Why centre store still matters in grocery – and why retailers ignore it at their peril

In grocery retail, the industry’s obsession with the perimeter — fresh produce, in-store dining, bakery theatre — has left the centre store looking like the neglected middle child. That’s a strategic mistake. The aisles might not win Instagram likes, but they hold the commercial levers that decide whether a store thrives or slowly bleeds relevance.

Commercial levers

1. It’s the financial backbone
Centre store generates the majority of sales volume and often an even larger share of profit. You can’t fund the theatre of fresh or invest in digital convenience if the core grocery engine is stalling. Neglecting it in favour of shiny new perimeter projects is like building a beautiful front porch while the foundation cracks.

2. It decides your price reputation
Shoppers may wander the bakery for inspiration, but they judge your prices in the cereal, coffee, and cleaning aisles. If you’re not winning in those known-value items, you’re losing the war for loyalty. This is where price image is set and where weekly shopping habits are reinforced or broken.

3. Private brand lives or dies here
Centre store is where your own-label strategy proves itself. Value ranges to hold the line against discounters, national-brand equivalents to reassure quality, and premium tiers to add excitement — all of them fight for share here. Flabby, unfocused private-label architecture in centre store doesn’t just hurt category sales; it dilutes your entire brand.

4. It’s an untapped stage for innovation
Centre store doesn’t have to be boring. Limited-time drops, seasonal edits, cross-merchandised solutions — they can all make these aisles destinations. The best retailers use endcaps and secondary placements to surprise and delight, not just to shift surplus stock.

5. Operational excellence starts here
Centre store is the easiest place to win on basics: availability, clear navigation, and efficient replenishment. Get it right and you free up labour and reduce cost. Get it wrong and shoppers face gaps, clutter, and frustration — and they won’t stick around for your Instagrammable food hall if they can’t find paper towels.

6. It’s the omnichannel workhorse
Online orders, click-and-collect, and rapid delivery all run through centre store categories. The packaged, predictable products here are the pick-path bread and butter of any fulfilment model. Ignore that, and your shiny ecommerce promise collapses under operational strain.

The bottom line
Centre store is the store’s circulatory system. If it’s weak, everything else underperforms. Retailers that treat these aisles as an afterthought hand margin, loyalty, and brand equity to competitors. The fix is not complicated: invest in the space, sharpen price perception, make private brand matter, inject some theatre, and execute flawlessly.

In grocery, the perimeter may seduce, but the centre store pays the bills. Forget that, and you’re building a brand on borrowed time.