Labor shortage has become a major concern for grocers, causing significant challenges. It doesn’t matter how good your product is, if you can’t get people to work, customer service will suffer — and so will your business.
There are several ways to entice people to work for your business. You can offer competitive wages and benefits, provide opportunities for growth and emphasize your company’s values. You could offer rewards and incentives and introduce a referral program. But all of these come with a cost…
In this blog post, we’ll explore how we’re actively addressing this issue. Our innovative products have been shown to reduce the need for labor and its associated costs while maintaining exceptional customer service. Let’s dive in!
Equipment setup and installation
When we design our equipment, we think about you, our customer. We make sure our equipment is easy to unload, install and set up, reducing either the number of people needed for the task or the hours it takes to complete. This includes bolting the units together, leveling them out and installing the refrigeration and electrical — a simple task given the modular designs and integrated features of our display cases.
Convenient shipment of modules on casters, allowing for seamless movement and assembly.
Effortless cleaning and maintenance
Making our display cases easy to clean and maintain helps reduce labor costs.
Incorporating drip trays to catch spills. Reducing gaps and parts that can trap dirt, simplifying the cleaning process. Designing hot bars without steam, eliminating the need for drains and water in some models and making them easier to install, construct, maintain and repair (bolt-on head pads). Providing self-contained options for cold food bars, streamlining installation and construction.
Continuous improvement
At Cayuga Displays, we’re committed to continuous improvement. This means we’re always refining, optimizing and improving our processes to make them more efficient and cost-effective — often passing the savings on to our customers.
As an example, we built a brand new, 57,000 sq.ft. facility with three goals in mind — to improve our capacity, efficiency and support future growth. This enabled us to expand all our departments, resulting in shorter lead times, lower prices and even better customer service (we actually shipped our first cases from the new facility in under a week!).
We also make it easy for people to work with us. Because we provide a wide range of offerings — including custom case exteriors and a diverse array of display solutions — we truly are a comprehensive one-stop shop!
Ongoing collaboration and support
Working with a supplier shouldn’t be difficult. At Cayuga, the flow of information starts in our offices, with efficient project management and decision making, all the way to a dedicated service manager and expert factory support. Having someone available to provide timely, responsive assistance can save you time and help reduce labor costs.
We also provide our clients with easy access to information through our website, price lists and online catalogs, brochures and spec sheets. You can also find helpful videos on a variety of topics, including one on how to clean a Cayuga showcase.
Innovative features
Our display cases are designed with a number of innovative features to make life on the sales floor easier, both for customers and employees.
- Food bars have a modular design and are shipped on casters, making them easy to move around. These units are then bolted together for easy installation.
- Convertible sneeze guards make the transition from service to self-service easy, reducing labor costs.
- Self-contained and plug-in cases are equipped with pre-filters/brushes to facilitate quick and easy cleaning.
- Service cases with one-piece lift-up glass reduces the number of parts, so fewer things can go wrong. This simplifies maintenance, reduces the risk of breakage and is easy to clean.
- Bakery service cases are equipped with large rear doors for easy access and flat base decks for convenient loading of cakes and other items.
- A variety of grab and go solutions help your customers transition from full service to more self-service, reducing the need for additional labor.
- Many of our cases, such as Fresh Go bins, feature replaceable/removable clip-on exterior panels for easy repair and changes to your decor.
- Food prep/sushi cases incorporate clean-outs with drains to ensure effortless cleaning of condiment wells.
Working together to ease your burden
The labor shortage will continue to impact businesses, so we’re committed to help our customers reduce their labor costs by focusing our efforts on innovative design and improved efficiency.
By working with us, you’ll have a partner you can rely on. If you need help navigating the challenges created by the labor shortage, or just want some innovative displays to entice and engage your customers, book a consultation with us.
Whether you’re thinking of upgrading a single department, transforming your entire store or just have a question or two, we’d love to hear from you!
