Will the packs fit—and can customers see the choice?

The cabinet holds the stock on paper. From the customer side, the front bottles hide the tubs, one label sits behind a shelf edge and the person refilling it has to move a whole row to reach the back. Empty litres did not reveal any of those problems.

Compare a display fridge with a loaded shelf plan: actual packs, visible choices and a workable refill route. Count what occupies each proposed position, then keep manufacturer loading permission and product-temperature evidence separate. A neat drawing can help you shortlist a cabinet; it cannot establish refrigeration performance.

The worked example below rearranges the same 48 packs across two fictional shelves, then follows an 18-pack draw and refill. It shows why stock count, front-facing choice and reserve stock are different parts of the decision.

Measure the package the customer will actually see

Measure sealed saleable units, including rims, closures, labels and projections. Record width across the proposed facing, front-to-back depth and complete height. Include any tray, divider or presentation support that occupies space. A container's advertised volume does not identify its outside envelope.

Choose an orientation deliberately. Turning a rectangular pack may change the number of positions across the shelf while hiding its label or making removal awkward. Record which face carries the product name and how the customer or operator picks it up. Do not count a rotated position as useful merely because its rectangle fits.

For each product, distinguish a facing from a lane and a pack. Here, a lane is one front-to-back run of the same product; its front pack provides one facing. Three packs deep in one lane means three stock units but only one front facing. Products behind that first pack are not three independently visible choices.

Take representative packaging to the discussion. A cardboard mock-up is useful for proportions and sightlines, but it does not establish shelf strength, an allowed loading arrangement or product temperature. Use the actual supplier documentation and the venue's appropriate process checks for those answers.

Worked shelf plan: keep the stock, change the front view

Fictional rectangle exercise, not specifications or permitted loading for a cabinet. Assume two identical planning rectangles, each 600 mm across and 360 mm front to back. These are invented areas for comparing arrangements, not bare cabinet dimensions. No real airflow exclusions, dividers, obstructions, tolerances or removal spaces have been established. Those still need to be drawn from the offered model's evidence.

The example tub measures 90 mm across by 120 mm deep; the bottle measures 60 mm across by 100 mm deep. Complete heights, loaded masses and shelf settings remain unresolved. We draw both products three packs deep solely for this paper count. No stacking is assumed.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Both plans contain 18 tubs and 30 bottles: 48 packs. Both have six tub facings and ten bottle facings across the two shelves. B changes where those facings appear; it does not increase capacity. Its top shelf presents both categories instead of only tubs. Whether that helps depends on the actual viewing height, labels and merchandising aim.

The tub lanes occupy 3 × 120 = 360 mm front to back. The bottle lanes occupy 3 × 100 = 300 mm. A positive unused rectangle is not a required air gap, and a line that exactly reaches 600 or 360 mm has no allowance for real tolerances or handling. Neither is a recommendation to load a real shelf edge to edge.

Try an alternative before assuming the mixed shelf works: six tub lanes and four bottle lanes would require 540 + 240 = 780 mm across. That fails this 600 mm paper width by 180 mm. The response is to change the allocation or investigate another documented configuration, not squeeze the packs into the drawing.

Check the view and removal path before accepting the count

Mock up the proposed shelf levels at the intended position and normal viewing distance. In plan B, can the tub labels still be read beside the bottles? Does a shelf edge obscure information? Can someone identify and remove the back product without disturbing another category? Record what you observe rather than converting the drawing into a claim about increased sales.

Include the actual access arrangement. A staff-served counter, open-front display and customer-access glass-door cabinet create different reach and refill questions. A door, frame or light may affect a position that looks clear on an empty shelf. Request the exact shelf and access drawings for the offered model.

Keep presentation changes within the manufacturer's instructions. The official SKOPE OpenDeck user guide illustrates why: it identifies shelf-specific dimensions and load limits, load-limit indicators, airflow requirements and restrictions on overhanging product. Those instructions apply to the models named in that guide. They do not approve these imaginary rectangles or supply universal gaps for other fridges.

Before relying on a real arrangement, identify the matched manual, required exclusions, shelf loading and permitted adjustments. Mark any unusable regions on the actual plan, then recount. Do not preserve an attractive total by quietly ignoring a manufacturer restriction.

Worked refill: display stock is not the reserve

Use plan B for a fictional stock movement. The cabinet opens with 48 packs. Separately, suitable reserve storage holds ten tubs and fifteen bottles: 25 packs. Storage suitability and handling procedures are assumed for this teaching example, not established by it.

During the next observation window, assume eight tubs and ten bottles are taken from the top shelf. These 18 removals are invented, not a demand forecast. The top shelf falls from 12 tubs and 12 bottles to four tubs and two bottles. The lower shelf remains at six tubs and eighteen bottles, so the whole cabinet now contains 30 packs.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

The refill transfers eight tubs and ten bottles from reserve to the top shelf. Reserve falls to seven packs; those packs have not appeared from extra cabinet capacity. Combined opening stock was 48 + 25 = 73. After 18 removals it is 55: 48 in the cabinet and seven in reserve. This reconciliation prevents reserve stock being counted twice.

The record does not predict how long the draw or refill takes, how often doors open or whether temperatures remain suitable. Observe those questions under the appropriate procedure. Agree who refills, where reserve waits, how rotation works and what happens when the intended facing is depleted before the next refill.

Take a loaded-display brief to the supplier

For your own supplier brief, record actual package envelope, lane allocation, depth, displayed count, reserve and replenishment evidence. Replace the fictional inputs with actual evidence and leave unresolved decisions visible.

Please assess these actual packages, intended facings and refill route against the offered cabinet. Provide the usable shelf arrangement within its documented restrictions, identify any excluded positions or accessories, and state what product-temperature and handling evidence remains necessary.

Attach package photographs with measurements and the intended site view to your upright display fridge shortlist. Include the reserve location and access route. Compare the loaded proposal rather than a nominal litre figure, and retain unresolved questions in the offer.

Source and example limits

Primary manufacturer source checked 18 October 2026: SKOPE OpenDeck user guide PRN80380, revision 2.2, July 2025, for OD300N, OD360N, OD400N and OD460N. Used narrowly to illustrate matched shelf, loading and airflow instructions. No numerical load or clearance from that guide is transferred to this example.

All planning rectangles, package dimensions, stock quantities and movements are invented. No cabinet compatibility, thermal result, safe shelf mass, sales uplift, product-life extension or refill frequency is established. A geometric plan remains a shortlist tool until the actual arrangement and process are assessed.