Q&A for How to Stock Grocery Shelves

There's nothing you can do but continually straighten them as people move them around.

It's entirely up to you. Whichever is more convenient for you is what you should do, unless your supervisor says otherwise.

Stocking normally takes place late at night or early in the morning to minimize the inconvenience for customers.

Each grocery store will have different specific instructions, but generally you will be assigned to a section, like canned goods or produce. You'll just unload the boxes and put the items on the correct spot on the shelf.

There should be a layout or some sort of plan to let you know which items go where. It may be that there are already price labels on the shelves and you just have to match the label to the product.

It depends on your store. Perhaps you could ask the supervisor/manager for a list. Otherwise, I would say sale items are a must. After sale items go to frequently purchased or perishable items like pop, chips, milk, cheese, etc. After that just start at one end of the back room and work through what you can until either your shift is over or you finish. Another important thing to remember is be alert while you stock! If customers are constantly asking you for an item or you notice an empty looking aisle/end-cap, maybe you should check the backroom to see what can fill that space.

Be sure to check your dates and rotate the product correctly. Put the items that will expire first in the front.

When it comes to dairy, you aren't going to be able to move at the rate as you might be able to with canned products. Dairy products don't have long shelf lives, and you always need to rotate your stock. Ask managers if you could get away with only halfway filling slower items that aren't going to move as quickly and maintaining that halfway point. Always search for quality over quantity when working with items that parish quickly. The quality of work is far more important than how fast you are getting it done.

Stock the middle shelf first; it's faster and more comfortable in moment.

You should just stock what looks to be running out. There is no set amount of boxes per hour.

I work in grocery retail at my company we have a 80 cases a hour minimum but we would like to see 150-200 cases an hour. I do 180 hour, so it is possible.