We can’t overstate the importance of in-store product placement, and many store owners and managers knows this.
With gondola shelves playing a major role in driving sales, are you tapping into their full potential?
Drawing from our vast industry experience, we’ve put together seven practical tips on how you can best display items on your gondola shelves to increase your store profits.
Gondola shelving units are a particular type of retail shelving. While the merchandising suggestions in this article can be adapted to work with other shelving solutions, they were specifically put together for gondola shelving units.
Retail gondolas are free-standing metal shelving systems used to increase available floor space.
They come in three basic types: Wall, island, and end-cap gondolas. For stores that rely on central aisles, our double sided gondola shelves are commonly used to display products on both sides, helping you maximise the visibility and improve customer flow through the store.
Additionally, they are very easy to move and highly customisable, that’s why gondola shelves are the ace in the hole of retail stores.
One of the best features of gondola shelves is that they are extremely easy to modify. Modularity is one of the reason why our customers keep coming back for more gondola shelves.
You can use this versatility to your advantage to change things around your store depending on which products you want to display. Also, Gondola shelving accessories, such as hooks, hanging pegs, wire baskets and shelf dividers, allow you to create neat and visually appealing displays that facilitate front-end sales.
In retail stores, products are constantly competing to be noticed and picked up by the consumer.
A dull, bland shelf display is not going to turn any heads or get a second glance. So, instead, a brightly lit, colourful presentation will attract the eye and attract potential customers. Think about the colour combination of your display and its physiological impact.
Use on-shelf signage to make your goods more enticing. Consider incorporating LED shelf lighting for an extra visual boost.
Store owners and managers have known for decades that stock placed at eye level sells better.
Whether you want to capitalise on top-performing SKUs, increase your discounted stock sell-through rate or launch a new line, place your chosen goods where your customers will see them first.
The key to successfully entice customers is to understand their buyers’ demographic and desires.
A bit of lateral thinking can also come in handy. Like for example, if you are targeting mothers in your gondola display, don’t forget that they are likely to have their young children with them. Placing toys, kids’ magazines or snacks in the lower part of your gondola, at the little ones’ eye level, will result in kids asking to buy them.
One way to go about organising your retail display is to place similar goods from different brands one next to the other on the shelf. You’ll notice that many stores have been using this strategy, which kind of work most of the time.
This is called horizontal merchandising. The benefit is that you can place all your high-profit products at eye level, which will likely result in a higher Average Order Value (AOV). Its downside is that the customer has to physically move to see the other products.
However, if you plan ahead, you can put this movement to good use when designing your store layout.
This merchandising practice is the opposite of the one we just discussed at number 4, as the name says.
Similar products are placed in vertical columns, allowing the buyer to stay in one position while comparing the options and prices. Normally the most popular goods are placed at the buyer’s line of site with the most expensive and the home brands on top or below.
The least-bought brands are relegated to the bottom shelf.
Vertical and horizontal merchandising techniques can be turned up a notch by applying other merchandising principles to them.
A great way to boost sales and increase UPT or Units per Transaction is to cross-merchandise each shelf. This approach is prover to work well especially in gondola shelving, which are often free-standing or end-cap and separate from the rest of the product range.
Horizontal cross-merchandising capitalises on the consumer’s habit of looking for the goods at eye level first, then turning their gaze left and right, and only then moving it up and down.
If instead of having more of the same products on the shelf, e.g. various brands of shampoos, you have products that go well together, e.g. conditioners, hair masks, oils and so on, you bring secondary items front of mind and are more likely to see them added to the cart.
Another true and proven way to increase sales is with bundles and add-ons displayed on gondola shelving.
The key to the game here is to offer a solution, not just a product.
According to a 2020 American National Retail Federation report, shoppers are looking to retailers to help them save time and effort in their busy lifestyles. So by keeping bundles nice and simple and be smart about the product pairings, you will definitely see the correlated rise in AOV in your sales report.
From our experience working with many store owners and even big supermarkets, the best merchandising ideas are easier to implement when your shelving system is flexible enough to support them. Adjustable shelf heights, accessories, end caps, and display configurations all play a role in creating effective retail displays.
At Mills Shelving, we supply gondola shelving systems for retailers across Australia and can help configure a shelving layout that suits your store, product range, and available floor space.
Whether you’re updating an existing layout or fitting out a new store, our team can help you create a practical shelving system that supports better product visibility and customer flow.
With the right shelving configuration and merchandising strategy, our gondola shelving displays can help make products easier to find, easier to shop, and more likely to sell.
