No. 13
How does bread tray footprint affect merchandising configuration on a retail store floor?
- 6 sections
- 1 table
It depends on whether the tray itself appears on the sales floor. If drivers or store staff move the bags from the tray onto store shelving, the tray’s footprint matters only on the way in: doors, aisles and where the empties wait. If the tray, or a column of trays on a dolly, stays on the floor as the display, the footprint becomes part of the merchandising: it has to fit the floor space or fixture it is given, leave the aisle passable, and let shoppers reach the product at the back. Measure the store’s spaces against your tray rather than assuming a standard size on either side.
Two ways trays meet the sales floor
Product moved to shelving. The tray is a transport container. Its footprint affects how many trays and dollies the driver brings through the back door and down the aisle, and where empties are collected. The shelf layout is the store’s and is set by the bag sizes, not the tray.
Tray or dolly as display. The tray goes onto the floor or into a fixture with the product in it. Bakery tray patents describe this use: US 4,519,503 presents a basket and tray combination “for transporting, storing and displaying bakery goods,” with trays that slide out “for examination and/or replenishment of the products.” Tray makers describe the same cycle in their own materials; SPF Plastic Group lists “merchandise on the floor” as a step between delivering to the store and collecting empties.
Know which mode each customer uses, because the fit questions differ.
Fit checks when the tray is the display
| Check | What to measure | What goes wrong if it does not fit |
|---|---|---|
| Floor or fixture space | Width and depth of the space the planogram gives the product | Tray overhangs into a neighbor's space or the aisle; display looks untidy |
| Shelf depth (if trays sit on shelves) | Usable depth from shelf front to back stop | Tray overhangs the front edge or leaves a gap |
| Shelf spacing above | Clear height to the next shelf | Shoppers cannot lift bags out; tray will not slide in |
| Aisle clearance | Clear width left beside a displayed column on a dolly | Carts and wheelchairs cannot pass |
| Reach | How far back the last bag sits | Back product can sell slower and age first unless stock is rotated |
For example, a tray with a 26.9 x 22.0 inch outside footprint, the published size of the SPF 650, set with its long side running front to back, needs a shelf or fixture at least 26.9 inches deep to avoid overhang; turned the other way it needs 22.0 inches of depth but 26.9 inches of width. On a column displayed on its dolly, add the dolly’s own footprint (SPF’s 2226 dolly, for example, is listed at 26.6 x 22.6 inches) and the space a person needs to work around it.
Keeping aisles passable
A loaded dolly left in an aisle takes width from shoppers. The 2010 ADA Standards set the clear width of walking surfaces on an accessible route at “36 inches (915 mm) minimum” (2010 ADA Standards, chapter 4), with a short-length exception. Measure the aisle where displays or dollies will stand and subtract the display’s footprint; if less than that minimum remains on an accessible route, the display belongs elsewhere, not just pushed tighter. The store’s own accessibility and fire-safety rules may set further limits, so agree display positions with the store.
The same clearance question applies to back-of-house routes for dollies, covered in our guide to dolly labor time.
Depth, reach and freshness
The deeper the tray from front to back, the farther a shopper reaches for the last bags. Bags at the back are harder to reach, so in a deep display they can be the last to sell and end up the oldest stock unless someone rotates them. Two fixes are available without changing trays: set the tray with its shorter side running front to back where the space allows, and rotate older product to the front at each delivery. Day-coded closures help with the second: bread bags can carry a colored tag or twist tie that marks the delivery day, which Tasting Table’s article on bread tag color codes describes as a system meant to make it easier for employees to remove stale loaves.
Consistency across a category
When several bakeries supply one aisle and each uses its own tray, the displayed trays will differ in size, and the planogram has to absorb the difference. A supplier whose tray fits the space the store allocates, without overhang or gaps, is easier to merchandise well. That is a reason to collect the planogram dimensions from key customers before choosing a tray footprint, and to include them in the comparison set out in our guide to footprint width and tray count.
A store survey that feeds the tray decision
For each customer format, record:
- Whether trays or dollies stay on the floor, and for how long.
- Fixture or floor space allocated to the bakery’s products, width and depth.
- Shelf depth and shelf spacing where trays sit on shelves.
- Aisle widths where displays stand.
- Who rotates product at delivery, and how.
Compare those numbers with each candidate tray and its dolly. Choose the footprint that fits the formats carrying most of your volume, and set display rules (orientation, rotation, positions) for the formats where it fits only one way.