Club Store Pallet Requirements - Great Northern Instore

Marketing products in stores is an essential part of successfully selling your brand to customers. Eye-catching signs and unique displays can help you attract customers and make your products stand out. When creating displays for stores, you must understand the requirements retailers have for displays and packaging. Many prominent club stores, like Sam’s Club and Costco, have specific guidelines.

Customers love club stores because of their deals and the treasure hunt to find a variety of products. You can practically find anything at your local club store, from large furniture items, groceries, electronic devices, health, personal care and jewelry.

Making a creative display for a club store is an excellent method for advertising your products among the endless aisles and various items you will find inside the warehouse. Keep reading to learn more about club store pellet requirements and other display guidelines that can help you boost foot traffic near your products in the club store.

Table of Contents:

How Can You Maximize Impact in Club Stores?
How Can Custom Displays Help Comply With Requirements?
What Are Sam’s Club Pallet Requirements?
What Are Costco Pallet Requirements?

How Can You Maximize Impact in Club Stores?

Working with club stores is an excellent opportunity for your business because of the high volume of customers they attract. Companies selling consumer packaged goods can find success in this retail channel and notice the competition between products in big-boxed warehouses. Stationing your product in a vast store among thousands of other items is a big task, and designing an impactful pallet display will help get people to notice your product as they shop around Costco or Sam’s Club.

Entering the retail space of a wholesale store is simple when you tackle the process differently than a traditional retail store. You should handle packaging and design to compete with other products in a large space while complying with the requirements set by the big-box store.

Check out these four ways to maximize your impact as a vendor in a club store:

1. Create an Eye-Catching Display

Your products need to stand out in a club store for customers to consider purchasing. Traditional retail stores will have promotional signs posted all over their interior, but wholesale warehouses are a completely different type of retail. These stores have everything a typical warehouse has, like high ceilings, concrete floors and warehouse racking and shelving. This type of setup is an excellent way to shop if customers want to buy items in bulk or snag great deals because they are shopping from a distributor. You can attract more customers to your products in this large space by making eye-catching pallet displays.

Creating an attention-grabbing pallet display is essential to your success in a club store. You can make an excellent pallet display by following these design tips:

Choose colors that stand out: Incorporate your brand’s signature colors and logos into the design efficiently, so it stands out to customers. Be sure to include contrasting colors to increase the visibility of your display and guide customers to your products.
Create an indoor billboard: Design your packaging to blend together and create a bigger picture that resembles an indoor billboard. Your customers will have something easy to look at and understand from far away.
Include images and icons: Pictures and graphics are some of the best ways to communicate with customers. If you have a logo, image or icon that directly relates to your brand, ensure you include it on your pallet display and packaging.
Take advantage of four-sided branding: Because of the traffic patterns in a club store, your pallet display should relay your message from all sides. Be sure to utilize all sides of your pallet display and packaging to create an advertisement that catches the customer’s attention on any side of the pallet.

2. Make Your Display Retail-Ready

When your pallet of products is delivered to the club store, it goes out on the store floor as-is. That means you will need to make sure your display and packaging is retail-ready to start attracting more customers and sales. You should also ensure that your entire product display arrives safely at the club store by preparing it before it ships out. Using pallet wrap is a helpful way to keep everything secure and contained when it is in the delivery process. Once your pallet arrives, the wholesale store will place it on the floor, and the packaging and display are ready to attract customers with minimal handling from the club store employees.

3. Create Packaging That Tells Your Story

Your designs for pallet displays, primary packaging and secondary packaging should all tell your brand’s story and describe what the product does. In a club store environment, products will often need to sell themselves on their own. That means your designs should tell customers about your product and its appeal quickly and efficiently.

You can help customers learn more about your products and brand by including:

Information about your brand or product
The shape, size, contents and use of the product
The value of your product and potential savings

When designing packaging, especially the display on your pallet, it is essential that you meet the requirements of the club store you are working with. Creating packaging then finding out the club store will not approve of the materials or other factors can result in costly changes.

4. Other Considerations

Some other considerations that you can make when creating your packaging and pallet display include:

Innovation: Your packaging needs to sell itself because the employees and other aspects of the club store will not sell it for you. The products in club stores need to stand out to the high number of customers entering the stores daily. Find unique methods in your packaging design to catch customer’s attention.
Sustainability: Club stores are becoming more aware of their environmental footprint and their impact on the planet. Including sustainable packaging and other ecological initiatives can stand out to club stores and their customers.
Change: Club stores change up their presentations and freshen up the layout often to keep customers interested. You can keep up with club stores by occasionally switching up your packaging and display design to keep customers interested and attract new customers.

How Can Custom Displays Help Comply With Requirements?

Creating custom pallet displays for your products can help you be successful in a club store. Quality pallet display providers, like Great Northern Instore, have the knowledge and skillset to create superb eye-catching displays that meet top big-box stores’ requirements. Their knowledge of club store pallet guidelines and packaging ensures that the supply chain process runs smoothly and your products are on the floor quickly. Custom displays are created with helpful insight, exceptional design and excellent execution.

Pallet display providers understand the ins and outs of retail in club stores and understand the shopper’s mindset in these stores. They will also have the ability to quality check all of the printing and fabrication to ensure the displays look great in club stores. As a result, custom pallet display providers can design attention-grabbing displays that meet club store requirements, so you can attract more potential customers and increase sales for your business.

What Are Sam’s Club Pallet Requirements?

Sam’s Club is a big-box warehouse store that is owned by Walmart. The club store is membership only for customers and is a go-to location for people searching for great deals on clothing, household items, groceries and more. Sam’s Club relies on Walmart’s distribution centers and logistics guidelines to support the club store’s supply chain. That means that Sam’s Club pallet requirements are practically the same as Walmart’s. The general pallet requirements for Walmart and Sam’s Club are simple to understand and implement in your pallet product display.

Sam’s Club utilizes grade-A flush, 4-way, non-reversible 40-inch by 48-inch Consumer Brands Association, or CBA, pallets, or pallets that measure 20 inches by 48 inches. The wooden pallets should be free of knots, have clean saw cuts and be in good condition. The requirements listed for these Sam’s Club pallets are regarding stringer pallets.

Pallets must also meet the following criteria:

Pallets must have a minimum of seven top boards.
Pallets must have a minimum of three stringers.
Pallets must have a minimum of five bottom boards.
Pallets should include spacing that does not exceed four inches between each board.

Sam’s Club has a list of guidelines that these certain pallets must pass to utilize in their stores. Check out the other requirements that the grade-A CBA pallets must meet before they enter a Sam’s Club facility:

All pallets must have no stains, arrive odorless and be clean.
Pallets must not have any broken boards or have any boards missing from the bottom or top deck of the pallet.
The stringers on the pallet should have no patches, metal plates and other additional boards.
Pallets cannot have cracks on the boards wider than an eighth of an inch and 15 inches long or longer.
The stringers should not be cracked or broken, including cracks longer an inch and visible from all sides.
Nails on the pallet should be flush with the surface.
There should be no splinters on the pallet that are longer than three inches.
Pallets should be free of tapered breaks that are deeper than an inch on a 10 inch or longer run.
Partial footings where the stringer connecting to the bottom board is a quarter of an inch in width or length, or the nails are not flush are not allowed.
You cannot glue, or staple Product Displayed Quickly (PDQ) floor stand displays on pallets.

The requirements listed for Sam’s Club are specific to single-use wooden stringer pallets. With previous approval from Sam’s Club, the use of wooden block pallets or pallets made of plastic or other alternative metals may be allowed. It is essential to use the correct type of pallet that Sam’s Club approves of when you create a custom pallet display for your products, making the supply chain process seamless.

Here are some other best practices to consider:

Customers and associates can easily identify your product.
Pallets are easy and quick to open without tools.
Customers can effortlessly remove all varieties of the product from the pallet.
Packaging and display materials are recyclable or reusable.

What Are Costco Pallet Requirements?

Costco Wholesale, also referred to simply as Costco, is a large membership-only big-box store. Costco has locations around the world, making it one of the largest retailers in the world. They are a popular choice for grocery shopping and carry various products for your home, lifestyle and other products. You can purchase bulk quantities of favorite snacks, find new clothing, buy a new TV and secure a deal on furniture for your home, all in the same warehouse. The large club store has been successful in its profits and is projected to carry on its success far into the future.

Costco is an excellent option if you are searching for a wholesale store to place your products in. Learn more about their pallet requirements, so you have the pallet display you need to work with Costco.

The Costco pallet display requirements are strict because most pallets carrying products sit inside the Costco store. They must handle holding products and not be a hazard to customers walking in the store.

Here are some of the requirements Costco has for the pallets entering their facility:

The pallets must measure 48 inches by 40 inches and have no product overhang.
Pallets must have the ability to handle 1500 pounds of bottom layer weight when they are loaded with less than 750 pounds.
Costco accepts general use block pallets in their facility.
Stringer pallets are not allowed as general use pallets.
Pallets must have the ability to handle 2500 pounds of lowest layer weight when they are loaded with more than 750 pounds.
Costco pallet height requirements for complete loads cannot surpass 58 inches, including the height of the pallet.
The total load weight of the pallet should not exceed 2500 pounds.
Costco accepts general use block pallets from certain manufacturers. Other types of pallets will require approval from Costco before use. This approval process is on a case-by-case basis.
Packaging must comply with the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) pre-shipment tests 1a and 3e, freight carrier rules and mandatory government regulations.
Packaging must be designed to withstand a minimum of four weeks under the load weight without damage.
Pallets must be engineered to withstand over 500 miles in transit without breaking.

When you deliver pallets to Costco, the Costco team will inspect them, including the approved pallets from certain manufacturers. These pallets are visually overviewed for soundness, load support, cleanliness and floor use serviceability. Pallets should be dry and free of any stains or contamination. If a pallet does not meet the visual inspection or other guidelines set by Costco will not be approved for use. If you are a vendor that wants to have their products in Costco, you should understand all of the pallet guidelines and always stay up to date on changes in Costco’s requirements for pallets and pallet displays in their stores.

Guidelines for pallets can always change, and Costco has plans to switch to plastic pallets in the future. Vendors will need to comply with Costco’s new pallet guidelines once this plan for only plastic pallets is in effect. Costco has noted the benefits of plastic pallets, stating how they can impact their supply chain process and revenue and offer more sustainable options. As a vendor, keep an eye out for changes in big-box store pallet policies, so you are always prepared to change up your pallet displays.

Learn More About Our Pallet Displays

Are you ready to start creating your custom pallet display? Great Northern Instore is your go-to expert for making successful pallet displays. Check out how we helped the brand Square create a semi-permanent pallet instore activation in Sam’s Club. We can help you design high-quality packaging that meets the club store’s requirements today. View our pallet display examples today, or contact us to learn more about our pallet display services.