The Ultimate Guide to Thanksgiving Grocery Displays

Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season—the busiest time of year for your customers, and most likely, your store. The competition for their dollars is fierce, but you have a holiday hero in your Thanksgiving retail displays. Preparing for Thanksgiving now will allow you to keep your displays fully stocked once the busy season is here. In addition to determining ordering, staffing, and inventory needs, you need to consider your visual merchandising. Keep reading for some tips for successful Thanksgiving grocery store displays.

Plan your Merchandising Strategy

A recent survey found nearly 90% of Americans celebrated Thanksgiving last year, and nearly three-quarters of those people shopped the local grocery store for the food-focused holiday. Your customers are pressed for time, so your Thanksgiving grocery store displays should focus on speed and convenience. The goal is to make your store a one-stop shopping experience. What’s more? About 1 out of 2 people plan and/or purchase their holiday food a week or two in advance. So, you’ll need to order ahead so you can stock the shelves and aisles accordingly.

Here’s a general stocking timeline to be ready for the Thanksgiving rush:

• One week before: Stock staples and hard goods such as potatoes, onions, squashes, and pumpkins.
• One weekend before: Fully stock perishables such as frozen turkeys and produce such as wet and cold vegetables, mushrooms, herbs, and value-added/convenience items including bagged and precut veggies.
• Two days before: Fully stock floor and counter displays; load coolers with fresh turkeys and other cold products.

Don’t forget Thanksgiving-themed décor. Nearly 20% of people plan to buy decorations for the holiday. (Remember, you want to be a one-stop shop.) Although not a typical grocery item, décor items included in your merchandising strategy is an easy upsell to clients.

Highlight Thanksgiving Staples with Signs

Clear signage helps sell any time of year, but it’s especially helpful for the busy Thanksgiving rush. Eye-catching signage directs customers to the products they came in for, improving their overall experience in your store. Signs can also be used to highlight holiday staples, promotional offers, and product information.

• Use markers to write a holiday message on pumpkins and gourds for holiday flair for a festive Thanksgiving grocery store display.
• For a farm fresh aesthetic, plant chalkboard signs providing information in produce bins.
• Utilize shelf talkers to draw attention to sale prices and seasonal items throughout the store.
• Signs can share a simple recipe in a display of ingredients.
• Place signs that call attention to products for dietary restrictions (low-sodium, gluten-free, meat alternatives, etc.).
• Post window sign holders with your holiday hours or standing floor signs directing customers to your holiday order pick-up areas.

Place Complementing Merchandise Together

Your Thanksgiving grocery store displays strategy should include product placement to maximize cross-selling. Seasonal favorites—from pumpkin pie filling to stuffing—benefit from being in high-visibility, high-traffic areas such as end caps and point-of-purchase displays. Doing so makes it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for, and paired with similar products, you’ve created a cross-selling opportunity. A 2024 study has shown that placing complementary products together increases sales. It also helps to boost the perceived value of products and spurs impulse buys.

Here are some seasonal cross-selling ideas for your Thanksgiving grocery store displays:

• Place bags of marshmallows and brown sugar in basket displays near the sweet potatoes.
• Bundle herbs (rosemary, sage, and thyme; poultry mix; parsley) and stuffing mixes in a round wire shelf rack near the celery and onions.
• Stack jars of cinnamon and nutmeg on risers on an end cap with your pumpkin pie filling and baking goods.
• Stock slivered almonds and breadcrumbs in basket displays near green beans in the produce section.

You can also reconsider the placement of your value-added merchandise, like bagged or pre-cut produce:

• Place bagged Brussels sprouts near the bulk Brussels sprouts bins.
• Position peeled and cut butternut squashes near the bulk squash bin.

To keep such items cool, consider placing food-safe wood barrel displays or wooden display stands with the bulk produce in front of the vegetable cooler.

Consider the End Caps

End caps are essential for increasing sales. They’re also a great way to cross-sell to customers. It doesn’t get much easier than end caps for your Thanksgiving grocery store displays.

• Bouquets can be placed in floral displays front and center when a customer walks in. They’re a frequent purchase for hostess gifts and centerpieces. Add candles as a cross-selling opportunity.
• The end cap at the baking aisle can display cans of pie filling, pie crusts, foil pans, boxed cake mixes, honey, spices, flour, sugar, cake decorating essentials, etc.

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Driving Impact with shopPOPdisplays

We hope the above ideas help you create a successful strategy for your Thanksgiving grocery store displays. Our experts at shopPOPdisplays can help you create the right display for seasonal products that will result in great sales and happy customers. Contact us today to help you prepare for the holidays!