Grow Sales With Eye-Catching Signage

A customer was shopping in the produce department and appeared to be puzzled while holding a bunch of broccoli. The shopper noticed that the store's broccoli was displayed in two different sections. She asked a nearby worker which was the organic broccoli. The employee pointed to a section at the beginning of the wall case.

Clearly marked organic section signage

Is that the way to communicate and identify product items with customers? If it is, then sales will be jeopardized. Not having visible signage to identify sections or prices in the produce department discourages customers from making purchases.

Some customers walk past organic produce and fail to recognize the category section because the signs on items are missing, too small, or obscure. When customers miss sections, no sales are recorded. Signs instantly set up a contact point with customers and increase the awareness of the product.

Not having visible signage to identify sections or prices in the produce department discourages customers from making purchases.

Try this display experiment. Test your customer's mindset with and without a sign. Set up two end cap displays of organic broccoli. Post a sign with the item description and price on one display. Do not post a sign on the other display. Which do you think will sell the most broccoli? It's obvious that the display with the sign will get the most customer activity. The display without a sign has the tendency to send a message of obscurity to shoppers, which averts their interest in buying.

Large organic signage at Smith's Organic Produce

A prominent organic sign program will better serve customers. Here are four primary strengths of a good sign program and what it can do for growing the organic category:

Communicate. Signs promote, suggest, and advertise.

Identify. Signs define sections and describe items and determine supplier sources.

Inform. Signs familiarize, educate, and instruct on usage.

Influence. Signs confirm quality, guarantee satisfaction, and persuade customers.

Smith's Organic Produce signage

Good signage on a display that covers the above four points can increase impulse customer sales by 18 - 20 percent. Signs are your best silent selling exposure to lure customers over to the organic produce section and auxiliary displays.

When customers miss sections, no sales are recorded. Signs instantly set up a contact point with customers and increase the awareness of the product.

Safeway organic produce department

Two retailers with strong organic produce sign programs had this to say:

Jeff Tomassetti, produce floral director at Buehler's Fresh Foods in Wooster, Ohio explained his signage program. "At Buehlers, we have created a sign manual for all departments which gives step-by-step instructions along with pictures of what our expectations are for signage of each item in the department from a simple shelf tag to an ad feature sign. Our organic category has a special call out with organic tag rails, a specific sign kit (which we purchased with the USDA organic logo), and some special foam core organic signs that our marketing department created."

Vince Mastromauro, director of produce operations for Sunset Foods in Highland Park, Illinois said, "We presently had all the organic items grouped together but needed eye-popping signage and resets of our organic sections. Now with the resets, along with an exciting sign program, we created a true organic destination for our customers."

Sunset Foods organic produce reset

Mastromauro continued, "The managers are telling me that with the new signage, customers are now asking for specific organic items that they would like us to carry. This has worked three ways for us. First, we increased our selection of organic items. Second, the customers are taking notice with the aid of the new signage. And last and most importantly, the managers are ordering more organic items for the sections."

Organic signage at Sunset Foods

Many of today's retailers are doing a great job by enhancing their organic produce section with some eye-popping signs. The main function of those signs is to highlight items that may be overlooked by shoppers.

Perhaps it is time to reset your organic produce section and renew your signage. The results will guarantee a huge boost in your organic produce category.