How to boost bulk sales in the supermarket

Bulk sales are an increasingly common practice in supermarkets, as they enable responsible consumption — selling by weight and without packaging, with the customer taking only the quantity they want.

This “eco-friendly” trend not only lets you be much more respectful of the environment, since it eliminates plastics and packaging and bets on sustainable materials and/or on letting customers bring their own containers.

It also helps to improve the supermarket shopping experience, since the customer takes the exact amount of product they want, minimising food waste.

What kind of products can be sold in bulk?

The catalogue of bulk products is broad, so every supermarket or point of sale must choose which ones to offer depending on its facilities and needs.

Broadly speaking, you can find fresh produce, sweets and gummies, nuts and dried fruit, spices and seeds, snacks, etc.

And just like with the products, bulk sales also involve working with the right fixtures and display units to make the sale easier.

So you can find modular systems for displaying fresh produce, auxiliary fixtures and/or product dispensers of various kinds, including the Bins system.

Bins is a sustainable visual merchandising solution specifically for bulk sales. It is the most complete system, since it is eco-friendly, affordable and ergonomic and, thanks to its block design with a single body, it is easy to install, clean and refill.

These bulk product dispensers are made from recycled material, so they also contribute to caring for the environment — two key allies to turn your supermarket into a sustainability benchmark.

Advantages of bulk sales

There are many benefits of bulk sales, but here are some of the main ones.

• The customer can choose the exact amount of product they want to buy.

• By controlling the precise amount they are going to buy, food waste is largely avoided.

• Bulk sales support responsible consumption and are environmentally friendly, since the product is displayed without packaging. This way, the customer can see 100% of the product, recyclable and sustainable containers are used, and each customer can be encouraged to bring their own reusable container.

• Both the producer and the supermarket save costs by not having to package the products they offer.

• Bulk products are usually more affordable, as they do not include the cost of packaging.

• Supermarkets that sell in bulk tend to buy in large quantities, which again helps to reduce the carbon footprint generated mainly by transport, meaning less pollution.

If you are looking for solutions for shelf organisation and/or for selling bulk products, at Shop&Roll we can help you.