Single-serve drinks and the impulse shopper

Merchandising around the cash register used to consist primarily of magazines, candy bars, gum and other assorted tchotchkes bored customers might like to buy.

Supermarkets have rid their cash register areas of most of these products, but one category refuses to die at the front-of-store: single-serve beverages.

And for good reason. Customers waiting in line have shown a real “thirst” to make impulse beverage purchases, according to Packaging Design.

Sales have been helped by the fact that shoppers in line now have a dizzying array of single-serve drinks to choose from: beyond pop and water. There are also energy drinks, ready-to-drink teas and more exotic fare.

To make sure they are offering the right drinks, grocers should keep abreast of trends in the single-serve beverage category.

For instance, even impulse shoppers are concerned about health, which means drinks like coconut water and natural beverages should have a place around the cash register.

At the same time, energy shots and energy drinks are popular, as are increasingly larger beverage containers.

Read the full story here.