Gondola Shelving Buyer's Guide: Australian Standard vs P25, Accessories & Custom Colours
Gondola shelving is the freestanding steel shelving you walk past in every supermarket, pharmacy and corner store. A sturdy frame, adjustable shelves, product visible from the aisle. Single-sided units sit against a wall. Double-sided units run down the middle of the floor and let you merchandise both faces.
Simple enough. The catch is that "gondola" isn't one product. Two systems dominate Australian retail, the Australian Standard gondola and the P25, and they don't share every part. Pick one, order fixtures, then discover the dividers you wanted don't fit? That's a very expensive Tuesday.
So decide the system first. Here's how we'd think about it.
Australian Standard gondola: the everyday workhorse
This is the format most people picture. Modular steel uprights, shelves that adjust, and tool-free assembly and disassembly, which matters more than it sounds when you're fitting out a store over a weekend and need to move a bay on Monday.
Where it fits best: supermarkets, convenience stores and FMCG-heavy retail. Think packaged food, drinks, household goods. Lots of SKUs, lots of facings, fast restocking.
Why retailers pick it: the format is familiar, so staff, shopfitters and suppliers all know how to work with it. Accessory compatibility is broad, which keeps future changes simple.
Before you order: confirm the height, base depth and shelf lengths against your floor plan. We hold the current dimension sheet at our Dandenong South warehouse, so ask for it rather than working from a catalogue photo.
P25 Gondola: heavier duty, finer adjustment
P25 gets its name from the 25mm pitch, the spacing between adjustment points on the upright. Smaller steps mean you can set shelf heights much closer to your actual product, instead of rounding up to the next slot and wasting a few centimetres of air above every shelf. Across a full bay, that adds up.
It's also built for heavier product loads, and it can be finished in custom RAL colours. That second point matters if your brand colour is non-negotiable or the fixtures need to match a fit-out that's already designed.
Where it fits best: hardware, pharmacy, pet stores, liquor and specialty retail. Heavier or oddly sized stock, tighter merchandising, and a look that needs to feel designed rather than default grey.
Worth knowing: custom colours mean planning ahead. Lock your RAL reference early and confirm timing with us before a store opening date is promised to anyone.
Quick comparison
Australian Standard | P25 | |
Best for | Supermarket, convenience, FMCG | Hardware, pharmacy, pet, liquor, specialty |
Duty | General retail loads | Heavier product loads |
Shelf height adjustment | Standard increments | 25mm pitch, finer control |
Colour | Standard finish | Custom RAL colours available |
Assembly | Tool-free | Modular, adjustable on site |
Not sure which side of the table you're on? Mixed stores exist. A pharmacy with a grocery aisle, a hardware shop with a consumables wall. Plenty of our fit-outs use both, which is fine as long as the accessories are planned per system.
The accessories that change how a bay performs
The frame is the easy part. Accessories decide whether a bay actually sells.
Dividers. Keep facings tidy and stop product drifting sideways as shoppers pick. Small cost, big difference to how a shelf looks at 4pm on a Saturday.
Hook rails. Turn a shelf bay into peg-style display for blister packs, accessories and small hardware. One run of hook rail can replace a messy pile of boxes.
Sign rails. Price tickets, promotions and category headers at eye level. They're also the quickest way to change a message without touching the fixture.
Base decks. Give heavier or bulkier items a proper low shelf, and finish the bottom of the bay cleanly.
One rule we repeat to customers: check accessory compatibility per system before you finalise the order. Parts that suit Australian Standard don't automatically suit P25, and the reverse is true too.
Planning for peak trading
Retail doesn't sit still. Back-to-school, Easter, Christmas, a winter cold-and-flu push in a pharmacy, a spring garden wall in a hardware store. If the only way to handle that is a full rebuild, you'll dread every season.
You don't need one. Gondola systems are modular, so a good layout plan lets you:
raise or lower shelf heights to suit seasonal packaging
swap a run of shelves for hook rails when the range turns to small items
add sign rails for a promotional message, then pull them off after
move end bays and wall bays around without touching the bays that don't change
The trick is deciding this at the design stage, not in the second week of November. Leave room in the floor plan, pick accessories you'll reuse, and keep the base layout calm so the seasonal parts can be loud.
Talk to us before the fit-out starts
We'll look at your floor plan, your product range and your trading calendar, then suggest where Australian Standard makes sense, where P25 earns its place, and which accessories are worth buying on day one. No obligation, and it's a free layout consultation.
Call us on 03 8766 9072, email info@chracking.com.au, or send us your plan through the contact page.
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