A shelf overlay for mounting to a shelving system having at least one horizontal shelf mounted at opposite ends of the shelf to a pair of parallel and vertical spaced apart shelving standards. At least one such shelf overlay is mountable onto corresponding shelves. Each shelf overlay includes a rigid planar portion, a lip, and mounting means. The rigid planar portion is bounded by a front edge, an oppositely disposed rear edge, and opposite side edges. The lip is orthogonal to the planar portion and is mounted along the front edge so as to extend from each of the opposite side edges. The lip extends downwardly from the planar portion so as to substantially cover a front edge surface of a corresponding shelf when the shelf overlay is mounted onto the corresponding shelf. The lip may also extend upwardly from the planar portion. The lip may be planar or may be convexly curved in a horizontal plane.