In retail stores such as grocery stores, drug stores, convenience stores and “outlet” stores, smaller items can be packaged in sealed plastic or other small packaging for display and ultimate purchase by the consumer. For example, food items, such as processed cheese in shredded form, certain types of lunch or other deli meat, and candy items, are typically packaged in flexible sealed plastic packages. In addition, other items, such as batteries, are typically packaged in more rigid blister type packages. Both of these types of packages typically contain a small hole or opening adjacent to the upper end of the package to allow the packages to be displayed on a peg extending out from a backwall of a display case toward the aisle, and thus the consumer. The consumer can remove a package from the peg for purchase. Once the supply of packages is exhausted, the stock can be resupplied by placing additional packages onto the peg.
Since the margins for these types of retail stores are razor-thin, operators of such stores are constantly looking for ways to decrease their cost of operating the stores. One cost is the labor needed to move retail items from storage and place them onto the display case for consumers to purchase. It is typically time consuming for a stock person to remove the items from a shipping container and to place them on a display case. This is especially difficult when handling large numbers of packages that need to be placed on a peg of a display case. The stock person must align the openings adjacent to the top of the package with the peg and slide the package toward the backwall of the display case. Alignment can be even more difficult because the peg typically has an upturned end. Thus, the stockperson typically places packages on the peg one at a time or only a few at a time. This is inefficient and time consuming. This problem is exacerbated when the need arises to rotate stock, such as the case with food items. Rotation of the stock involves moving the older items to the front of the display peg to ensure those items are sold first and placing the newer stock along the rear of the display peg. To accomplish this, the stock person needs to remove all of the old stock from the display peg, place the new stock on the display peg and then return the old stock to the front of the display peg in front of the old stock. This can become quite a time consuming chore if the packages are placed on the peg one at a time or only a few at a time.
Up to now, there has not been a device that would provide for an efficient method for removing such packages from a shipping container and placing them on a peg in a display case. Nor has there been a shipping container that can be used alone or in combination with such a device to provide a system for efficient shipping and stocking of items on a display peg. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a device, system and method to facilitate the quick and efficient transfer of packaged items from a shipping container to a peg on a display case in a retail store or other outlet.