A supermarket chain, which might comprise multiple big grocery shops across the country, is one of the most successful companies to operate. Due to its fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) character, it may also be one of the most tiresome and time-consuming businesses to operate. This nature necessitates that there should never be a gap in the supply chain because demand for products is not only constant but almost constantly rising.
Keeping the shelves stocked and regularly refilling is a top concern for every grocery store owner, especially during busy seasons. This is how you can ensure that your clients are constantly satisfied and eager to return to your business for their daily food shopping.
How do they do it, and when do they manage to replenish all of the shelves with new merchandise at the end of each busy day? Let’s take a look at some of the key procedures involved in a normal grocery store’s day-to-day operations.
When Do Grocery Stores Restock Their Items?
The schedule of restocking at every grocery store majorly depends on the size of that store, but generally, a lot of stores restock several times every week. The only major difference between every store is that each one restocks on different days and at varying times during such days.
Some bigger grocery chains like Costco and Walmart always restock their items daily. This is because of the huge number of customers they have coming in to shop and the sheer volume of purchases these people make every single day.
Other equally big retailers like Meijer Inc., H.E Butt Grocery Co., and The Kroger Co. – just to list but a few, also refill their stores across the country daily. The competition is stiff and none can afford to ever be caught napping.
On a general note though, virtually every grocery store regularly replaces large items picked off of their stands every single night after closing to the general public. They however restock much smaller items frequently as customers shop during the day.
What Specific Day Of The Week Do Grocery Stores Restock?
Knowing what day of the week your favorite store will restock the items you want to purchase can greatly help you to make the most of every trip to the stores. This also saves up a lot of time for you, as you don’t make fruitless trips which only leads to disappointments every time.
If you are seeking to know what exact day of the week that your favorite grocery stores restock though, the answer to this question is a big “No” – there is no specific day fixed within the week when retail outlets restock their wares.
Why is this so? Here are a few reasons why stores – especially the large outlets – do not have a specific restocking day within the week:
- Due to the huge volume of sales that these outlets handle every day, a lot of grocery outlets cannot help but restock their shelves after they shut their doors on a daily basis.
- It is way easier to get items loaded on the shelves and properly labeled too (in the event of their new offerings) when there are no shoppers trooping around with their shopping baskets and trolleys.
- As long as their distributors keep up with their supply, almost every major grocery store does not wait for any specific day before reloading their shelves with fresh supplies.
- Why wait for a specific day to restock and risk losing customers to other stores because they feel your outlet never has what they need per time? Most grocery stores try to ensure that their shelves are always fully packed because they cannot afford to be seen as being low on inventory.
- Waiting for a specific day to restock or refill the shelves not only passes the wrong information about the store to customers but also incurs more storage costs for the grocery chain.
Due to the huge volume of sales that these outlets handle every day, a lot of grocery outlets cannot help but restock their shelves after they shut their doors daily.
No matter the size or restocking schedule of any grocery store, restocking over the night every day remains the best way for them to restock. We are certain no one is going to deviate from this anytime soon either.
Best Time To Visit A Grocery Store
If there is no specific day of the week that grocery stores restock, how do you now know the best time to visit one?
The best time to visit a grocery store, especially the larger retailers, is in the early morning hours as they open up for business each day. This is because they most certainly would have restocked over the night, and you’ll get to have access to the fresh offerings before everyone else if you do make it down there early enough.
For much smaller grocery stores that may not restock every night, you may be better off checking and following up with them online to know when they restock on the items you need. Virtually every local store now has an online platform where they can display their wares and also interact frequently with their regular and prospective customers.
You ought to take full advantage of this digital disruption and keep yourself well informed about available offerings at stores around you before you go grocery shopping.
Why Does A Grocery Store Restock The Shelves?
Besides the need to keep you coming back to spend more money at theirs every day, the major reason why every grocery store restocks their shelves is to ensure that they stay relevant and in business.
No one wants to shop at an outlet where there is rarely any item they want. Even a grocery store employee would gladly waltz into a competitive store and satisfy his/her shopping needs when they know that their own store never restocks.
Also, there is never a time when anyone could ever accurately predict that there would be a surge in demand for some particular products. A lot of unforeseen factors can trigger a panic buy and, whenever this happens, the only stores that would benefit greatly from it are the ones that are not low on inventory.
Simply put: you can only sell what you have stocked up.
Do Grocery Stores Restock All Their Products The Same Day?
Grocery stores do not produce the products they sell and neither do their distributors as well. What every store can restock on is subject to the availability of such needed products, and this is hugely determined by the manufacturers.
Hence, it’s a bit unrealistic to expect or think that a grocery store – no matter how large they are – can ever restock all their products on the very same day.
What a store can restock on largely depends on the Store Manager and the inventory information availed to him by the store’s master computer as well.
The computer tracks the inventory by recording every single item that’s purchased in the stores daily as shoppers check out. This way, the Manager is kept updated on the items the store needs to restock on and how soon they need to do so as well.
If such items are not already available in the grocery store’s storage rooms, the distributors are contacted and they in turn supply as soon as possible.
What Do Grocery Stores Restock Daily?
Both large, medium and small-scale stores restock on anything and everything that they either sell a part of or even completely sell off during the day. There is really no limit to what they do restock on as this is also largely determined by what the customers purchase most.
However, there are some fast-moving consumer products that customers throng in to buy in droves practically every single day. Most stores that are smart and run efficiently would have identified such products as customers make their daily purchases, and made adequate plans to ensure that they don’t ever run out of such brands or products.
Some of these consumer goods may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Daily essential wares like toilet paper, paper towels, bathing soaps, liquid dish-washing gels, hand sanitizers, and others are products that are always in demand as they’re used in huge numbers across the country daily.
- Meat: As much as this can be kept frozen and is also mostly sold in bulk as well, there is always a fresh supply of it at grocery outlets across the country because it is always in huge demand.
- Eggs: An irreplaceable and constant part of virtually everyone’s daily diets, eggs are a great source of protein too. Little wonder it is also a very fast-selling item in almost every grocery outlet daily.
- Fresh fruits and vegetables: These can also be bought in bulk and frozen for preservation, but such products will forever be best when it is still quite fresh. This is why apples, carrots, cucumbers, cabbages, onions, green pepper, oranges, avocados, grapes, and a lot of others will always be in high demand at every store daily.
- Bread: Arguably one of the most consumed food items anywhere in the world, the demand for freshly-baked bread daily is huge. This is one item no store can afford to ever run out of, so most retailers run their in-house bakeries to ensure that their bread stands are always fully stocked with fresh loaves every day.
- Beverages: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Hence, beverages like oatmeal, and different types and flavors of cereals are also constantly picked off the shelves at every grocery shop. Other beverages like carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, bottled water, and even alcoholic beverages sell off pretty fast as well.
- Candies for the kids: Skittles, Twix, Mars chocolate bars, M&Ms, Snickers, Kit Kat, Gummy Bears, Sour Patch Kids, and a whole lot of other candies for the kids are almost never out of stock at any grocery shop. Sales of these items are quite significant, as even most adults also indulge in them every now and then.
- Packaged foods
- Over-the-counter drugs: There are some medications that don’t necessarily require a doctor’s prescription to be sold to anybody. Basic pain relievers and even some cough medication like Motrin, Tylenol, Advil, Claritin 24H, and others are readily available on the shelves at groceries daily.
- Dairy products like milk, cheese, and other consumables.
The costs of these products are significantly cheap compared to other items in the store, which makes it easy for them to be sold off quickly every day. These are some of the products that every grocery store makes sure to restock daily.
What Day Can You Get The Best Groceries At A Grocery Store?
The most ideal day to get the best groceries is on a Wednesday because there are freshly delivered produce, fully-stocked shelves (in preparation for the weekend rush), and fewer crowds at the shops.
Generally, though, Mondays through Thursdays are great days to shop within the week as well. All you need to do is ensure that you get to the stores very early, and you stand a good chance of getting great groceries.
Conclusion
Have you ever stopped to think about what would happen if every grocery store in the country were to run out of items and not restock? It would surely be a colossal disaster worse than even the recent global pandemic, right?
Thankfully, this has never happened and we doubt that it ever will, so do not be alarmed if you cannot find a few items you need at your local grocery shops. You probably just need to pop back in very early the next morning and you’ll find it restocked and ready for your purchase.
It can be really frustrating to go shopping with a lot of enthusiasm only to be stunned by empty-looking shelves at your favorite shops. Now, you don’t ever have to worry about that again, with this article, and we hope you have found it helpful in this regard.