This guide outlines everything you need to know about grocery store displays and fixtures. ​​Whether you’re outfitting a large supermarket or a small specialty food store, thoughtfully designed and placed grocery store fixtures and displays can influence purchase decisions and increase your legions of loyal customers.

What’s Covered in This Guide

  1. The Basics of Grocery Store Displays
  2. The Types of Grocery Store Displays
    1. Gondola fixtures and displays
    2. Section-specific fixtures and displays
    3. Other common types of custom fixtures and displays
  3. Most Popular Fixture and Shelving Types

The Basics of Grocery Store Displays

For customers pushing a shopping cart or holding a basket, navigating through the grocery store should be easy and stress-free. The right grocery store layouts, fixtures, and displays can create a welcoming atmosphere that keeps people coming back.

Supermarket fixtures and displays are typically designed with three specific goals in mind:

  1. Enhance the shopping experience – Increase efficiencies with a well-organized store that reflects the store’s branding and target audience
  2. Promote product visibility – Make products easy to find and highlight specific SKUs with attention-grabbing grocery store displays like end caps or POP displays
  3. Drive product sales – The majority of shoppers make their purchase decisions within the store, and fixtures and displays heavily influence in-store sales

Grocery store retailers and consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands alike place a great deal of value on the layout and display of products in store.

The Types of Grocery Store Displays

Think about the last time you went grocery shopping. How was the store laid out? No two stores are alike, but most stores are divided up into logical sections: produce, deli, meat, bakery, dairy, frozen, pantry, pharmacy, cosmetics, wine & beer, checkout, etc.

Each section may have different fixture and display needs depending on the product inventory and the layout of the store.

Here, we cover some of the most common types of grocery store displays and fixtures used to create an inviting in-store environment.

Gondola Shelving Fixtures and Displays

These units are typically found in the center of the store and house items like dry goods, pantry staples, drinks, snacks and more.

  • Gondola fixtures – A versatile main unit that can house shelves and other accessories to display a wide variety of grocery store items
  • Gondola display shelves – Shelves that fit onto the main gondola fixture
  • Gondola dress-up kits and accessories – Kits or à la carte items to enhance gondola fixtures, including dump bins, peg hooks, and molding strips
  • End-cap displays – Displays at the end of a gondola unit used to grab shoppers’ attention and highlight a specific product or group of similar products

Section-Specific Fixtures and Displays

  • Bakery – Acrylic displays for baked goods, dollies, and racks
  • Produce – Bins or baskets for fruits and vegetables, open display cases, and risers
  • Deli – display cases and wire racks
  • Cosmetics – End caps and standalone fixtures to display makeup and other beauty products
  • Pharmacy – Consultation rooms, including mobile wall units, countertops, and cabinets
  • Checkout – Cash wraps, also known as front-end fixtures of the checkout area, are often outfitted with shelves that allow for easy display of impulse items like gum, candy, and magazines

Other Common Types of Grocery Store Fixtures and Displays

  • POP displays – Point-of-purchase displays are standalone displays usually placed in high-traffic areas and are designed to grab shoppers’ attention
  • Island displays – Island displays are typically mobile, standalone displays that allow shoppers to see specific products from any angle 
  • Acrylic displays and bins – Acrylic vessels are used in grocery stores beyond just the bakery section for functional and attractive display of loose bulk goods, packaged goods, and more
  • Nesting tables – Highly versatile pieces that can be used as a set to attractively display items or on their own depending on display needs
  • Custom merchandising displays – A full-service fixture manufacturer like Colony Display can work with you to design and deliver any type of grocery store fixture you may need

Additionally, food-grade plastic is necessary for areas like the deli and bakery.

Grocery Store Display Fixtures by Colony Display

Colony Display is a leader in designing, manufacturing and installing retail and grocery fixtures across a wide variety of markets and store types.

Leveraging our end-to-end capabilities and full-spectrum wood, metal, and plastics manufacturing, we can create the most effective grocery environment.

We deliver everything from gondola infrastructure to accessories, ensuring your space is highly efficient, functional, and visually pleasing. View some of our recent work to see how our fixtures function in the real world.
Reach out to our sales team to learn more about how we can enhance your grocery store environment with minimal sales disruption.

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