Rethinking Fresh Merchandising to Accelerate Shopper Experience

We expect elevated experiences in certain situations. A high-end restaurant. Premium seats at a big game. Those moments are designed to impress us.

But sometimes the experiences that leave the biggest impact are the unexpected ones. The moments where something ordinary feels noticeably better.

That is the opportunity in fresh.

Consumers come to our perimeter departments with routine needs: tonight’s dinner, a quick lunch, fresh ingredients for the week. The opportunity is to consider how to elevate the experience, especially in relation to merchandising.

What small adjustments will make the department feel easier, more inspiring, more convenient? What operational improvements will remove friction for the customer? What new thinking around merchandising can help transform a routine grocery trip into something more memorable

According to FMI’s The Power of Produce 2026, nine in 10 shoppers end up purchasing fruits and/or vegetables they had not planned to buy because of in-store merchandising and promotional programs.

That is powerful proof of the importance of fresh merchandising that I believe is relevant to fresh foods overall. We have opportunities to rethink fresh merchandising in ways that further drive this segment.

FMI’s upcoming FreshForward conference, scheduled for August 10 to 12 in St. Louis, Missouri, will spotlight merchandising in one of its main education tracks.

Opportunities for Fresh Merchandising Inspiration

The strategies to enhance fresh merchandising are limited only by one’s imagination. The Power of Produce outlines some produce best practices that can help get us inspired about fresh merchandising overall.  It points to the benefits of:

• Eye-catching, seasonal and well-maintained displays, supported by inspiring signage and recipes.
• Consistent quality, color breaks and fully stocked displays.
• Using seasonality as a primary storytelling tool by highlighting seasonal crops through endcaps, specials and digital tie-ins.
• Activating recipes and cross-merchandising to convert inspiration into baskets. 
  

Overcoming Operational Hurdles

While the sky’s the limit for what is possible, fresh retailers will need to overcome traditional limitations of store footprints, layouts, traffic patterns, aisles and fixtures. A winning solution is to emphasize cross-merchandising so fresh items are paired with other categories across the store. Cross-merchandising is an ideal strategy for breaking out of the box.

Boosting Omnichannel Strategies

Nearly everyone is now a digitally engaged shopper, regardless of whether they are shopping online or in-store, according to the 2026 research report called Digital Engagement Transforms Grocery Shopping, from FMI and NIQ.  A comparison of online vs. in-store dollar shares shows digital maturity varies by category, with fresh generally remaining in-store led. The industry has opportunities to further drive fresh across in-store and ecommerce. Online strategies include deploying ecommerce platforms that enable enhanced speed and filtering.

Making Progress at FreshForward

In my view, fresh merchandising success will be driven by retailer/supplier collaboration that ensures partners ideate and execute on innovative solutions.

That brings me back to the FreshForward conference, developed with Deloitte. The conference is FMI’s annual gathering of senior-level retailers and suppliers in the fresh sector. The conference’s track on fresh merchandising will feature innovative approaches to make progress. Other education tracks at this year’s event will focus on connecting with the fresh consumer and embracing practical technology in fresh.   

We hope you'll join us at FreshForward as we address some of the fresh sector’s most important topics and collaborate on solutions.

Register for FreshForward