Growing numbers of retailers are strengthening their focus on Grab and Go by implementing new concepts and ranges for shoppers.  It is a significant revenue and profit generating opportunity, but, it’s also much more.

Convenience

Food-to go is the ultimate type of “convenience” buying but it is not exclusive to convenience stores. This opens up opportunities for retailers of many different types to win new revenue, gain more footfall and get grab and go customers to buy other items too.
The primary task is of course to get the product offer right. The range needs to cope with shoppers who buy the same thing almost every day to those who search for something different everyday. So a lot of flexibility and testing is needed. Promotions are also key. Creating good product packages at what shoppers regard as good value is important but so is the ability to change prices quickly to clear surplus stock before the buying window ends.

What else can grab and go areas do for a retailer?

Fast moving food to go area gives retailers the opportunity to test new products very quickly and easily. For example a new type of crisp. It shows shoppers that you offer new things even if they don’t choose to buy that particular product. However, if they do buy the new type of crisp it’s a very good indicator to order more for areas deeper in the store. Of course, offering this type of testing capability could also be something that brands would want to learn from and support too.
A newer development is to carefully place one or two new products that are not food to go in the Grab and Go area. Some shoppers will pick up and try a new interesting product on impulse much quicker than they typically would in other parts of the store. Others who don’t buy straight away may look for it in store when on a more conventional shopping trip. It’s really part of providing a more interesting customer experience too.
Another idea to encourage future visits to buy larger baskets are offers such as spend £20 in store and get 20% off. Only offer them to Grab and Go customers, make them very time limited and change them frequently.
Done well, your Grab and Go area could develop into an important marketing vehicle for other parts of the store.

Make sure to also check price matching.