Today’s retailers face many challenges, especially in the meat department. Finding qualified labor, maintaining case variety and succeeding in a competitive market are just a few of their pain points. We’re joined today by Steve Orton, Vice President of Retail Ready, Ground Beef and Trim Sales for National Beef to talk about Retail Ready and their new program, SmartStock Solutions™. SmartStock helps retailers stay competitive and efficient, serving as a smart, supplemental solution, not a replacement. It lets them expand their case and provides solutions to address labor issues, launching new items and facing out-of-stocks.

Q: How is today’s retail marketplace changing?

A: The competition for shoppers’ dollars has increased across the retail landscape. With record high prices, consumers are looking for value. They want convenience, but also to feel like they’re doing their part to reduce food waste. Increasing their protein intake from simple, pure, nutrient dense foods is also important.

This gives retailers a real opportunity to maintain their current market share while attracting new shoppers. How can they do that? By finding convenient ways to expand their beef department and improve shopability of their meat cases. If retailers want to succeed in this climate, they have to manage labor and inventory challenges, shrink issues and effective margins.

Q: What solutions are available to retailers?

A: Retail Ready options offer several opportunities to help ease pain points for retailers and distributors. Roll stock packaging is a great solution. National Beef Retail Ready Roll Stock offers steaks, roasts and specialty cuts. It has several advantages, including a 42-day shelf life for boneless items and 35 days for bone-in. That gives retailers better inventory control and less shrink.

It’s a flexible program with small box options, piece counts and piece size. You can choose from Choice, Angus or Hereford options.

Q: How does Retail Ready from National Beef fit in with a retailer’s current offering?

A: Our Retail Ready program can enhance your beef case in several ways. We offer 19 items, including standard steaks, roasts and specialty cuts. Retailers can expand their current mix with new items that are popular with shoppers. It’s a small box program, with piece counts for most items between 12 and 18. For items where the retail ring is critical, such as flank steak and skirt steak, we have reduced piece size by offering half-cuts of items. Additionally, roast weights are managed with a consideration for overall ring. These items can be offered without an increase in labor costs while still allowing stores to manage inventory costs and turns.

Q: What should retailers know about adding Retail Ready items to their meat department?

A: These items are available to order along with their standard beef orders. There’s no minimum order, so items can be mixed and matched to meet the specific needs of their operation. One thing retailers need to consider is the margin potential for these items. Unlike products cut in store, all costs are built into the purchase price of the product. So there is no store associated cost for packaging and labor is minimal. The margin percentage markup may be lower, but the effective margins are often comparable or better than those of products cut in store.

Q: Has Retail Ready been well received by shoppers?

A: Shoppers appreciate the convenience of the leak proof, freezer ready packaging. They also like the extended life of the product and convenience of the single pack items. Additionally, every item ships with a product label that overviews the items, provides cooking tips and a QR code that drives them to the website for beef recipes. Retail Ready is also supported by SmartStock Solutions merchandising to help retailers execute a Retail Ready program that drives excitement and sells more beef.

Q: What is SmartStock Solutions and how can it help retailers make the most of a Retail Ready program?

A: Retail Ready doesn’t just provide ways to expand your meat case or make your operation more efficient. It lets you rethink the shopability of your meat case. SmartStock Solutions combines Retail Ready beef muscle cuts and ground beef programs into one beef case solution that gives shoppers convenience and variety.

The program is built around identifying three-to-six-foot case sets that can be customized to a retailer’s market needs while improving shopper engagement. It includes not only steaks, roasts and specialty muscle cuts, but also popular ground beef items, including options for Grass-fed Organic and Angus ground beef. This gives them an easy-to-shop convenience section of appealing items for shoppers. The SmartStock Solutions program can be executed as a partial case option for larger store formats or a full-case solution for smaller stores.

Our field team is very knowledgeable and adept at reviewing a retailer’s specific market needs and helping them build out a SmartStock Solution that will drive success. We also offer shopper marketing support that communicates the program’s advantages and quality.

Q: In closing, how can a retailer take advantage of the program?

A: Retail Ready isn’t hard to set up. Retailers can schedule a review with our field staff and help build out the program that’s right for their market. There are a ton of advantages to SmartStock: it helps reduce out-of-stocks, expand new product offerings, lower labor costs, extend shelf life and maximize profits.