Did you ever watch people shop in a supermarket? I often do it to learn about consumer buying habits. Try it some time and you will get a worthwhile education. People head directly over to specific sections in the produce department with one thing in mind — to get what they want and get out fast.

Most produce departments are first in line. The initial display leading into the department usually consists of two or three advertised feature items priced at a very low gross profit. This has been a typical merchandising tactic over many years.Today’s smart, sophisticated shoppers associate low-priced produce with poor quality, so retailers are encouraged to use the valuable end cap spaces for high-profit items.

I watched customers enter a particular store and was amazed at the number that moved right past the feature display and headed straight over to other sections in the department. I often wondered why customers didn’t stop in their tracks and shop the display at the entrance.

It’s incredible how consumers are in such a rush today. The majority do not like shopping in the first place and want to get in and out of a store fast. We are in a hurry-up world in this day and age, due in part to technology, which has speeded up our lives tremendously.

People use their smartphones to give them a head start on shopping by obtaining product information, ad specials, prices, reviews and coupon deals. Smartphones made shoppers smarter and faster. In fact, about 30 percent of younger shoppers use their mobile phones to decide what to buy.

Customers scurry through departments, pick up what they want and are gone within a matter of minutes. Perhaps one reason is that the department merchandising layouts are too uniformly set week in and week out. If customers are not attracted to something different, they will move along in a hurry without making extra purchases. We need to break away from some of the old ways of thinking and focus more on how the customer thinks and shops today, and then adapt to it.

It’s difficult to change old thinking. Many companies are still adamant about sticking with old-school methods of merchandising. But everything is not only about category management, it’s all about consumer management.

Realizing there is no one exact way to change dated thinking, here are a few points to consider about customer shopping habits:

Get connected
Know your customers. Study their shopping habits very carefully. They are smarter and faster shoppers today. Learn how they shop and what they want. Talk to them and get linked to the way they think about purchasing produce.

Convenience, value, fast
Focus on what shoppers want, not what we think they want. Consumers evaluate quality ahead of price these days. They seek easy access to simple shopping needs and are in a hurry to get them. The majority are willing to pay premium prices for enhanced quality.

End caps
Low-priced bargain items are usually displayed right at the produce entrance or on end caps. This has been a common methodology of most retailers for many years. But this merchandising practice is changing. Today’s smart sophisticated shoppers consider low-priced produce as poor quality. Why pile out all your low-profit items in key locations? Customers will buy off the end caps even if the items are not on ad special. Don’t give your profit away.

Buzz displays
Customers do not look at a display too long. You have to capture them visually and instantly or they are moving fast through the department. Color, quality and the right items on a display will trigger a shopper’s interest, causing them to slow down to make purchases.

Untangle the mazes
One of the oldest merchandising methods is trying to draw shoppers through those cluttered displays hoping to hold them in the department longer. That is another example of obsolete thinking. Too often, this works in reverse where customers are unable to find what they want due to being trapped in one spot. Disentangle those displays and allow shoppers to flow easily around the department, enabling them to make more purchases before zipping away.

Mobility fixtures
This is an age of operating with more flexibility. Departments that can only display produce on fixtures that are bolted in place are losing sales opportunities in other store locations. It would be wise to invest in some of the self-contained refrigerated display units with casters. These cases can be easily moved to other areas such as the lobby entrance to generate instant customer purchases.

Do something different this year in conjunction with the new progressive consumer age. Customer’s reaction to displays are deviating from the past. People want and expect more in their shopping experience today other than monotonous standardization. Keep observing your customers and study their shopping habits. How do they react to your displays? Observe them meticulously. Then adjust accordingly.