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Part
01
Ice Cream Merchandising
Different brands of ice creams have used various strategies to grab their customers' attention. Some of the strategies used by ice cream brands include using a smart organization and location of their products, using eye-catching product designs and labels, cross-merchandising, and collaborating with retailers.
OVERVIEW
Ice cream brands use a combination of efforts in order to merchandise their products in the ice cream aisle. A few examples that have been helpful in increasing a brand's sales include providing a clean and organized space, using and marketing different signs, using eye-catching product design and labeling, and placing the product where it would be most visible. Additionally, through the consideration of price labeling, cross-merchandising, collaboration with retailers, and by providing price gaps between ice cream brands, merchandising is also accomplished.
EXAMPLES
General Mills used a third party software to create a virtual mock-up of the grocery stores' environment in 3D, experimented with product placement and then collaborated with the retailers to place their products in the most favorable location to get maximum exposure to customers.
Nestle USA decided to focus on their customers' needs of wellness, convenience and variety which led to their ice creams being marketed in cups. Cups offered wellness (portion control), convenience, and variety (more flavors could be purchased). Nestle also used virtual environment techniques to to increase the penetration of their products. Sales of ice cream in cup category rose 53% in the stores that implemented this strategy.
Van Leeuwen, an ice cream brand from New York, redesigned their packaging so it "looks good on social media". This resulted in a sales boost of 50%.
Blue Bell Ice Cream found that their camouflage inspired creation of Camo n' Cream sold so well that they created an ice cream in the same patterns as the camouflage.
Retailers such as Kroger had a clean and organized dairy section with the signage "Discover our richer, creamier ice cream" and "Indulge in our most decadent creations" on two freezer-case doors to draw attention to its private selection line of premium ice creams.
Retailers such as Meijer stocks their doored freezers, used as an end-cap, with a 48-ounce carton of Meijer brand ice cream for better exposure.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Ice cream is a very popular after-dinner treat. Studies have shown ice creams to be the #27 on the most impulse food purchases. Ice creams are also a product category which has nearly universal penetration. According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the average American consumes more than 23 pounds of ice cream per year.
Conclusion
Ice cream brands use a combination of product design, labeling, location, sign usage and clean organized space to market their brands. A few examples of interesting and novel ways of merchandising include creating a 3D image of the grocery store (General Mills), creating a specific ice-cream pattern (Blue Bell Ice Cream), and creating cup-sized ice-cream in order to promote wellness and variety (Nestle).