ours is beef, pork, chicken. we do move some things around in each section so they don't get use to seeing the same thing, that way they have to look at other items
Family pack pork, Family pack beef, Regular beef, Regular pork, Branded tray pack chicken, store packaged fresh chicken, We sell a large amount of Family pack items, about one third of our case is dedicated to those.
the old school of thought was to put the burger last in line-so the customer would have to walk the whole case-coffin cases were great for this
when multi-decks came into play, there was quite difference of opinion, of "blocking" up and down of the same commodity or lay it down on one level shelf- a long ways
also, big debates abouts, should I have a family-pack "section" or put the family packs in each fresh meat commodity
we quickly came to the conclusion that if beef , pork and chicken is placed together in one section-chicken will outsell the others, based on total package price.
personally, I like "themes" like a value-added section, BBQ section, etc,
I dont believe there is ONE best way for a meatcase planogram-customers shop the case differently in different regions watch how a customer approaches your case- do they automatically look down in the well? or look ahead at eye level? or...do they look for sale item signs ?????????
you got to figure out the "prime real estate" in your case-usually theres one place where it gets more visibility than most
also, this is in the mix-when I set up profitability systems for a meat department-this is very important-"feature" your margin items in the high visibility areas and place the loss leaders, sale items, in the not so prime areas,(the cherry pickers will find the cheap items) for example, I went to one dept, with a low gross margin, assorted chops were on sale-they had three rows right in the well, and the center chops on the third shelf- the assorted chops had a big sign, and were flying-when I reset the case- I put the center chops in the well with a big sign, and the assorted chops on the third shelf up-well, the center chops started selling 5 times better and the assorted chops (with a much smaller sign) slowed down this is quite a margin switch.
Id use this philosophy with all lead sale items- place the stews/cubes/marinades from the sale items on the bottom and the loss leaders on the shelf- again, the cherry pickers will find the sale items and you are featuring profitable items.
I use to have a set plan o gram when I was a meat manager in a chain store- I always changed it- at first they gave me hell-but I was always in the top two in my district for gross margins- so the flex case plan o gram won out
with independents- with more flexibility, I usually put the money cuts in the prime areas of the case- the money cuts (rib-eyes, strips, etc) can kill you on shrink)
preferrebly I do like to start with red-meat then burger, then roasts (if you place your beef roasts and pork roasts in one roast section-you will sell more roast- particularly bone in pork roasts) then pork, then poultry- I place the bnls chicken breasts in a dead spot in the case-customers will find bnls chicken breasts, and tenders then comes smoked meats
I do like to block a marinade-added value section
case sets also depend on the case- if a multi-deck- and has four shelves and a well, the top shelf is usually shelf-stable items not fresh cuts
i always used the cooking meathod for setting up my case. briskets pot roast 1st in summer make them walk the case then flanks, strip's ,shortloins ribeye then stir fry then the grinds followed by roasts.Then veal chops,cutlets then the lamb i put the high end stuff together(veal customers lamb customer like the same things) cn to pork,Chicken i had a triple deck case Put the oven ready stuff near the chicken bsb looking for something quick this gave them choices stuffed pork chops lemon pepper bsb all at a premium price
Mainemeatman - 2 things. first have you written a book on this tuff yet? If so I want to read it. If you haven't I hope you might consider doing that.
the second thing. I work in a small independent grocery store. I have an 8 foot long case with 4 decks. I have been struggling to try to figure out the best way to set it up to sell more. When I took over the meat dept they were using 10S trays in alot of places. That was taking up alot space on the shelfs and therefore making it harder to add varerity. So I switched them out and i am using 20S and 2s instead. I was able to add some cuts in there that we weren't already carrying. I get quite a few compliments on the new set up but still I feel the shrink isn't very good they skip over alot of stuff and it never gets sold. I would really like to turn this around. do you think if I made a short video of my meat case and maybe so picitures you would beable to give me some ideas for a better case set up even on a smaller case?
and thanks for the kind words!! I do get to writing a little too much,
good idea with the smaller trays!! with many stores that the space just isnt there-I try to encroach on the dairy case-with bacon-try to place some bacon next to the eggs-to free up the space- you have to get the store owner/manager behind this-the dairy guy may get defensive
2s top round and other steaks, may actually sell better- less total retail per package
also keep this in mind-customers will buy from a sign- even if the product is not displayed- for ex. is space is really tight, you can write a sign (5lbs or more ground chuck) with a bulk retail on the sign-you can do this with whole-cut to order rib eyes and strips, 5lbs or more slab bacon, etc ALL the time-
I am the meat manager at a local independent grocery store and we actually put the chicken first in line believe it or not because of the beef prices that have gone up so dramatically. Supposedly beef chuck will be costing over $4 LB next week! I opened up on my chicken section and am selling a lot more chicken now and it hasn't hurt my gross very much at all, but yet it still hasn't made me anymore money either. I guess I am wondering if maybe I should go back to having my lamp and veal first in line then my beef, hamburger sausage, pork then chicken. The case looked so much nicer that way, but yet when it comes to winter I wonder if I'll have very much beef at all due to the prices?
