Click and order sets of department signs can be printed and direct shipped in 2-3 days. 4. Culinary Images & Informational Icons: Fully scalable color icons easily denote country of origin, category, or characteristics (gluten-free, organic). Signs feature default licensed or proprietary image libraries changeable at store level if desired. 5. Online Store (Ecommerce) Integration: Sign generators may share product and pricing information with online grocery ecommerce websites. Sharing across applications simplifies data maintenance while expanding possible applications. 6. Catalog & Sell Sheets: By funneling sign database information into different layouts, instant customizable full color mini 8.5x 11 catalogs and sell sheets can be generated. Wholesalers & retailers can build quick marketing tools by category, product, or department offerings on the fly while on the road or in-store. 7. Varied Sign Layout Templates: Varied full color design templates can be created for 1 to 8 up+ printing on pre-perforated 8.5x11 sign stock material. Theme or color variations highlight various produce family groups, ad items, or store department. 8. Co-Branding with Suppliers: Specialty produce suppliers or grower shippers supplying retail merchandising support can house informational high-impact signage in a retailers system to highlight key selling points to drive sales. Many retailers hesitate to display vendor supplied signage due to inconsistent design or appearance. Vendors can now easily offer retailers pre-supplied images, logos, selling points, and product descriptions in a manner consistent with a retailers brand style guidelines. Co-branding with dual retailer / supplier logos is simplified. 9. Perfect Pairings – Cross-Merchandising: A sign database can house logical complimentary items or pairings. Data references an image library and can build powerful suggestive product imagery to build a complete meal or recipe solution directly on the label. 10. Quick Entry Functionality: Efficient generators build sign printing queues via quick entry via computer number keypads. Employees quickly enter PLU numbers, hit {enter}, and populate a reviewable list prior to generating a print ready PDF file. Future Innovation In the future, fresh produce departments will likely harness the power of digital signage. High-impact videos by grower-shippers will allow for more dynamic visual “story-telling” in the retail environment. Interactive touch-screens will provide engaging customer service and education. In 2014 even the best retailers face technological limitations and in-store challenges to roll-out effective print sign programs. For now, new technologies make best-in-class print signage a little more accessible and convenient for both major chain and small independent retailers. Banana Merchandising for Results: AirFlo® Introduces NEW Merchandising Display for Bananas!3/5/2014
AirFlo® Introduces NEW Merchandising Display for Bananas!
Bananas are the world’s best selling fruit. Americans consume an annual average of twenty-five pounds of bananas per person. Due to the increasing market demand, Carlson AirFlo has discovered that produce merchandisers are displaying bananas in multiple locations throughout their stores to increase sales and customer convenience. The New AirFlo Banana Display fulfills both a strategic location display, and focal point function for displaying bananas. Banana Display Benefits: • Increase sales by providing more access, appeal, and excitement. • Reduce shrink simply by hanging the fruit from its crown, resembling growth in nature and reduces bruising. • ROI – Quick return with increased sales, reduced shrink and inventory. • Secondary displays may increase sales by 15% when located by the store entrance, checkout area, cereal aisle, bakery aisle or end cap for impulse sales or convenience. • 5 vertical display arms hold approximately 40-50 hands total, provides ample separation by ripeness stages. • Display used as primary display in smaller stores or as a secondary display for larger formats. • Castors provide a convenient mobile display with locking mechanism. • ABS tray provided for cross merchandising or for single bananas. Market Data:
AirFlo: For more than 25 years, Carlson AirFlo has been the innovative leader in produce merchandising. We offer customized merchandising solutions that can instantly provide our customers with increased sales while reducing labor and shrink. We take pride in our quality products, made by dedicated employees here in the United States. Carlson AirFlo is an industry leader in creating merchandising solutions that maximize product appeal and boost bottom line profits. We offer a broad line of top-quality products including merchandising racks, energy efficient case shelving, mobile carts and acrylic bins, all designed to enhance merchandising profiles. Carlson AirFlo® Merchandising Systems 7135 Northland Drive North Brooklyn Park, MN 55428 www.carlson-airflo.com 800.999.9399 |
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