CHICAGO — As IRI continues to monitor the global pandemic, its latest report, “The Changing Shape of the CPG Demand Curve: Re-Ignite In-Store Merchandising Effectiveness in Grocery Channel,” examines the impact COVID-19 has had on total food channel store display merchandising as well as strategies to help manufacturers and retailers navigate the future of display in the next normal.

Highlights

The Transforming CPG Display Landscape

• In-store display space has been significantly reduced as retailers enable social distancing.
• High COVID-19 demand categories, such as bleach, soap/beauty and beverage alcohol, are displacing traditional display categories, such as cookies/crackers and candy.
• Despite these shifts, the contributions displays are making to sales are holding steady compared to pre-COVID-19 and decreased only slightly compared to a year ago.

Looking Ahead

• As display space remains challenged, retailers and manufacturers will continue to refine merchandising strategies to maximize lift by aligning the metrics that matter across display product mix, size, location and number with new shopping patterns.
• Continual evaluation will be required to ensure the “right” categories get display space – merchandising strategies that worked during peak stockpiling of mid-March and subsequent stock-up periods may no longer work as behavior evolves.