Valentine’s Day will be here soon, and it’s a great time to create some promotions to excite returning customers and attract new ones by providing a valuable service: convenience. Food is the universal language love, so play on this by offering customers delicious deals that create lasting memories.
Start your promotions at the beginning of February; 10 to 12 days will be enough to inform customers about special offers. Engage marketing staff to promote special offers through all available advertising channels, your co-op’s website, social media and print materials.
Promoting Valentine’s Day offerings a few weeks out is crucial to its success. Consider A-frame signs positioned outside the store along with social media posts, promotional flyers and in-store signage.
Prepared Foods
Focus on promoting sharable meals, such as a heart-shaped pan of lasagna with a small garlic bread. Meatloaf works, too. Or, offer two heart-shaped, individual-sized pizzas for $10. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, mold Florentine burgers or crab cakes into heart shapes and package two or four in a package. Bundle with a fresh salad and you’re set. And don’t forget to cross-merchandise sides with meat and seafood department promotions. Herb-roasted potatoes, oven-roasted veggies or sauteed corn and bell peppers work well here.
Then, pull out all the stops on desserts. Anything chocolate will be especially popular! Chocolate fudge bars, chocolate-dipped macaroons, chocolate-dipped strawberries, decorated cupcakes, pies and tarts or even heart-shaped berry scones are all good bets for Valentine’s impulse items. Check out some of our suggested recipes.
– Linda McCann, Prepared Foods Support Manager
Produce
There is no higher volume Valentine’s Day produce item than strawberries. Whether sliced atop ice cream, dipped in chocolate or simply served along with champagne, strawberries symbolize love and something special. Start your holiday planning with strawberries as the centerpiece of produce promotions.
Unfortunately, the mid-winter timing of the holiday can make great price points and supply difficult. Start talking to your distributors early and let them know how many berries you can sell if the price is right. If organic is unavailable, or retails much more than $6.99 per package, consider bringing in conventional berries. Remember that if customers can’t find strawberries at the co-op, they will go to a competitor. For a comprehensive look at what it takes to succeed in berry retailing, be sure to look at NCG’s Produce Playbook for Berries.
Build a promo display that incorporates strawberries, chocolate, flowers and wine. Make sure to cross-merchandise whipped cream with berries. In an unrefrigerated display, use a small barrel or bucket of ice for the cream. Build additional case stack displays of strawberries in the deli and adjacent to the check stands the day before and the day of Valentine’s as space allows. Getting product in front of shoppers who may have missed it in the produce department is key to growing basket size.
We recommend ordering Valentine’s flowers no later than the first week in January. Don’t forget extra packets of “flower food.” Floral displays near the entrance and at the ends of registers will generate impulse buys, and advertising any great pricing two weeks out lets customers plan to come to you for their floral needs.
Fun merchandising pro-tip: Extend your promotion and grow your floral and strawberry sales by promoting Galentine’s Day on Feb. 13. This celebration of female friendship has grown in popularity and could be fun to promote alongside Valentine’s Day.
– Joshua Crone, Produce Retail Specialist
Meat and Seafood
When working on Valentine’s Day promotional planning, meat and seafood departments should shoot for emulating a restaurant experience at home.
The traditional favorite proteins include tender beef steak cuts and premium seafood — both of which tend to carry a substantial retail price. Lower the perception of cost for these items by bundling them together. Portion cut them and offer at a single-unit retail price.
Help your customers out by offering value-added items when possible, such as pre-seasoned or marinated items, or sell product in an oven-ready container with on-package, easy-to-follow cooking instructions.
Lobster, shrimp and crab will be seafood heavy hitters during this holiday, but “do what you do best” in offering and promoting certified, chemical-free and sustainably sourced product. Product attributes only help sales if customers know about them. Promote your differentiators with aggressive signage and on-package labeling.
Surf and turf promotions are a perennial favorite. Mix it up a bit by offering a portion-cut, priced-by-the-each, ribeye, tenderloin or New York strip steak. Include an easy-to-prepare heat-and-eat side dish in the deal from the prepared foods department, such as scalloped potatoes, a ready-to-eat packaged salad and bread.
– Greg Johnson, Meat, Seafood and Food Safety Support Manager
