The operation of your salvage food store must include a procedure for dealing with grocery merchandise quality and freshness dating. You will be dealing with products that are about to reach their freshness dating or may have already expired, but just how long will you leave a product on your shelf? At what point does a product that has surpassed the freshness dating become a trigger for slumping sales and a negative customer perception?
The term salvage already has a negative connotation in most people’s minds and how you choose to keep your stores’ appearance and inventory selection can make or break repeat business.
When your doors open for business, you need to have a solid procedure in place that deals with stock rotation. You may decide to merchandise products for a minimum of 2-4 weeks before you drastically discount them or throw them out altogether.
If shoppers visit your store on a fairly routine basis and see the same products each time, this could be cause for consumer concern as they already know most items have reached their product freshness dating deadline. It is best to rotate shelf stock and clearance or eliminate all products that sit stagnant. A strict policy of shelf rotation passes the belief on your clients that you are serious about providing products at the lowest pricing with a major focus on food safety.
