How to keep your supermarket’s seafood counter relevant

Situating seafood department counters that satisfy the needs and wants of shoppers, while being in the best interests of operators, is not an easy task.

Seventy-four percent of all seafood customers, and 82% of frequent seafood shoppers, state that it is important for their stores to have seafood counter staff, according to the Power of Seafood 2024 report, published by Arlington, Va.-based FMI — The Food Industry Association.

But with many retailers operating excessively large cases that display expansive arrays of selections, stores face such ramifications as greater shrink and steep operating expenses, said Joseph Sabbagh, president of Sax Maritime Associates, a Calabasas, Calif.-based seafood consulting company.

“About 95% of stores have seafood department cases that are bigger than they need to be,” he said. “These seafood cases are too labor intensive. There are other ways to merchandise seafood that retailers should explore.”

The concept of having large seafood counters in most departments is “outdated,” Sabbagh said. “Wild fresh seafood pricing has gone up so much that a lot of outlets do not have sufficient clientele for many selections. About 10% of stores can manage large heavily staff seafood departments, but the rest lack the necessary sales volume.”

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Retailers, he said, must significantly reduce most seafood counters “to meet the demands of the future consumer.” Operators, for instance, can move more varieties of fresh seafood to other perimeter departments, including the prepared foods and deli areas, Sabbagh said.

“Seafood cases are bigger than necessary because retailers sell many products at the counters that they thaw instead of selling the selections frozen,” he said, noting that about 60% of products in the fresh case enter stores frozen. “Most seafood counters are too large and labor intensive and result in too much shrink,” Sabbagh said.

While there is still a place for counters in seafood departments, retailers should give less emphasis to the cases while having seafood department staffers provide purchasing advice for both fresh and frozen selections, he said.

Seafood case signage can alert shoppers to the presence of helpful staffers. Photo credit: 210 Analytics LLC

The ideal seafood counter size for most locations is 8 to 12 feet and should not contain both fresh and cooked items to decrease the threat of cross-contamination, Sabbagh said. The optimal product mix and staffing levels will vary in accordance with an outlet’s seafood sales volume, he said.

Retailers, in some instances, can even replace staff with kiosks that contain QR codes that shoppers can access with their smartphones and receive information on selections, traceability, handling, storage, and preparation, Sabbagh said, noting that the traditional recipe cards “are not moving the needle.”

Related:How to win over consumers on fresh seafood

“It is costly having a seafood department employee who must perform a host of duties, including food preparation and customer service,” he said. “Labor is expensive, so you want staffers in high-traffic locations, while you do not need them as much in low-volume departments. Shrink and labor can kill you if there are not enough customers to drive activity.”

Selling more frozen items in the bag or box in seafood departments will further reduce the need for counter space and cut staffing costs, Sabbagh said, noting that an efficient layout might have fresh seafood counters alongside coffin cases that contain shrimp and other frozen items.

“A bag of frozen seafood is usually less expensive than a fresh selection, but retailers must educate shoppers that frozen is as good as thawed and cite the advantages of buying seafood in a frozen state,” he said.

It also is crucial for retailers to evaluate the use of various counter designs and staffing levels in a few stores before committing to a system-wide launch, Sabbagh said, adding that operators also should research the products that their competitors are offering to help select the most appropriate products to offer at seafood counters in specific neighborhoods.

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Stores will benefit too by identifying the seafood region of origin at the counter and heavily spotlight the regions that have a reputation for producing the highest quality products, he said.

Using online tools to educate shoppers about a store’s seafood varieties can even be more effective than relying on department employees to dispense information, Sabbagh said. “Staffers behind the counter might be part-time college students who know little about what they are selling,” he said. “It is important for retailers to control the message.”

Keeping pace with the evolving requirements of each stores’ seafood customers is key as well, Sabbagh said. “The marketplace is changing drastically, and retailers have to change with it, or they won’t be happy with their sales,” he said.