How to Boost Sales in the Produce Department

The produce department of your grocery store is often your first chance to set the tone of your customer’s shopping experience. A beautiful and inviting produce section can truly transform the feel of your entire store. When you are looking to increase produce sales, you’ll want to ensure your produce department is optimized for sales and reflects how you want your store to be perceived.
At Lemon Tree Products, we design and deliver produce display tables that enhance the appearance of your store. Though a key component of your store, your produce displays are only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to optimized produce spaces. We want to help you create a beautiful, welcoming, and sensible produce department that results in increased sales. In this post, we talk about some of the ways you can improve your produce department and learn how to increase sales in produce department

Understand Your Customer

Knowing your customers is one of the most important factors in boosting your produce sales. By having a strong understanding of what your customer is looking for you can ensure that you carry what customers want. Knowing your customer goes beyond simply having a general idea of what your customers like. It also means being in tune with any traditional foods they may desire for day-to-day cooking as well as for festivals or special occasions. Consider that if you have a majority of customers from a particular background it can go a long way towards building trust and dependability if you have what your customers are looking for when they need it most. An example of knowing your customer could include stocking large amounts of in-season Roma or Sangiovese tomatoes for cultural groups who make tomato sauces seasonally.

When it comes to learning how to increase sales in produce departments, grocery store owners should put an emphasis on serving their customer’s needs. Having the produce your customers want most when they need them is essential to ensuring they come back time and time again. See our post, Grocery Store Produce Display Ideas, for helpful tips that you can use to enhance your customers’ shopping experience while highlighting the cultural foods they love most.

Prioritize Appearance

Having beautiful and fresh-looking produce can go a long way towards enticing a customer to buy something in your produce department. You take pride in having great produce, so make it stand out and look great to your customers too. By ensuring that your grocery store produce displays such as market tables and orchard bins are clean and stocked you create an abundant appearance that attracts the eye. Pay close attention to how your store merchandises its products, always ensuring that produce is rotated, and any spoiling products are removed. The fresher and brighter your produce department looks the more attractive it will be to your customer.

Invite Customers to Try Something New

For some grocery stores that focus on foods not conventionally grown in Canada or the US, it can be a challenge to introduce new foods to customers. Some of your customers may not have ever heard of fruits such as durian or vegetables like jicama and may avoid them for not knowing what they taste like or how they can be prepared. Though these fruits and vegetables may be attractive produce options to a large portion of your customer base there is potential to have more customers purchase these foods. Through educational programs and initiatives, you can invite customers from wider demographics to try the produce that is unique to your store. Community-centred initiatives such as cooking classes or meal idea pamphlets may help to boost your produce sales in the long run. Though this is not a quick fix, it can help your grocery store to stand out from others and make it a destination for high-quality and unique produce options.

Cross-merchandizing is an excellent way to introduce your customers to new products and can also help you sell more products from other departments in your store. When looking to learn how to increase sales in retail grocery stores, you’ll want to master effective cross-merchandising. See our posts, Cross Merchandising Produce: A Fruitful Approach to Retail Success, and How to Increase Sales in Your Retail Grocery Store: Our Tips and Tricks to Boosting Sales, for more insight into how you can spark creativity and a willingness to try something new for your customers.

Have a Well-Designed and Attractive Layout

If your customers can’t easily access all areas of your produce department, they aren’t likely to take the time to browse and see what’s in stock. Be mindful of high traffic areas and places where isles can become congested. Though it can be a challenge to manage the flow of customers through your store, a properly planned space can help make your store both more attractive and more functional. Consider working with experienced grocery store display designers to develop produce display tables and shelves that not only showcase your produce but also make the shopping experience practical and accessible. At Lemon Tree Products, we offer complimentary design services and would be pleased to show you just how much of a difference a custom-designed space can make.

When considering how to increase sales grocery store owners cannot overlook the importance of having a well-organized and easy to shop store. Focus on highlighting the natural beauty of your produce by using produce display tables that allow your produce to sell itself.

See our post, Lemon Display Ideas & Lemon Display Tables for Sale, to gain insight into how produce display systems can enhance the overall appearance and functionality of your grocery store. When you want to increase product sales, highlighting your fresh and beautiful produce is always a smart option.

Ensure Your Staff Know Your Products

Another tip for boosting sales in your produce department is to ensure that your staff members are knowledgeable about the products you sell. Staff should know the basics about what types of fruits and vegetables you sell including how to tell if they are turning and also how they should be displayed. Knowledgeable staff who are available to answer questions from customers can elevate the customer experience in your store in a variety of ways.

Your produce department is an essential component of your grocery store. By getting smart about merchandising and always focusing on creating a great experience for your customer you are sure to boost the practicality and success of your space. Have questions about how to make the most out of your space or want to find the best fruit & veg produce displays for your store? Book a free design consultation with the experts at Lemon Tree Products. We look forward to helping you make the most of your produce department.