Five Things Employees, Patrons, and Visitors Want in Their Micro Markets
Micro markets are great. Offering tremendous convenience and serving as a gathering place where people can come together, the decision to add one to your building is easy. What might not be so easy, however, is figuring out exactly how to stock that micro market so it can serve as many people as possible.
You don’t have to solve this stocking challenge alone. The talented team here at InReach is ready to join you on this journey and make sure your micro market lives up to its full potential. Take a moment to reach out today, and let’s get started.
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Fresh, High-Quality Food
This is an easy place to start the list. There is never any substitute for quality, and that’s certainly true with your micro market inventory. Sure, convenience is a big selling point with these markets, but convenience alone only goes so far. If the items you stock are low-quality or are less than fresh, your people are going to look elsewhere for a snack or meal.
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A Variety of Healthy Choices
Some people who patronize your micro market are going to want a healthy snack. Others are going to want something a little more indulgent. Your goal is to present options that run the nutritional spectrum so everyone can choose what is right for them at that moment. Historically, convenience foods have skewed toward the indulgent side with things like chips and sweet treats. There is still plenty of room for those items, but you can augment them with lighter, healthier options like fresh fruit, protein bars, and yogurt offerings.
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Dietary-Specific Items
Research shows that more than 40% of Americans follow at least one nutrition rule in their daily lives. To serve as many people as possible, you’ll want to have options for various dietary restrictions and preferences. These include snack and meal options that fit into gluten-free, keto-friendly, and plant-based categories, among others. You are sure to have some percentage of your people that fall into each of these dietary categories, so make sure they have quality options to consider in the micro market. This will not only help with the overall usage of the market, but it will develop a feeling of inclusion among your workers, as well.
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Easy Payment Options
Stepping away from inventory choices for a moment, it’s also important to remember that people want a convenient, easy way to pay for their items in a micro market. A slow, frustrating checkout process could frustrate users to the point of skipping the market entirely, even if they like what you have to offer. Credit cards are still relevant and important in this setting, but you will want to be able to accept mobile payment methods as well.
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Local Flair
One other important way to maximize engagement with your micro market is to give it a local feel. Plenty of the products in the mix will apply to a market anywhere around the country, and that’s fine, but try to throw in a few things with local flavor. These might be permanent fixtures in your inventory, or they could be seasonal additions from great local sellers. Even if the rate of sales for these local items is lower than some of your mainstream offerings, they will give character to the market and make it a more interesting place to visit.
Connect With a Trusted Partner Today
Are you both excited and nervous about the idea of adding a micro market to your building? We understand. You’ve probably been searching for micro markets near you just to compare and figure out how it all works. This can be an intimidating process without the right experience on your side. So why not turn to InReach for access to industry expertise, group buying power, and much more?
Proudly part of Sodexo, InReach offers global reach, customized attention, and a large, growing buying network that keeps food costs low and quality high. Contact us today to learn more.