All boxed up and no place to go.
For years, that lament characterized frozen foods. The category was relegated to fixed, hard-wired aisles or to the perimeter, where plumbing and electric availability were more easily accessible.
Today, frozens are found everywhere and anywhere in the store, mobilized by a new generation of fixtures that provides supermarkets with a secondary chance to intercept time-strapped shoppers. Retailers that have taken advantage of the options currently available report positive results, citing an increase in the number of unplanned frozens purchases.
"This is a huge opportunity for frozens, as it makes for a better customer experience," said Keith Shannon, frozen food category manager, Schnuck Markets, St. Louis.
This is the second year that Schnuck's is using 3-foot-by-2-foot bunkers near the checkout and at the salad bar in 50 of its 100 stores, according to Shannon. The program started out in 40 units last year, but sales were so strong that it was expanded to 10 more this year. Stores were chosen based on space availability.
Provided by Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Holdings, Oakland, Calif., the bunkers hold a variety of Dreyer's novelties and single-serve ice creams, including Nestle Crunch, Drum Sticks, Push-Ups, Butterfinger, Haagen-Dazs ice cream bars and Edy's fruit bars.
Most of Schnuck's supplementary cases are placed at the front end, though some are located near the store's salad bar adjacent to the produce department. While the units at the checkout perform the best, those by the salad bar do well, too. The salad bar may not be the first place many would think to look for ice cream, but Schnuck's has found that all types of consumers want a treat now and then.
"Even people who are watching their weight want to have small indulgences," Shannon said.
The checkout units are placed near express lanes to capture sales from customers who may stop in for a quick lunch or dinner.
"We're targeting people who are making small purchases and may want an ice cream bar to accompany their meal," he said, adding that Schnuck's began using secondary displays after watching how large supermarket companies like the Kroger Co., Cincinnati, were placing perishables in nontraditional locations, including dry grocery aisles.
"It's a great way to capitalize on impulse purchases," Shannon told SN.
Although sales of products merchandised in the bunkers are higher in the summer, Schnuck's keeps them up year-round by rotating product to include seasonal items.
Along with the Dreyer's units, Schnuck's also uses secondary vehicles courtesy of Schwan Consumer Brands North America, Bloomington, Minn., supplier of Tony's, Red Baron and Freschetta frozen pizza, along with other brands.
Schnuck's typically merchandises the temporary cases at the end of the frozen food aisle, and enhances them by creating a "meal solution" display consisting of pizza surrounded by beer or carbonated soft drinks.
"We're doing all that we can to increase exposure of frozens," Shannon said.
Schwan has been providing supplemental merchandising vehicles for the last 10 years. About two years ago, it strengthened its efforts in this area. Today, approximately 1,500 secondary units are available to help retailers reach their sales goals, according to Darci Eckermann, Schwan's director of marketing services.
"We're taking a more strategic approach in terms of achieving not only our sales objectives, but also retailer sales growth," Eckermann said.
Progressive retailers are eagerly embracing the auxiliary vehicles, Eckermann said. Last year, for instance, Schwan ran a promotion in which bunkers were merchandised in the produce departments of Jewel-Osco stores in Chicago. Chicago-based Jewel is a division of Albertsons, Boise, Idaho.
The promotion featured a "meal deal" consisting of Freschetta brick-oven pizza, Dole packaged salad, and a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi. Shoppers who purchased two boxes of Freschetta and one package of Dole salad received a free 2-liter bottle of Pepsi.
"The bunker provided a point of interruption outside the frozens aisle," said Eckermann. The promotion led to a 300% increase in Freschetta sales over stand-alone Freschetta promotions, she added.
Schwan is also working with H.E. Butt Grocery, San Antonio, in a program that runs through this month at 49 Austin, Texas, stores. For various, one-week promotional periods, bunkers are brought in to showcase Schwan's pizza brands. The displays receive plenty of attention because they are placed at the end of the frozens aisle, apart from the in-line row of frozens doors.
"These units can attract a mom who may be walking down the aisle not thinking of pizza, but once she sees the display, she realizes what a great snack opportunity a product like Tony's, Freschetta or Red Baron is," Eckermann said.
Des Moines, Iowa-based Dahl's Food Markets is hoping for that kind of shopping behavior with a new frozens display at the checkout of its Merle Hay, Iowa, store.
Over the summer, the 5-foot-by-3-foot unit held a variety of ice cream, according to Kenny Kane, store manager. Product typically sold out in a matter of days.
"We fly through whatever item is put in it," Kane said.
For the Fourth of July, the unit stocked limited-edition, 5-quart containers of Blue Bunny "Red, White and Blue" ice cream. Another weekend over the summer, it contained Flav-Vor-Ice freezer pops. The pops are packaged in a plastic tube that holds a fruit juice mixture that turns into ice when frozen. Dahl's normally sells the pops as a dry grocery item, and consumers freeze them when they get home. Yet by freezing the product and placing it by the checkout, product sold through faster than usual, Kane said.
"It probably would have taken me the entire summer to get through the whole pallet," Kane said.
Dahl's brings out the portable unit about every other week. To get it noticed by different consumers, Dahl's rotates its location between the express checkout and other lanes.
"We want it to be attention-grabbing, and not just a regular case that people get used to and just walk by," Kane said.
Highlighted with a large neon sign that identifies the featured item as a "manager's special," the display spurs impulse sales by creating attention that's difficult to get in the main frozens department, said Kane.
"In the regular frozens department, it's hard for a product to stand out," he said. "This enables us to pick up some extra sales that we probably would have missed out on."
For the fall, Dahl's plans to test additional frozens, such as pizza, appetizers and other foods appropriate for the football season.
Secondary frozens displays like the one at Dahl's make perfect sense in supermarkets, said Chris Krese, spokesman, American Frozen Food Institute, McLean, Va., a trade association.
"Considering the variety explosion in frozens, such as ethnic and health-oriented items, a lot more types of frozens lend themselves to cross promotions," Krese said. "Companies that realize the profit potential of frozens understand it's worth the investment."
Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass., made such an endeavor several years ago when it allocated space for frozens units in the pet aisle in 30 of its 50 stores.
At about 18 inches high and 22 inches deep, one unit holds Dogsters Healthy Treats, while the other holds Frosty Paws and Cool Claws. All three brands are frozen novelties for dogs.
Frosty Paws were initially merchandised in the main frozens section, near ice cream novelties. A few years ago, Big Y decided to test how they would perform in the pet aisle. The cases have performed so well that the chain opted to make them a permanent addition to the pet department, said Val Vivenzio, frozen food director, Big Y. "These products complement our pet food section," Vivenzio said, adding that merchandising a frozen pet product in a dry grocery aisle makes it easier for the retailer to attract the right kind of consumer at the right time.
"Having frozen cases in the pet aisle lets customers notice items they may not have noticed in the regular frozens section," Vivenzio said.
Frosty Paws is still merchandised in the main frozens department to accommodate shoppers who may be accustomed to finding them there.
"Some of our customers have been buying them [in frozens] for years, so we decided to keep a few stockkeeping units there, too," he said.
Other retailers, including Stop & Shop, Quincy, Mass., are also merchandising Frosty Paws in the pet department.
