How to choose a commercial display fridge for your shop

A commercial display fridge has two jobs: keep food and drinks cold, and help them sell. The right one for your shop depends on what you're selling, who serves it, and where the unit will stand. Here's how to choose.

Start with what you sell and who serves it

• Drinks and grab-and-go food that customers take themselves: an upright glass door fridge, or an open deck fridge for very busy trade.
• Cakes, slices and pastries that staff serve: a cake or patisserie display.
• A small range of impulse buys beside the till: a countertop display fridge.
• Ice cream and frozen goods: a display freezer.

If you sell across these groups, you may need two types, such as a cake display at the counter and an upright for drinks.

Countertop display fridges

Countertop display fridges sit on the bench, close to where customers pay, which makes them handy for cold drinks, sandwiches and snacks. Before you choose one, check that your bench is deep enough for the unit, that it can take the weight, and that there's room for air to move around it. Also think about who will reach in, customers or staff, and from which side.

Upright glass door fridges

An upright glass door fridge holds a lot of stock on a small footprint, and customers can see everything without holding the door open. They come in one, two and three door sizes. Hinged doors need clear space in front to swing open, so think about the aisle in front of the fridge. Some product pages list the total depth with the door open.

Cake and patisserie display fridges

A cake display fridge shows cakes and pastries behind glass, on tiers, so customers can see exactly what they're choosing. When you compare models, look at:

• Curved or square glass, and which suits your counter and the look of your shop.
• How staff load and serve, for example from sliding doors at the back.
• Whether the glass is heated to stop it fogging up.
• The shelf sizes and spacing, measured against your tallest cakes and your trays.

Open deck fridges vs glass doors

Open deck (multideck) fridges have no doors, so customers can grab and go quickly, but there's nothing to close and hold the cold in. Many have a night blind to pull down after hours.

The difference in power use can be large. The Bromic FHM1250-NR open multideck and the Bromic FHM1250HD-NR with doors are the same size: 1330mm wide, 915mm deep and 2090mm high, with 814L capacity. The open version lists 16.9kWh per 24 hours. The version with doors lists 3.3kWh per 24 hours, about a fifth of the power for the same size of cabinet.

Display freezers

Our display freezers include upright glass door freezers in one, two and three door sizes, chest and island freezers with glass sliding lids, and compact countertop models. Upright models take up less floor space, while chest and island freezers let shoppers look down into the cabinet through the glass lids.

Size and capacity

Litres tell you the total space inside, but what matters day to day is how much you can show at once. Work out what needs to be on display at your busiest time, then compare shelf numbers and sizes on the product page. Measure your tallest bottles or cakes against the shelf spacing, and check whether the shelves are adjustable.

Energy use: finding a low energy display fridge

Many of our product pages list a GEMS star rating and the energy consumption in kWh per 24 hours. If a page doesn't, check the spec sheet. More stars means a more efficient unit, but compare like with like: two upright glass door fridges of a similar size, not an upright against a cake display. A few plain habits help too:

• Choose doors over an open front if your customers don't need instant access.
• Keep the fridge out of direct sun and away from ovens, fryers and coffee machines.
• Don't pack stock so tightly that it blocks the air vents.
• Use the night blind or turn the lights off out of hours if the unit has that option.

Where it goes: heat, air and access

Many product pages list the maximum room (ambient) temperature the unit is built for. Most of our upright glass door fridges list 32°C or higher, while most of our open deck fridges list 25°C. If your shopfront gets hot in summer, choose a unit rated for it. Leave the clearances the manual or spec sheet asks for around the unit, so it can breathe.

Then plan the route in. A fridge goes through a doorway lengthways, so the doorway has to clear the unit's depth and its height, not its width. Its length matters at corners, in hallways and in lifts. The FHM1250-NR above has a packed size of 1500mm x 980mm x 2350mm, so packed it stands taller than many standard doorways. Check both the product dimensions and the packed dimensions. If the packaging has to come off and the unit still can't fit through a doorway, the supplier may refuse to accept it as a return. See our guide to measuring before you buy.

Questions we get asked

Can the courier bring the fridge inside?

Our standard delivery is kerbside to a commercial address, and any item over 22kg, such as a fridge, arrives on a pallet. If you need in-store delivery, email info@commercialequipmentonline.com.au before you order and we'll provide a customised premium delivery quote.

What if it doesn't fit?

If a fridge doesn't fit your space and you'd like to exchange it, we must be notified strictly within 7 days of receiving it. A wrong size because measurements weren't checked is treated as a change-of-mind return, which carries a minimum 25% admin/restocking fee, with the exact fee set by the supplier.

Is the glass covered by the warranty?

All new products we sell (excluding accessories and parts) include a minimum 12-month manufacturer's warranty unless otherwise stated. Manufacturer warranties don't cover broken glass unless it was delivered broken, so inspect your fridge on delivery and report any damage strictly within 24 hours.

How do I keep it running well?

Follow the maintenance schedule in your product manual. Fridge and freezer condenser filters must be cleaned regularly, and not maintaining the equipment correctly may void the warranty.

Ready to compare models? Browse our full range of display fridges.

More buying guides

• How to choose a commercial ice maker: size, type and cooling
• Why choose SKOPE fridges and freezers?