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What Day of the Week Do Grocery Stores Restock?

By: Author Jeff Campbell

Posted on  - Last updated:

Categories Operations

It’s a bit frustrating when you can’t get your favorite products from the store, right? I know the feeling… To make the best of each trip to the store, you’ve probably wondered what day of the week do grocery stores restock?

Large grocery chains restock daily because of the huge volume of business. Restocking is usually done overnight or early morning in order not to disrupt operations. However, many smaller grocery stores that don’t have the sales volume to restock daily may restock on Tuesdays and Fridays.

But unfortunately, there really isn’t a standard most stores follow.

Howver, if you’re going to the big stores, early in the morning is probably the best time to be there, seeing as they would have restocked the night before or that morning.

With the smaller stores, it’s wise to know the day(s) they restock to be there soon after.

In this article, we’ll explore: what stores restock daily, whether Walmart’s shelves are full first thing in the morning, when does Whole Foods restock, and a lot of related questions.

Let’s dive right in…

young woman shopping for fruits and vegetables in produce department of a grocery store supermarket

Do busy grocery stores restock daily?

Large grocery stores restock daily because of their high volume of sales. It is always more efficient to go right from the truck to the shelf rather than store excess in the back room. So when possible, stores look to get as many deliveries per week as their distributors allow.

But note that because each grocery chain is different.

So, there are differences in each one’s restocking schedule. But overnight stocking is by far the most efficient way to stock.

Overnight at most grocery stores means no customers. So stockers just focus on stocking; no customer service. Plus, pallets can be wheeled directly where they are needed with no fear of blocking shopping carts.

And the employees can pound energy drinks and listen to loud music to keep them motivated; things that would be frowned upon during the day.

Costco and Walmart are examples of busy grocery stores that restock daily. So, if you couldn’t find a much-needed product, it would most probably be available the day after. 

But I understand if you’re not keen on the whole “shopping is fun” notion and only like visiting the grocery store once in a blue moon.

Then, you would probably be better served by buying online.

And, you’d enjoy a recent article of mine where I shared info about how online grocery shopping increased last year.

I covered themes such as what percentage of groceries are bought online, which one’s more popular: pick up or delivery, whether fewer people are shopping at grocery stores now…

Just click the link to read it on my site.

Are Walmart’s shelves full first thing in the morning?

Walmart’s shelves are typically full first thing in the morning because most locations restock overnight. Just bear in mind though that distributors of products usually have at least 5% of their items out of stock, so the shelves will never be 100% full.

But when a particular item would be available varies from product to product. And from store to store. On average, restocking is done every 2 days in smaller, lower-volume stores and every day in busy stores.

This shouldn’t be surprising because of the volume of business Walmart does. Consider that it has a market share of 26% of grocery sales and, in some environments, 90%.

Seeing as most of the restocks are done overnight, it makes sense to expect that items that were out of stock would have been replaced if you are there early in the morning.

You can also get notified by email when certain items are available. But, you must have registered for the service beforehand. The other day, you overheard two people talking about supermarkets and superstores, but you were in a hurry.

Now, you’re wondering if Walmart is a supermarket or a superstore. Not to worry, I’ve got you covered.

In a recent article of mine, I went into some details about their differences. What really surprised me was that 1 small thing makes all the difference between the 2 terms.

Just click the link to read the article on my site.

Do most Whole Foods stores restock in the morning?

Most Whole Foods stores restock in the early morning, around 4 or 5 am. However, the busiest stores in the company restock overnight, starting at approximately 10 pm. In either case, the goal is to be 99% done by the time the store opens.

This may vary slightly from location to location.

In general, though, the busier the store, the higher its volume of transactions, the more likely it would restock daily and overnight. Smaller stores restock about 3-4 times per week to ensure they meet demand.

And for those smaller, lower-volume stores, Tuesdays and Fridays are common days chosen to first replenish from the weekend, and then to stock up for the next weekend.

Are grocery stores often out of stock on Mondays?

The best-run grocery stores are not out of stock on Mondays. They are restocked every day, and replenished throughout the day. Mondays are no exception. However, poorly run grocery stores may sometimes be low on stock on Mondays following a busy weekend.

Best-run grocery stores ensure that they are hardly out of stock on Mondays or any other day for that matter.

It’s a buyer’s market if you will. After all, you have several choices in terms of where to shop, right? So, well-run grocery stores are hip to the patterns and insights revealed by their stock management software.

They know that it’s simply too costly to have customers experience out of stocks.

And while all customers are likely to be forgiving one time. They aren’t going to do that if they repeatedly see the same patterns of products being out of stock.

They’ll go to their competitors. A loss in revenue!

So, the best grocery stores are not out of stock on Mondays, seeing as they are being restocked several times each day. The small items during the day, while the big items and those likely to disrupt operations are restocked at night.

What is the best day to shop at Walmart?

Any day of the week is good to shop at Walmart in terms of the fullness of the shelves. But the least busy days to shop are Tues, Wed, and Thurs, and the least busy times are right at opening and after 8 pm.

Below are some of the advice from some Walmart employees.

Note that it’s subject to change. If you don’t like shopping when there’s a huge crowd (who does?), it’s best to be there before lunch. If you want non-perishable food and toilet paper, it’s best to be there as soon as the store opens.

Any day of the week, early in the day, is good. Say around 8 am.

The meat from the previous day goes on sale at this time! In effect, early in the morning on any weekday would be okay, seeing as Walmart’s overnight crew had been cleaning and restocking during the night.

If you want to narrow down your choices, I’d say go on Wednesday morning.

As you probably know, the weekends are the least ideal times since this is when most people are free to shop and shop.

How do you effectively navigate the different sections of a grocery store?

I crafted a guide for you in a recent article of mine. Have you always wondered whether grocery stores are designed to make you walk a certain way? Check out the article for the answer and a lot more from a 20-year veteran.

Just click the link to read the article on my site.

Conclusion

It can be frustrating when you can get what you want from your local store. In this article, we looked at issues around the restocking schedules of grocery stores.

We learned that the top dogs often restock daily. At times, twice daily. Think Whole Foods, Walmart…

And, we learned that small stores may replenish their stock twice a week. It makes sense. The volume of transactions and in-store traffic are key variables.

Do busy grocery stores restock daily, are Walmart’s shelves full first thing in the morning, do most whole foods restock in the morning…and similar themes were explored.

We even found out the best day to shop.

Jeff Campbell
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By Author Jeff Campbell

Posted on  - Last updated:

Categories Operations