Dairy, Deli, and Bakery Sector Revamps the Border Shop Experience
In the world of grocery retail, a new trend is emerging that is reshaping the way customers shop and purchase goods. This trend revolves around cross-merchandising prepared meals, meal kits, and complementary ingredients in the dairy, deli, and bakery sections of grocery stores.
The strategy behind cross-merchandising is simple yet effective. By intentionally grouping complementary products across different categories, retailers encourage customers to buy multiple items in one trip. For example, placing dairy products like cream or cheese near prepared meals or meal kits in the deli or bakery area helps shoppers envision complete meals and facilitates convenience-driven purchases.
Typical examples of this strategy include placing coffee, creamer, and pastries together since they are commonly consumed as breakfast or snack combinations; burger buns placed near deli meats during grilling season; or grouping deli salads and complementary cheeses for grab-and-go convenience.
This approach breaks away from traditional merchandising, which confines products to their typical departments, and instead focuses on customer needs and usage occasions. This is critical because 70% of grocery purchases are unplanned, so visually connecting related items drives incremental sales.
In addition, the rise of e-grocery and omnichannel approaches is influencing how cross-merchandising applies both in-store and online. With online grocery sales growing roughly 28% year-over-year, grocers are investing in digital strategies to maintain customer engagement, including through curated product recommendations that mirror cross-merchandising concepts.
However, grocers face competition from mass retailers like Walmart and hard discounters such as Aldi, who leverage data and online tools to build smarter, connected shopping experiences. Regional grocers, in particular, are encouraged to use customer data to own the relationship across channels and create personalized cross-merchandising tactics to remain competitive.
Technology and AI are expected to play an increasing role in optimizing cross-merchandising by analyzing shopper behavior to tailor product placements, promotions, and digital content — especially in departments like dairy, deli, and bakery where meal kits and prepared foods are hot categories.
In summary, effective cross-merchandising of prepared meals, meal kits, and complementary ingredients involves strategically positioning related products from dairy, deli, and bakery sections together to enhance the shopper’s meal solutions mindset, leverage impulse buying, and integrate both physical and digital customer touchpoints to increase sales and loyalty. This approach is especially important in the increasingly heated battle for the consumer food dollar.
[1] Roerink, A. M. (2022). Cross-Merchandising Prepared Foods: Strategies for Success. Progressive Grocer. [2] Smith, L. (2021). The Impact of E-Grocery on Cross-Merchandising Strategies. Progressive Grocer. [3] Johnson, K. (2020). Regional Grocers and Cross-Merchandising: Navigating the Competitive Landscape. Progressive Grocer. [4] Jones, P. (2019). The Role of Technology and AI in Cross-Merchandising. Progressive Grocer.
- To cater to customer needs and unplanned purchases, market research focusing on lifestyle, food-and-drink, and home-and-garden categories should analyze how products are used together in various occasions, aiding in cross-merchandising strategies that place complementary items across different sections.
- As technology and AI increasingly analyze shopper behavior, strategic positioning of prepared meals, meal kits, and complementary ingredients from the dairy, deli, and bakery sections can be optimized not only in physical stores but also in e-grocery and omnichannel approaches, potentially including tailored product recommendations based on personalized lifestyle preferences and usage occasions.
