Walmart’s new Fresh Angle program, which seeks to give its grocery section more of a farmers’ market look, is beginning to see positive results.
“When you walk into our store today, you’re intentionally greeted with a farmers’ market vibe,” said Travis Moore, a Walmart store manager, on the company blog. To achieve this, his location—and all others participating in the Fresh Angle initiative—places fresh, unpackaged vegetables at the entrance of the grocery department.
The retailer has also lowered the profile of its fixtures so customers can easily see across the entire produce department. Moreover, while it has kept its broad assortment, it has redone its fixtures to look fuller while holding fewer products.
“By reducing the depth of our fixtures, we’ve reduced the volume of product we’re holding on the sales floor at any given time,” added Moore. “And, given the clock on freshness begins ticking the moment fresh fruit and vegetables are picked, we’re essentially passing increased freshness on to our customers – and working even harder to reduce food waste.”
According to Moore, the key to the Fresh Angle program is ensuring that fresh produce purchased by consumers looks and tastes the same when they take it out of the fridge to eat it later. Currently, the new approach has been rolled out at 180 stores to date, and more than 3,000 will have adopted it by the end of the year.
