Seafood is one of the most crucial departments for making an enormous difference in the competition. Careful diligence, how the merchandise is delivered, and the care process will be critical to differentiating positively.
Point of Departure
The three key starting points for success in the seafood department are:
- The product’s presentation.
- Our staff’s professionalism and preparation.
- The high-quality control of the fish and seafood we work with.
We require all areas of our stores to provide exceptional customer service, but the seafood department must go above and beyond. This includes greeting customers, inquiring about their needs, and offering advice on all types of fish and seafood, including various cuts. Our goal is to provide a complete shopping experience for our customers.
Remember that we must have the staff suitably uniformed.
Although we have already detailed in previous articles of the Retail Academy about other store departments, it is necessary to remember to keep the seafood department in optimal and excellent condition during all customer service hours. We must comply with the basic rules of control:
The three main tasks of the store manager and manager of the seafood department checklist and review at OPENING, SHIFT CHANGE, and CLOSING. Ensure that we open with a fresh assortment and superior quality. Check the status of our stocks at shift change. In closing, keep in mind the general cleaning of all products not suitable for sale the next day.
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Instructions for our Staff in the Seafood Department
- Our eyes are the customer’s eyes. From this fundamental principle, let us daily make the exercise of going through the department as if we were the customer, taking care of every detail, both the fish and seafood we sell and the surroundings, whether it is cleanliness, tidiness, a clear area so that the customer can walk around and observe the products.
- Ensure that each product has its price and labeling perfectly placed.
- Check that all our products are at the right temperature.
- Communicate immediately to the Seafood Department Manager or Store Manager any situation with products, either by high stocks or loss of product quality, so they act accordingly.
- The counters must have a high visual appeal to our customers. As for the products, it is essential to remember that if the customer would not buy them at the sight of our eyes, we must remove them immediately.
- Project orders in the noticeably short term. If we always want to maintain freshness and quality, our management in seafood must be 100% “just in time”, from order preparation to maintenance and display operations.
- Internal cleanliness. Pay attention to it because it is not visible to our customers, primarily if we work with products as delicate as fish and seafood. All our internal areas -cold rooms, preparation, and cutting tables and floors- must be cleaned and sanitized according to the store’s general cleaning and control program.
- Safety for all. The seafood department, due to its unique characteristics, is a department that may have water spills on the floor. The safety of our customers and our staff is everyone’s obligation, to keep floorings completely dry and mark the area so there are no accidents in case of spills.
In Summary
Freshness, variety, quality, and service in fish and seafood make a unique experience. Let’s do all that to win points against our closest competition. Remember, the goal is to retain more customers every day.