Jan 26, 2024

By: Bianca Ruffin, Director, Marketing, FMI

mg-caption:Bringing Nonfood Destinations to Life

In my third foray at FMI's Midwinter Executive Conference, I had the privilege of observing two sessions: Bringing Nonfood Destinations to Life and Securing Shelves: Innovative Approaches to Mitigating Retail Theft in the Grocery Industry. At first glance, it may seem these two don't have much in common but anyone who has worked in asset protection may already be seeing the connection.

Takeaways on Nonfoods

The big takeaway from the nonfoods session, and iterated in our recent nonfoods blog series, is that as a store differentiator, the nonfoods category can boost basket size while making things more convenient for shoppers. Opportunities lie in expanding product lines, increasing or decreasing the size of such products (think cost savings with larger bottles of shampoo) and diversifying within the sector – particularly pet foods.

With nonfood products generating more than $3 trillion in sales, and less than 8% of that sold in grocery stores, it's certainly worth considering a nonfoods strategy for your stores. For the uninitiated, this category includes a wide range of products such as pet food, paper, laundry and household cleaning, over-the-counter medication, oral health care, nutrition or weight loss, personal cleansing, hair care and shaving, skin care and cosmetics, kitchen gadgets and seasonal items.

As a shopper, my own experience echoes what I heard in the session: I like to pick up kitten food while I'm grocery shopping and I especially appreciate curly hair care products so I don't need to make yet another stop. Having access to these items when I'm shopping strengthens my fondness for the store and leads to repeat purchases. From the looks of it, I'm not the only one, as a number of our research reports have also punctuated that convenience and expanded options help shoppers with their purchasing decisions.

The Connection to Asset Protection
mg-caption:Securing Shelves: Innovative Approaches to Mitigating Retail Theft in the Grocery Industry

Now, you may be asking what does this have to do with securing shelves and mitigating retail theft? The unfortunate irony is that the grocery industry is facing high rates of theft, often concentrated in urban centers, generally see it occurring in their nonfoods sector. While that may seem like a reason to avoid it, my key insight is: Your shoppers want as much convenience and simplification as possible, and the reality of retail crime highlights the need for strategic thinking, planning and prepping.

In a world of protecting people, property and profits, there are several issues facing both the food retail and supplier sectors like civil unrest; the aforementioned theft; and de-escalating tense in-store situations. With the impending election year, the potential for contentious uprisings should not be ignored. While this affects storefronts more acutely, some CPG companies are facing catalytic converter thefts in their trucks, hindering the ability to deliver products.

Dive Deeper

From this discussion, I have three takeaways:

  • Prepare for the unthinkable to mitigate the loss of property and people.
  • Collaborate with your local and state government to increase efforts to reduce thefts and crime.
  • Keep a good record of incidents, as these data points are helpful on a local, state and federal level as it pertains to law making.

If these topics interest you, FMI has three upcoming events that tackle all these issues: