LESSON 11: THE ART OF CROSS MERCHANDISING

Cross merchandising is more than rearranging product from one department to another. It’s all about creating a theme – finding and promoting the thread that ties the featured products together. These three strategies are crucial to make your cross-merchandising display a success.

Location

There are two opportunities for cross-merchandising with specialty cheese.

Within the specialty department:

• Seasonal produce pairing
• Dry grocery accompaniments, crackers, and condiments
• Bakery accompaniments
• Bottle shop pairings
  

Outside of the specialty department (satellite displays):

• Featured cheese in produce department
• Featured cheese in end caps
• Featured cheese near the front end of the store (before getting to the registers)
  
  

Planning

The success rate of a cross-merchandising venture is far greater when you take the time to plan and coordinate your efforts. At least once per month you should have a planning session with your other department heads to focus on creating a storewide merchandising opportunity. A good cross-merchandising effort needs at least three items to truly make it work.

For example: Cheese and crackers don’t necessarily constitute cross-merchandising. But if you add a new jam or pickle to the mix, then the display becomes more intriguing, and you give people who perhaps weren’t thinking about shopping for cheese finding a good reason to try the three products.

Promotion Signage

Cross merchandising will work best if you have promotional signage that makes it very clear what the intent of the three items are. It also doesn’t hurt if one or more of the items are on sale.