How to arrange your store’s commercial fridges

Store layout has a massive impact on your customer flow, staff efficiency and bottom line.

So, spending time understanding your customer patterns and the footfall around the store will help you to design a store that works with your business. It’s not just a matter of choosing the right fridges for your business, but also arranging them in the right way. By understanding this, you can maximise your customer’s experience and increase your sales. Businesses evolve over time, so while you may have planned your store some years ago, it may be worth re-evaluating your current layout and refrigeration to see if you can create a better, and more efficient, space. While you can do this at any time, doing it when you’re thinking of upgrading a commercial fridge unit can pay dividends. Modern commercial fridges are far sleeker and give more useable space to footprint than their older counterparts, so upgrading gives you the perfect opportunity to look at your store’s layout.

It’s all about location

Take some time out of your day to watch the customer flow.

What are the peak times of the day?

What is the average customer spend?

How long do they spend in the store?

Where do they spend the longest?

When queuing during peak times, are they obstructing a key area of the store?

All this information will help you to understand how to create the best layout for your store. If your main commercial fridge, with all your essential grab-and-go items, is in the darkest corner of the shop, it will be more difficult for customers to locate it.

If your small commercial unit that requires multiple restocks per day is by the entrance, your staff will be blocking the store entrance when they are restocking the commercial fridge.

Moving the fridge to a different location can help to improve the customer experience. You may well find that it also gives you more visual merchandising opportunities and improves sales.

Different businesses have different needs

All businesses are different.

For example, a farm shop that has increased its range of homemade ready meals may find that it currently has the meals split across two units in different parts of the store, causing customers to think the range is smaller than it is. By moving all the units around and creating an eye-catching bank of fridges, with some marketing branding in place, they can create a whole section in the store dedicated to homemade meals.

Likewise, a local convenience store may find that investing in a smaller grab-and-go fridge that is strategically placed near the till, can help shoppers in a hurry, by putting the items close at hand. This fridge can be restocked during the quieter times in the store.

Be practical, be compliant

Obviously, you do need to be practical. You’re restricted, to a certain degree, by the functionality of your space, where the electrical sockets are and where the doors are. Wherever you place your unit, you’ll need space around it for ventilation and access for maintenance purposes. Also, consider what you’ll be using your commercial fridges for. Sometimes, it can be better to have two smaller units so that you keep different food groups apart for better food hygiene and temperature control. Different food groups require different refrigeration temperatures, so you may find using separate units helps to improve food quality. Consider placing complementary food groups side-by-side, as this will encourage your customers to buy additional items.

Fridgesmart will be here for you as your business evolves

Your business will change over time, and when it does Fridgesmart will be here for you. If you’re thinking about upgrading your units, now’s the perfect time to study the layout of your store and consider whether your current commercial fridges are the best fit for your store. It can be easy to simply replace like with like, but it’s sensible to take the time to consider your options. Not only will your store have changed, but commercial fridges have changed, and you’ll find that a modern unit gives far more useable space to footprint, as well as increased technical functions, such as improved lighting and better energy efficiency. You can take a look at our range of commercial fridges here or contact the helpful and experienced team on 0115 9413640.