At Do it Best market, praise for endcaps

A practical session designed to helped retailers make the most of their floor space taught Do it Best dealers several truisms about consumer habits. For instance, odd price points -- such as $3.43 -- create the perception that every possible penny has been slashed from the price; and most people walk to the right side of the store first. 

But more importantly, the presentation by Do it Best’s Lyndsey Steffen, category management coordinator, shared the concept that endcaps sell up to 50% more than an adjoining aisle. It turns out that maximizing these sales is a blend of art and science. 

"Product considered for an endcap needs to meet one of the following criteria: the product should evoke an emotional response from the customer, should be consumable or should be seasonally focused," Steffen said.

The three main types of endcaps are: 1) price perception, 2) theme and 3) vendor. The price perception endcap conveys to a customer that the store is a low price leader. It can be a single item or a collection of items all below a single low price point. Theme endcaps are collections of related items. And the vendor version is a collection of items from a single vendor.

According to Steffen, a single store should include all three varieties -- ideally with price perception endcaps accounting for 45% of all endcaps; theme endcaps accounting for 40% and vendor endcaps accounting for the remaining 15%.

The presentation took place at the 2011 Do it Best May Market.