“There’s no part-time clerk manually opening packaging, taking the product out and stocking it,” he says. “There’s less labor involved, less handling and less damage.”

The half pallets, developed at the CHEP Innovation Center in Orlando, Fla., help sales because they provide additional visibility among many items competing for shoppers’ attention, Adlam says. 

“These half pallets enable a seamless flow of goods from the manufacturer to the store floor,” he says. “Consumers see the products beautifully displayed and purchase what they see.”

Marketers have flexibility in how they want their products to look on display and can create an eye-catching, clean presentation, he adds.

Adlam says retailers that use the half pallet have reported:

• 25 percent reduction in handling costs
• Up to 75 percent reduction in in-store labor costs
• Up to 60 percent decrease to in-store replenishment time
• About 30 percent sales increase

CHEP, part of Brambles, uses a pooled model in which customers rent pallets and containers they need, and CHEP determines efficient routes to distribute, collect and reuse them. 

“Our 300 million pallets, crates and containers move through a network of more than 750 service centers, supporting more than 500,000 customer touch points for global brands such as Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s and Nestlé,” Adlam says.

The half pallets are the only pooled platform in North America certified CarbonNeutral, a sustainability protocol that CHEP achieves by calculating the pallets’ carbon footprint and purchasing offset credits for reforestation, Adlam says.