SLR June 2017

JUNE 2017 | ISSUE 170

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GARY WINTER

CONVENIENCE TECHNOLOGY

Collect+ targets big growth

Tools to run a more profitable business

SNACK ATTACK

STORE OF THE FUTURE

Cash in on crisps and snacks

IGD’s vision for the physical store

RESEARCH DIGEST

Data to inform your decisions

MAHMOOD IS CHICAGO BOUND! It’s next stop Chicago for Scottish Local Retailer of the Year Mahmood Saleem.

Full review of the SLR Rewards 2017!

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Promoting Responsible Community Retailing to ensure a sustainable and prosperous convenience industry in Scotland

Join us at

CHANCE TO WIN £10,00E IN0

THE DUKE’S

CASH HOL ONE PRIZE

for the

SGF Annual Golf Day Thursday 7th September 2017 The Duke’s Course, Old Course Hotel, St Andrews The Scottish Grocers’ Federation will once again be hosting a fantastic retail trade Golf Day to bring suppliers, wholesalers and retailers together – and we would like you to be involved!

The event will bring the industry together in beautiful surroundings at the home of golf.

ce Attendan is FREE s r e l i a t e R r o f ati at Contact Iro book the SGF tce now. your pla

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The Duke’s Course has spectacular views over the St Andrews countryside to the sea.

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Originally designed by Peter Thomson, fivetimes Open Champion, the Duke’s was revised and renovated by Tim Liddy in 2006.

To book, or for more information, contact Irati Ugarte – i.ugarte@scotgrocersfed.co.uk (0131 343 3300) SLR 2 SGF June Golf 2017.indd 2017 (FP).indd 1

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June 2017

Contents

Contents ISSUE 170

NEWS p4

Contactless payment fraud climbs Almost £7m is stolen as contactless spending sees rapid growth. p5 Lifestyle Express launches Learning Academy Lifestyle Express is launching its own retail learning academy this month to provide its retailers with essential support. p6 GroceryAid names new President and Vice President Andy Higginson and Charles Wilson take on top posts. p8 Spar rolls out latest phase of Easy Meals campaign Activity promotes core range of Spar brand products to create easy evening meal occasion. p10 News Extra IGD unveils vision for store of the future Research specialist highlights 10 areas where retailers must focus to ensure stores remain relevant to shoppers in a digital age. p46 Product News A round up of the latest product news that retailers need to be aware of. p48 Off-Trade Heineken opens consumers’ world with new acceptance campaign.

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p50 2 Minutes Of Your Time Gary Winter Director at PayPoint explains his new role as Parcel Service Director for Collect+. p53 Trending Deposit Return Scheme Retailers and industry experts give their opinions on the controversial scheme. p54 Research Digest Data from IGD Retail Analysis and William Reed Business Media shows number of stores in the convenience sector has grown over the last 12 months. p56 Woodlands Local Unseasonably warm weather over the last few weeks helped us gear up for what will hopefully be a busy summer. p58 Hotlines A digest of some of the latest products to hit the shelves.

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FEATURES

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INSIDE BUSINESS

p60 Crisps and Snacks The lowdown on the latest trends in one of convenience’s best-selling categories. p64 Chocolate Sweet toothed consumers continue delivering significant sales and profits for local retailers. p70 Summer Drinks Scottish summer has arrived and the drinks industry gives its top tips to help make the most of the warmer weather before it disappears. p82 Retail Technology The role of technology in local retailing is getting ever larger, as more and more solutions begin to appear. p90 Mints and Gum Mints and gum continue to be strong performers for convenience. p94 Under The Counter The Auld Yin had finally found his spirit animal as he gets his teeth into the industry’s unusual retail tales.

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ON THE COVER 14

SLR Rewards A full run-down of who won what and why, along with pictures from the night Mahmood Saleem picked up a trio of trophies for his Ardeer Service Station.

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News TECHNOLOGY Authorities allay fears in light of contactless payment fraud spike

Nisa membership boost Membership numbers at Nisa Retail swelled after a successful recruitment event hosted during the company’s two-day exhibition at Stoneleigh. In total, 23 prospective members met with the recruitment team and signed up for the fascia.

Chris Moore, New Business Controller at Nisa, welcomed the news and said the results were encouraging.

Lunch drives contactless Workers grabbing lunch on the go is one of the key drivers behind a surge in mobile contactless payments, according to the latest spending data from Worldpay. According to Worldpay’s analysis of

Contactless payment fraud climbs to £7m The amount of money stolen from contactless bank cards and mobile devices has soared, according to Financial Fraud Action UK. Almost £7m was taken in 2016, compared to £2.8m the previous year as contactless spending rose from £7.75bn to £25.2bn over the same period.

Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, said that contactless card fraud still accounts for only 1.1% of total card fraud and added: “The overall risk is low and we have been urgently working with card schemes and banks to ensure this issue is fixed.”

In a letter to the Treasury Select Committee earlier this year, John Griffith-Jones, Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority said “public confidence could be eroded without further action”.

Richard Koch, Head of Policy at The UK Cards Association, which represents card issuers, said: “All contactless cards contain robust security features including an inbuilt security check which triggers the need to enter a PIN at certain points. Customers are fully protected against any losses and will never be left out of pocket in the unlikely event they are the victim of this type of

fraud, unlike if they lose cash.”

consumer spending patterns, the total number of contactless transactions where a mobile device was used reached 38

SUSTAINABILITY Drinks giant announces scheme to lower carbon footprint

LOTTERY

Coca-Cola opens solar farm

Camelot reinstates free retail helpline

million by the end of 2016, with the total amount spent topping £288m. Lunchtime ‘Meal Deal’ hotspots accounted for 54% of all mobile tap and pay transactions processed by Worldpay last year.

Sun tops Sunday Sales The Scottish Sun on Sunday has taken over the top spot of the Sunday popular market for the first time, according to April’s ABC figures. The News Scotland title moved into the lead with a circulation of 153,066.

The Scottish Sun’s Monday to Saturday edition continued to dominate the daily popular market with a circulation of 201,245.

SGF urge PayPoint contract checks Scottish Grocers’ Federation has contacted all its retail members to make them fully aware of the new changes to the terms and conditions of PayPoint Retailer Agent contracts. The Federation is seeking to ensure its members have as much information as possible before they make decisions which it says could

Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has announced the launch of a major renewable project with all electricity generated by a brand new solar farm being used to support production of its brands at Europe’s largest soft drinks factory in Wakefield.

The solar farm covers eight hectares, the size of 12 football pitches, and will produce up to five Mega Watts of energy. Located 1.5 miles from CCEP’s Wakefield site, it is directly connected to the factory via a series of underground cables, delivering 15% of the site’s total electricity use as part of a longterm Power Purchase Agreement.

The project will help to reduce the site’s operational carbon footprint by 8.6%, with approximately 900 cans and 330 PET bottles produced using

renewable electricity every minute.

The solar farm is the latest step in the Wakefield factory’s carbon savings. In 2014, a £1m combined heat and power system was also launched at the site, saving some 1,500 tons of CO2 a year across the factory’s operations, a 5.6% reduction for the site. Together with the renewable electricity sourced from solar, 3,800 tonnes of CO2 will be saved at the Wakefield site per year – equal to taking more than 1,700 cars off the road.

The launch coincides with the news that the business has begun sourcing 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, as part of a collaboration with EDF Energy, furthering its commitment to sustainable manufacturing in Great Britain.

Camelot has reinstated its free retail hotline for retailers to use for day to day help and advice.

In autumn 2015 the national lottery operator transferred its previously free retail hotline to an expensive 0844 number.

No formal notice was given about the move before the new telephone number took effect from Friday October 8.

The NFRN raised members’ concerns directly with Camelot warning that the move would result in retailers paying more to use the hotline than they would earn in commission from selling lottery products.

Camelot has now announced the launch of its “AllStars” support package for independent retailers, which along with the reinstatement of the free retail hotline number, includes a £4m plus investment in new and extra POS materials and signage and increased contact from its team for expert advice and support.

have a crucial impact on their long-term business strategy.

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News TRAINING Online learning platform to make induction training easier to launch

Lifestyle Express launches Lifestyle Learning Academy Lifestyle Express is launching its own retail learning academy this month, the Lifestyle Learning Academy, to provide its retailers with essential retail support to drive up sales and better serve the needs of its customers.

The online learning platform, which is a bespoke offering created

by Glasgow-based Bolt Learning for Lifestyle Express, comes after research showed that one in five symbol retailers admitted that they do not carry out induction training for new starters, and one in three retailers considered training to be a significant challenge in their business.

The online learning can be accessed anytime, anywhere and on any device, and at a pace which suits the learner, and is available for all Lifestyle Express retailers free of charge. Retailers and their staff can complete elements before they start their role or while on a break, minimising time taken off the shop

floor. The system allows retailers to allocate and track staff training and progress using an ‘online filing cabinet’ to record training completed and prove compliance. Modules initially include age-related sales, basic health and safety, customer service and the importance of Core Range.

“People are the greatest assets that our stores have,” said Stuart Johnson, Retail Controller, Landmark Wholesale. “The Lifestyle Learning Academy will allow all of our retailers and their staff to access a range of essential training modules which will enable them to help maintain compliance and grow sales. We know that retailers struggle to find the time to train their staff and online training tackles those issues.

Bite-sized and fun to complete, the modules are available online at any time. I believe that The Lifestyle Learning Academy offers us a great opportunity to improve our staff skillset which will ultimately lead to

our stores serving the needs of our customers even better.”

“The training offered via the Lifestyle Academy will give retailers a distinct advantage in an increasingly competitive retail environment,” said Tom Fender, Director, Bolt Learning.

“If shoppers are the most important people in the retail industry, then the people who look after them should be a firm second. Not only will this save Lifestyle Express retailers time, money and the administrative headache associated with training, but by upskilling staff they can ultimately deliver a better service to the shopper, and that can only have a positive impact on sales.”

MRH pilots c-store franchise with Co-op Independent petrol station owner, MRH, has signed an agreement with the Co-op to pilot a new franchise convenience store at seven petrol station sites across the UK. The first store opened in north-west London, and is part of MRH’s wider strategy to invest in its service stations and to develop partnerships which increase the choice for customers visiting its sites.

Frozen food soars in UK The frozen food retail market has once again seen value and volume growth in the 52 weeks to March 27, 2017 including growth across almost every sub-category. According to the latest statistics from Kantar Worldpanel, sales of frozen food in retail grew by 1.3% in value year on year (yoy) with the sector now valued at £5.77bn. The ice cream and frozen confectionery categories were the stars of the show for the fifth consecutive quarter with yoy value growth of 4% and 11% respectively, accompanied by respective yoy

SALES FIGURES Spar reports year-on-year growth

Spar UK retail sales up 8.5% Spar UK’s retail sales figures for 2016 rose by 8.5% to £2.84bn. The company puts the growth down to a surge of retailers joining the Spar model, a fresh marketing approach, and a strong focus on foodservice.

Spar UK added 186 new stores last year to bring numbers to 2,620 with a total retail area of 371,189sq m, and sales per square metre up by 4.2%. The group is now also the largest forecourt retailer in the UK with significant growth coming from multi-site retail partners in 2016.

Debbie Robinson, Spar UK Managing Director, said: “Spar UK is in a fantastic financial position, proving ourselves to be a strong, stable long-term partner to both our retailers and international colleagues. We continue to take a more personal approach with our customers ensuring we have the right products and services. Our experience, knowledge of the market and the consumer sets us apart in times when others are finding the marketplace challenging.”

Spar UK’s success is down to its wide range of customer-focused initiatives that are exactly what today’s convenience shoppers are looking for, said Robinson.

“Our Daily Deli foodservice offering, more fresh food including butchery and deli counters, and our award-

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winning Spar Brand range are just some of the reasons shoppers now see us as a go-to destination for greattasting, fresh food,” she said. “We have also boosted our digital advertising and targeted our promotions at younger shoppers, which has been really well received, and have been recognised repeatedly over the year with industry awards,” said Robinson.

Meanwhile, One Stop franchisees experienced an average growth in their like-for-like sales performance of more than 7% during the 2016/17 financial year, in addition to year-on-year margin growth of +5%, according to the company.

The percentages relate to all franchisees that have been trading with One Stop for over a year. In addition to this, franchisees have grown their basket spend by a further 3.2% and footfall by 3.7%, delivering over £120m of total sales to customers. Turnover increases in refitted One Stop franchisee stores were around 23% overall.

Andrew King, Franchise Director, said: “The figures speak for themselves and support the business decision our franchisees have made in joining One Stop. It’s our objective to ensure that our franchisees’ businesses continue to grow, both in turnover and profitability.”

volume growth of 2.9% and 7.1%.

Hopeman Costcutter taken over A pair of first-time buyers have purchased the Costcutter store in the Morayshire village of Hopeman. Tim Moyle and Syanness Tunggal-Moyle are taking over the running of the business after the previous owners retired. The store has a modern fitted large sales floor with owners’ accommodation and an enclosed private garden.

Tim and Syanness previously worked in the commercial and non-profit sectors that they hope their experience will help boost the store’s longstanding reputation in the local community. Craig Dickson, Director at Christie Finance that arranged funding, said “I have no doubt that Tim and Syaness will continue to grow the business.”

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News APPOINTMENTS Morrison Supermarket and Booker personnel take top positions in charity organistion

Wrigley ‘Supplier of the Year’ Wrigley has been named ‘Supplier of the Year’ at Sugro UK’s annual awards, held

GroceryAid names new President and Vice President

recently at Gleneagles Resort in Perthshire. Wrigley Impulse Account Manager, Ben Jilbert, who accepted the award, put this down to “a strong 18 months of head office collaboration and member engagement”.

IGD unveils website refresh IGD, the education and training charity for the food and grocery industry that undertakes research for public benefit, has

Andy Higginson (pictured right), Chairman of Wm Morrison Supermarkets, has been appointed as President of GroceryAid, the grocery industry charity, by its Board of Trustees effective from 1st July 2017. GroceryAid has also appointed a Vice President with Charles Wilson (pictured left), Booker’s CEO, taking up this post.

Andy Higginson commented: “I am honoured and humbled to be asked to take on this vital role. I am thrilled to be working with the GroceryAid team and the trade to drive the charity forward as we build on the excellent progress made by my predecessors.”

Charles Wilson added: “I am delighted to support

GroceryAid and Andy with this new role as the charity is very dear to my heart. I am excited about working with colleagues across the supply chain to ensure we support grocery people in need as effectively as possible.”

relaunched its websites to offer a new and improved digital

SALES FIGURES

experience for customers.

Retail sales slow in year to May

IGD.com and its three commercial websites, Retail Analysis, ShopperVista and Supply Chain Analysis, have all been relaunched with IGD’s new brand identity and now offer an improved digital experience. This includes easier navigation and clear signposting.GroceryAid

raises awareness

GroceryAid has launched a new campaign raising awareness of the issues affecting thousands of grocery colleagues daily. The campaign is being promoted throughout the industry

Retail sales were broadly flat in the year to May following strong growth in April, according to the latest CBI Quarterly Distributive Trades Survey. The survey of 117 respondents also found that orders placed with suppliers fell modestly on a year ago, following robust growth in April. Total retail sales are expected to rise marginally again in June, but growth is set to remain below the long-run average.

Grocers’ sales were flat after two months of growth while the quarterly survey also showed that employment declined in the year to May, for the second quarter running, and is set to fall again in the year to June.

Investment intentions also remained negative for a second consecutive quarter, and retailers once again expect the business situation to deteriorate over the next quarter.

Alpesh Paleja, CBI Principal Economist, said: “Retail sales flattened out this month, as the bounce in April unwound. It’s clear that households are increasingly feeling the pinch, as rising inflation pushes down on real earnings. Taken together with higher import cost pressures from a weaker pound, this is creating a challenging environment for retailers.”

through a series of adverts, a direct mailing campaign and across social media with the hashtag #notbuyingit. There is also a dedicated section on the GroceryAid website to the campaign.

Consumers favour ownbrand Almost half of consumers have said they will cut back on eating out and switch to store ownbrands to save cash, according to new research commissioned

by Palmer & Harvey. The research, conducted by Retail Economics in a survey of 2000 respondents, found that consumers were already feeling the impact of rising prices and intended to cut back on eating out in favour of regular home cooking with 47% saying they

LISTINGS Premium Scottish confectionery brand secures listings with JW Filshill

Mrs Tilly secures Filshill listings Premium Scottish confectioners Mrs Tilly’s have secured new business listings with Scottish delivered wholesale specialists JW Filshill. The partnership will see Mrs Tilly’s Famous Tablet, Fudge and

Macaroon bars distributed across Filshill’s KeyStore estate as well as their independent retailer accounts.

Elisabeth Paterson, founder and joint CEO of the Larbert-based firm said: “We are delighted to

have secured these new listings with JW Filshill, which increase the availability of our impulse range across the convenience channel in Scotland and we are proud to be a family business bringing Scotland’s favourite sweeties to market for over 20 years.”

Simon Hannah, Managing Director of JW Filshill, added: “Scotland has arguably the best local larder in the world and we are pleased to be able to provide a committed and efficient route to market for Scottish craft and artisanal products. There is growing shopper interest in high quality local products, the Mrs Tilly’s range fits perfectly with that trend”

would switch to own-brands.

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News MEAL DEAL PROMOTION Spar champions own brand with Easy Meals promo

Jet network expansion Penny Petroleum has chosen Jet as the fuel supplier for its Kirkmuirhill Service Station in Lanark. Since Penny Petroleum bought the village site in March this year, Kirkmuirhill Service Station has been reimaged with Jet’s latest brand on the canopy, stanchion, pumps and polesign.

The site now incorporates food-to-go from local baker Aulds, a Costa Express, a large off-licence, a wide range of fresh food, a slush machine and customer toilet. Two jet washes, along with the air and vac facilities, have also recently been upgraded.

Retailers reduce working hours The latest British Retail Consortium Retail Employment Quarterly, for Q1 2017, has found that the equivalent number of full-time jobs in the retail sector fell by 3.9% compared with the same quarter a year ago. Both food and non-food retailers contributed to the decline in full

Spar rolls out latest phase of Easy Meals campaign Spar UK has rolled out the next phase of its Easy Meals campaign, which originally started in October 2016. The activity uses a core range of 15 existing Spar brand products to show shoppers that they can find everything they need for delicious, simple evening meals at their local Spar.

From this month until September, Spar is highlighting to shoppers six easy meal ideas made with this core range of products this summer, including BBQ beef ribs and sweet potato wedges, sweet chilli chicken kebabs, chicken salad,filled pasta and garlic flatbread, pizza and salad and BBQ ribs and baby potatoes.

Cath McIlwham, Spar UK Head of Brand, said: “Meal for tonight is the most valuable shopping mission – so by positioning Spar stores as a destination for evening meal

ingredients this summer, our retailers have a huge opportunity to grow sales.

“By continuing with our Easy Meals campaign, we are telling our customers that Spar is the place to shop for their meal for tonight, throughout the entire year. It also means we can also make sure our retailers are stocking the bestselling products from each category, for the best sales return possible.

“With a core range of 15 products, we can ensure that even the smallest Spar retailers have a credible range, and we can consistently show our customers that we have everything they need for tonight’s tea.”

The campaign is being supported by marketing with POS, promotional videos, website, social media, Spar Radio, e-newsletter and digital advertising.

time equivalent employment, although it was food that saw the deepest falls. In the first quarter of 2017, the number of outlets rose by 0.6% compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Food retailers drove the overall increase in the number of stores.

Skittery family success The Skittery family in Herefordshire have been crowned the overall winners in Heineken’s Golden Apple Awards, marking a second win for the family after their father David won the Golden Apple in 1987. Heineken holds the

CHARITY Fuel distributor raises money for Scottish guide dog charity

Certas raises £3k for Guide Dogs in Scotland Certas Energy has raised £3,000 for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association from the sale of plastic bags across its 25 forecourts in Scotland. The cheque presentation took place at the Abbeygate Filling Station in Forfar, which is situated close to a Guide Dog training centre.

In attendance at the Gulf forecourt were Certas Energy staff and a team of local volunteers from the charity.

The cheque was presented by Certas Energy’s Colin Levy and Neil Broadley.

“It’s a fantastic charity and our customers and staff really appreciate that their 5p’s are being handed over to such a worthwhile cause,” explained Colin, Coco Operations Manager at Certas Energy. “The money will be used to train-up new dogs and, as part of the charity’s ‘Name a Puppy’ scheme, we involved staff and customers across our network to help chose two names. We are delighted that Guide Dogs has duly accepted the names Bonnie and Clyde.”

biennial event to celebrate the contribution its orchard

CHARITY

growers make in providing the

GroceryAid quiz night raises £35k

British cider apples it needs every year. The Golden Apple Awards celebrate commitment to quality, land management and sustainability.

David Forde, Manager Director at Heineken, said the award demonstrated the Skittery’s

More than 200 grocery colleagues recently headed down to the Emirates Stadium for the sixth GroceryAid Quiz Night, raising £35,000 for the charity. The evening, sponsored by Heineken UK, saw Sparkler’s ‘Bright Sparks’ claim glory as they pipped last year’s champs the Association of Convenience Stores by just two points.

commitment to quality and was “well deserved”.

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CARLTON. Simply value For the avoidance of doubt, retailers are free at all times to determine the selling price of their product.

QUALITY

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BLEND

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Top 10 areas for retailers and suppl News Extra

IGD Store of the Future

Understand shoppers and their missions

NewsExtra

Best in class retailers increasingly recognise and cater for shoppers’ different missions, but there is still more to be done. In our vision of the future, distinctions between formats will become less relevant and retailers and suppliers will engage and interact with shoppers in a much more individual way.

NEW CONVENIENCE TECH TO CHECK OUT P82 RESEARCH A look ahead to the future of local retailing

Convenience Matters with the SGF We seem to be in a neverending cycle of referenda and elections. Whether it is the Independence Referendum, the referendum to leave the EU, local elections or the UK general election, big political decisions are always on top of us.

Underlying all of this is the fact that we can’t take our foot off of the gas when it comes to political engagement, influencing and lobbying. There are big issues impacting on our industry at both a UK and a Scottish level. Obviously one of the biggest issues we have is the National Living Wage (NLW) – the retail industry has seen the biggest impact with over 500,000 workers affected. There is a real danger that if this continues to rise our businesses will become unsustainable.

The UK government has a politically-set target that the NLW should rise to 60% of median earnings by 2020. However, the Low Pay Commission (LPC) plays a key role in recommending rate increases. Over the past two years we have been engaging directly with the Commission to ensure they understand the impact on our sector: 81% of staff in the industry are in the age group which is directly impacted by the NLW. This summer we are meeting again with the Commissioners.

Our colleagues from the Scotfresh Group have arranged a store visit in Glasgow so that the team from the LPC can get the view directly from the shop floor.

SGF will meet them too to get home the key message from our Scottish Local Shop Report and our own members’ survey. It may not have seemed like it, but last year the rise was not as big as had been expected. We can really make a difference.

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IGD UNVEILS VISION FOR STORE OF THE FUTURE Research specialists highlight 10 areas where retailers must focus to ensure stores remain relevant to shoppers in a digital age.

Grocery research organisation IGD and The Consumer Goods Forum have published a new report revealing what the organisations believe to be the 10 key areas food retailers must focus on to ensure physical stores remain relevant for shoppers in an increasingly digital age.

The Evolution of the Physical Store report maps out a vision for the future of the physical store. Jon Wright, EMEA Region Manager at IGD and author of the report, said: “The physical store of the future must rapidly evolve and innovate to remain relevant.

Suppliers also need to consider how these steps will affect them, how they can benefit from stores’ potential and how to support retailers.”

IGD’s top 10 areas for retailers and suppliers to consider as they prepare for the store of the future are: Q Understand shoppers and their missions – bestin-class retailers increasingly recognise and cater for shoppers’ different missions, but there is still more to be done. Distinctions between formats will become less relevant and retailers will engage and interact with shoppers in a more individual way.

Q Better data will enable better service – enhanced use of data and analytics will help retailers make more informed decisions around their ranges.

Personalisation will also be a major factor.

Q Be ready to enable flexible store designs – tech will free up space in-store to be used to excite shoppers with more focus on fresh food, missionfocused fixtures and convenient meal options.

Q Invest in staff – tech will also free up staff to focus on value-added services like having a friendly face bring brands to life.

Q Reconsider stores’ ranges – key to an engaging store will be offering what e-commerce cannot.

Q Remove friction from the whole journey – retailers will need to understand where and why there is friction in shoppers’ journeys around their stores. A speedy experience at the checkout is very important so removing checkouts altogether could be a big gain. Freeing up space for new features and fixtures and giving staff the opportunity to spend more time helping and

LL A LW

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Q

Q

Q

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inspiring shoppers will also be important.

Build and support brands – investing in brands will be important. Brand integrity is and will continue to be crucial; manufacturers will need to continue to find creative ways to support their brands.

Involve the supply chain team earlier and more often – more pressure will be placed on retailers’ supply chains to meet shoppers’ demands.

Retailers will need greater understanding of demand planning and the ability to react quickly, plus greater collaboration across the chain.

New stores will require different ways to measure success – retailers will need to come up with new ways of measuring success for the store of the future and demands created by shoppers.

Get buy-in from the top and from partners in the chain – creating the store of the future will requireA key element in cre what e-com investment and long-term planning. Retailers purchases will ha will need to establish and maintain a company- ranges will nee wide view of how the store will develop for their brands, putting the shopper at the heart of this evolution. Senior teams will need to commit to drive these wide-ranging, long-term changes.

Recons

Q

Wright added: “Already we are seeing stores experiment in ways to enhance the experience for shoppers, concentrating on visual appeal, product freshness, provenance and health – but there’s more to be done. A key challenge will be in picking through the noise of what shoppers say they want and focusing initially on those elements that they’re Forto retailers andClearly, suppliersthere preparing actually ready adopt. are for risks in store of the for future, in the future, building the the foundations theinvesting store of brands will be important. Brand integrity but the risks isofand notwill investing could be even continue to be crucial and higher.”

Build and support brands

manufacturers will need to continue to invest to find creative ways to build and www.slrmag.co.uk support their brand.

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Comment

IS FRANCHISING THE FUTURE OF LOCAL RETAILING? For many years it’s been fascias and symbols; now it’s franchises. Following One Stop’s lead, in the very recent past the likes of Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Morrisons have unveiled franchise models that purport to offer local retailers the benefits of being part of a household-name group while retaining (varying degrees) of independence and control over their business.

The trend throws up a lot of very interesting questions, and the development comes at a time when many retailers across Scotland are undoubtedly considering what the future holds and what they should be doing with their businesses to secure some sort of longer-term future in the industry. For many local retailers, the very thought of tying up with a major multiple would have filled them with horror – but the times they are a-changing and One Stop’s slow but steady progress in Scotland is testament to the fact that retailers are increasingly prepared to examine every option.

With One Stop recently granted membership of the SGF, it seems that the assimilation of the franchise model into the Scottish local retailing scene is all but complete. But will this signal a sea change in the industry with more mults offering a franchise model option, and more retailers prepared to put aside their long standing moral objections to try to secure a future for them and their families? Personally, I don’t think so.

A small but important point is that One Stop’s success in Scotland, such as it is, is at least partly down to the fact that Tesco has managed to put some distance between its master brand and its franchise model brand. I suspect more retailers than customers know that One Stop is a Tesco business, for example. Tesco’s reputation is less on the line, but a fully branded Sainsbury’s franchise store seems to me to be an incredibly difficult thing to bring to life without removing all control of the store from the retailer, in which case the retailer remains ‘independent’ in little more than name.

I find it hard it believe that Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and the Co-op would risk having independent retailers up and down the country tarnish a reputation they have spent many years and countless billions of pounds building. The potential reward is simply outweighed by the risk. But perhaps the multiples have no choice?

The last couple of years have been tough on most of them and this is one potential new revenue stream that doesn’t rely on massive capital expenditure investments and all the grief that comes with opening a new superstore.

Conversely, I can easily envisage a lot of local retailers being enticed by the opportunity to have one of those famous names above the door. It’s early days for franchising, but it will be worth watching over the coming months and years.

EDITORIAL Publishing Director & Editor Antony Begley 0141 222 5380 | abegley@55north.com Editoral Assistant Iain Hoey 0141 222 5385 | ihoey@55north.com Web Editor Findlay Stein 0141 222 5389 | fstein@55north.com

ADVERTISING Advertising Manager Susan Dignon 0141 222 5384 | sdignon@55north.com

DESIGN Design & Digital Manager Richard Chaudhry 0141 222 5300 | rchaudhry@55north.com Designer Lisa Deakin 0141 222 5388 | ldeakin@55north.com

EVENTS Events & Operations Co-ordinator Chloe Buchanan 0141 222 5383 | cbuchanan@55north.com

CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Scottish Local Retailer is distributed free to qualifying readers. For a registration card, call 0141 222 5381. Other readers may obtain copies by annual subscription at £50 (UK), £62 (Europe airmail), £99 (Worldwide airmail).

55 North Ltd, Waterloo Chambers, 19 Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 6AY Tel: 0141 22 22 100 Fax: 0141 22 22 177 Website: www.55north.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/slrmag DISCLAIMER The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of 55 North Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher.

All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endevoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change.

This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

Scottish Local Retailer is produced monthly by 55 North Ltd.

ANTONY BEGLEY, PUBLISHING DIRECTOR © 55 North Ltd. 2017 ISSN 1740-2409.

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THE MOST REWARDING NIGHT IN LOCAL RETAIL! The cream of the Scottish local retailing industry gathered last month to celebrate all that’s wonderful about our fine industry with a mountain of fantastic Rewards handed out to the very best of the best.

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The SLR Rewards is now well established as the most rewarding night in local retailing in the UK, if not the world, with many of Scotland finest retailers recognised by their peers and rewarded with fantastic prizes – but there’s no question that the night belonged to Mahmood Saleem whose Ardeer Services business in Ayrshire collected a trio of awards, including the biggie.

The spectacular £1.5m development won the New Store of the Year award and the ThinkSmart Innovation award as well as the overall and highly coveted Scottish Local Retailer of the Year title.

A beaming Mahmood Saleem collected the trophy as well as the unique Reward: a trip to Chicago in October to the NACS conference, the largest convenience retailing event in the world.

Mahmood’s store was highlighted by the judges as a store that has rewritten the rule books on what a modern convenience store should be. There is simply nothing else like it in Scotland and arguably across the rest of the UK. But the night wasn’t all about Mahmood as a host of fantastic retailers were honoured across 19 categories. Several were veterans of the SLR Rewards but, encouragingly, for many it was their first time on stage at the event.

Among those were Asif and Abada Akhtar whose work in Premier Smeaton stores in Kirkcaldy was recognised with the Community Retailer of the Year Award, a great achievement for a highly driven, caring couple who are the force behind most community-based events that happen in the Smeaton community.

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Kate Salmon, industry stalwart and head of the Scottish Wholesale Association, was also rewarded for the 32 years and counting that she has given the Association, representing wholesalers and retailers with passion, pride and just a touch of steel when required! Her Industry Achievement award sparked a fully deserved standing ovation.

There was also a sombre moment to the proceedings as the memory of late industry colleague Ewen Chisholm was honoured following his untimely death on October 29 last year. Members of the audience kindly donated over £2,000 to the cycling-based charity set up in honour of Ewen by his wife Vicky.

The cheque was presented to Vicky by SLR Publisher Antony Begley following the event. Anyone who would like to donate to the charity can do so by visiting the official fundraising page found at: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ vickychisholm “The SLR Rewards was another fantastic event that celebrated everything we should be proud of about our industry,” said Antony.

“There are some fantastic stores in Scotland, possibly some of the best in the UK. And there are some fantastic retailers. We at SLR are delighted to be able to provide a forum where we can celebrate excellence and Reward it with everything from trips to Chicago and Amsterdam to Champion’s League tickets and money-can’t-buy VIP events.

Retailers deserve to be treated this way and it’s our privilege to make it happen.”

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BEER & CIDER RETAILER OF THE YEAR

DAY TODAY WALLYFORD Tidy and polished, Day Today Wallyford is one of the best convenience stores in Scotland and very much at the heart of its community. Friendly staff with an “all hands on deck” attitude ensure that it runs smoothly and remains well stocked at all times. The beer and cider offering is a prime example of owner Muhammad Aslam’s willingness to work in partnership with his symbol group and suppliers.

He’s absolutely nailed the category creating fixtures that are colourful, interesting and perfectly balanced to ensure customers can find what they want easily – at the same time enticing them into purchasing something new and different. Beer and cider stands out in the state-of-the-art chiller with its clever lighting making the display aesthetically pleasing.

Multipacks are displayed opposite with promotions highlighted.

If you want a master class in the local retailing of beer and cider this is where you’ll find a great teacher.

IMPACTFUL DISPLAY COMPREHENSIVE RANGE EASY TO SHOP HEART OF THE COMMUNITY As the winner of this category, Day Today Wallyford picks up a VIP trip to see a Champion’s League match in the 2017-18 competition, complete with flights, accommodation and the best seats in the house – all courtesy of of our sponsors Heineken.

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Scottish Local Retailer of the Year 2017 Congratulations to Mahmood Saleem and Junfang Yun of Ardeer Service Station Benson & Hedges and Sterling Rolling.

In the Emerging Products category we recently extended our successful e-cigarette portfolio with the introduction of an open tank system Logic LQD.

JTI manufactures well known cigarette brands such as Sterling – the UK’s No.1 cigarette1, Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut, Mayfair & Sovereign Blue. We supply leading Other Tobacco Products including Amber Leaf – the No.1 tobacco brand1, Hamlet cigars, Old Holborn, Holborn Yellow,

JTI’s UK trading company is Gallaher Limited

UK Customer Careline 0800 163 503

jtiadvance.co.uk

jti.com/uk

1. Nielsen Market Track FY2016

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BISCUIT RETAILER OF THE YEAR

BEST-ONE @ BROWNLIES, BIGGAR This is a shop that does things a little differently – it always has – and owners Donna and Bruce Morgan have entrenched themselves in the local community in order to get closer to their customers.

The good people of Biggar like their biscuits and the store is happy to accommodate their diverse tastes and desires by providing an extensive range that would make most category management planners nervous but hits the spot with customers, including the many tourists and visitors to the area who appreciate the comprehensive choice of gift packs. It’s not every store that can list Galloway Oatcakes as one of its top-selling SKUs. Always prepared to listen to advice and hungry for new ideas, the Morgans recently improved the layout of the category and delisted slower-selling lines to make way for more multipacks and promotions which have been helping to drive growth. More changes are in the pipeline.

TAILORED RANGE UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER NEEDS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING FRIENDLY SERVICE A special VIP trip to Amsterdam is on the cards for Bruce and Donna as winners in this category. The trip includes an overnight stay and a visit to the state of the art Pladis factory, where they will be sampling some of the finest biccies in the business!

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CONFECTIONERY RETAILER OF THE YEAR

SPAR EURO GARAGES, LOMONDGATE There’s something for every taste in Spar Euro Garages. As a forecourt store it carries more bags and sharing packs than the average convenience store while kids could be mistaken for thinking they are in Willy Wonka’s factory such is the vastness of the range.

With 11 metres plus gondola ends, off-fixture displays and promotional, this is a show-stopping selection of confectionery.

With dedicated space for seasonal products and the category blocked to drive sales, it’s no surprise that sales are up 20% year on year.

Its clever layout also means that every customer has to pass confectionery en route to the till, where mints and gum are displayed at eye level.

A section this size needs a lot of work but the staff are well on top of things and wearing big smiles – something that’s very important in a store that also taps into the west of Scotland tourist market.

WOW FACTOR RANGE AND POSITIONING FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE IN-STORE THEATRE The winners in this category are set for the trip of a lifetime thanks to £500 of Virgin Experience vouchers from category sponsors Wrigley. The vouchers can be used for anything from hot air ballooning to sky diving and are sure to make this a memorable win for Spar Euro Garages Lomondgate! www.slrmag.co.uk

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CRISPS & SNACKS RETAILER OF THE YEAR

SPAR RENFREW One of the most reliable stores in Scotland, Saleem Sadiq’s Spar Renfrew store gets the basics right every time. The crisps category is no different with a best-in-class range, merchandised immaculately. The large and well-presented main fixture is complemented by a number of secondary and tertiary sitings to drive up impulse sales and basket spends while a good mix of pack formats and sizes ensures every taste is catered for. Meal deals and cross-category promotions also help boost crisp and snack sales as well as overall store turnover.

IMMACULATE MAIN FIXTURE GREAT USE OF MEAL DEALS CROSS CATEGORY PROMOTIONS SECONDARY AND TERTIARY SITINGS “Crisps and snacks as a category is used to brilliant effect right the way through the store to drive both planned and impulse sales, as well as sales in other categories.”

Saleem and his hard working team at Spar Renfrew are going to be able to get even slicker and more professional thanks to not one but FIVE new Asus tablets that they collect as winners in this category, thanks to our generous sponsors Walkers.

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From One No.1 To Another!

Congratulations to :

BROWNLIES

sPirits retailer of the year 2017

GLEN’S vodka No. 1 selling vodka in the Independent Sector* CONTACT SALES@LOCHLOMONDGROUP.COM

www.glensvodka.co.uk @GlensVodkaLLG glensvodkaLLG Please enjoy responsibly

*Nielsen total impulse volume data to w/c Oct 10th 2015

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MAKING THE MOST OF MILK

SPAR RENFREW Saleem Sadiq has long recognised the vital importance of milk, and has consistently worked hard to make sure the white stuff has its place in his store. The fixture is spotlessly clean and beautifully presented while the range is tight and appropriate for the store’s audience.

The fixture is also carefully sited at the end of a new wall of chilled produce to help boost impulse sales as milk buyers are tempted by a selection of tasty chilled goods going in both directions. The fixture is also nice and easy to spot from the front door.

SPOTLESSLY CLEAN FACED UP HOURLY TIGHT, TARGETED RANGE WELL SITED IN-STORE “Everything about the milk fixture in Spar Renfrew is just as you’d want it: clean, tidy, neat, easy to find, well stocked, good range, a promotion or two and good pricing.”

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As winner of this category, Spar Renfrew picks up the coolest bit of tech available at the moment: an Amazon Echo. Courtesy of SLR’s online presence – slrmag.co.uk – issuing instructions and getting quick answers will be easier than ever before for Saleem! www.slrmag.co.uk

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AWARD

WINNERS

Confectionery Retailer of the Year SPAR Euro Garages Lomondgate

Crisps & Snacks Retailer of the Year SPAR Renfrew

Making the most of Milk SPAR Renfrew

Congratulations to all the finalists!

To join our award-winning retailers, contact Marketing on 01382 512000 www.spar.co.uk @SPARintheUK

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NEWSTRADE RETAILER OF THE YEAR

GIACOPAZZI’S MILNATHORT News remains a massive and a massively important category for stores across Scotland – and no one knows this better than Giacopazzi’s Milnathort.

As well as an impressive news and magazines fixture and a significant Home News Delivery service, the store has also recently invested in some cutting edge software to manage the category more efficiently and effectively than ever.

The team in-store also boasted a fantastic, in-depth knowledge of the category and their customers which is reflected in the high sales figures for the store.

STRONG MAIN FIXTURE HOME NEWS DELIVERY SERVICE GREAT USE OF TECHNOLOGY COMMITMENT TO THE CATEGORY “This store is a great example of what happens when you really commit to the news category and use it to drive sales and footfall for the store.”

It’s a money-can’t-buy Reward for this store as sponsors News Scotland are providing two VIP places in their private box at the Hydro in Glasgow for the hugely anticipated Celine Dion concert in August this year – an experience the winners will never forget!

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SOFT DRINKS RETAILER OF THE YEAR

LONDIS INVERARAY Local retailers need to take the occasional risk, particularly when a competitor ramps up its presence in the community and that’s exactly what Brian McCaughey did when the Co-op relocated and opened a new store in the popular Argyll and Bute town.

Always looking to improve his business the retailer – despite having fully refurbished 18 months previously – gave his store a mini-refit to create over 60% more space for soft drinks.

Investing £7,000 in a new remote soft drinks chiller has helped make soft drinks the store’s second-most profitable category and being brave enough to take a risk by investing heavily in tough times has contributed to the store’s growth and development in what was a challenging 2016.

Brian’s understanding of the seasonal nature of his business has also played a pivotal role in keeping the store relevant to needs of local customers and visitors to the area.

HEAVY INVESTMENT IN CATEGORY UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER NEEDS PREPARED TO TAKE RISKS OUTSTANDING RANGE It’s holiday time for Brian and family thanks to £500 in holiday vouchers that he will be receiving as winner of the Soft Drinks Retailer of the Year Reward, thanks to our sponsors Coca-Cola Euopean Partners. A well earned rest is just what he’ll need after all that excellent work. www.slrmag.co.uk

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SPIRITS RETAILER OF THE YEAR

BEST-ONE @ BROWNLIES, BIGGAR With a renowned range of malt whiskies attracting customers from near and far and regular whisky tastings, Best-One @ Brownlies has built up a reputation as the “go to” store in the area for spirits.

Recent changes have seen whisky merchandised by the six whisky regions and customers are invited to browse through tasting notes on all the malts stocked – this has helped boost sales. Premium spirits, gin in particular, are also enjoying good sales increases while both miniatures and gift packs are performing well.

This Aladdin’s Cave for the whisky and spirits connoisseur shows what a local retailer can achieve when they create a point of difference and stock brands that aren’t widely available locally.

Donna and Bruce Morgan’s decision to create a “store within a store” for alcohol in a shop that has a challenging layout means customers can browse at their leisure without blocking up the aisles.

OUTSTANDING RANGE OF MALTS CAPITALISING ON PREMIUM GIN CONTAINED DISPLAY REGULAR TASTING EVENTS The Reward for this category couldn’t be more appropriate, given that it’s sponsored by Glen’s Vodka owner The Loch Lomond Group: it’s an overnight stay for two with dinner, bed and breakfast at a plush hotel on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond!

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JET CONGRATULATES ARDEER SERVICES

ThinkSmart Innovation Award

Best New Store of the Year

Scotland’s Local Retailer of the Year

JET is 100% committed to the future of fuel retailing in Scotland.

Get in touch to discuss joining our award-winning network.

01926 404 333

SLR 2017.indd 29 SLRJune RewardsAdvert_0517.indd 1

connect2jet@p66.com

jetlocal.co.uk

JourneywithJET

@JETPetrol

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COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT RETAILER OF THE YEAR

PREMIER SMEATON STORES Asif and Abada Akhtar’s commitment to the local community is simply exceptional, way above and beyond the call of normal duty. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the store is at the heart of pretty much every community project that takes place in the Smeaton area of Kirkcaldy.

From organising communal BBQs to supporting every local fundraising campaign, from helping revitalise the local community hall to buying an electric wheelchair for a loyal customer who couldn’t afford one, their tale is an extraordinary one.

HEART OF ALL COMMUNITY ACTIVITY YEAR ROUND FUNDRAISING OUTSTANDING GENEROSITY PROACTIVELY SUPPORTING THE AREA “It’s hard to understand and explain just how much this amazing pair put into the local community in terms of both time and money.

Theirs is a truly inspirational example to all.”

Organising community events will be even easier in future for Asif and Abada thanks to a fantastic iPad Air 2 courtesy of our category sponsors AG Barr. The cool bit of tech even comes with its own smartcase to help the pair keep up their amazing community involvement work.

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E-CIGS

RETAILER OF THE YEAR

SCOTFRESH DENNY Vaping is one of the most important sales and profit opportunities in local retailing these days and nobody has grasped that opportunity better than Scotfresh Denny. The store has placed the category front and centre with a dedicated, large scale gantry offering a full array of liquids, accessories and vaping kits to cater for every e-cigarette fan, from the beginner to the veteran vaper.

The staff were knowledgable and could advise, even on relatively technical queries, and were able to ensure every customer left satisfied and happy.

LARGE, HIGHLY VISIBLE GANTRY GREAT RANGE OF LIQUIDS FULL SET OF ACCESSORIES AND KITS STRONG STAFF KNOWLEDGE “Vaping is a category that retailers really have to commit to if they want to get the best out of it and Scotfresh Denny shows what’s possible when you do it well.”

After all the work that went into winning this category, Scotfresh Denny has earned a well-deserved break which will be made a lot easier with £1,000 of Expedia vouchers from our sponsors blu. A little time in the sun will be just what the winners need to come back fresh and revitalised. www.slrmag.co.uk

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FOOD TO GO RETAILER OF THE YEAR

DAVID’S KITCHEN GLENROTHES As a business launched with the intention of having food to go at its heart, it’s no surprise that’s David’s Kitchen continually performs well in this category. The Glenrothes branch has continually succeeded in raising the bar for all food to go retailers and this year is no different.

A significant refit and the addition of a top notch new bean-tocup coffee machine and a freshened-up menu means the choice of high quality, freshly prepared food and drinks has never been better for the store’s customers. As always, everything is immaculately presented and customer service is exceptional.

FOOD TO GO AT HEART OF OFFER HIGH QUALITY RANGE ALL FRESHLY PREPARED ON SITE REFIT AND INCREASED INVESTMENT “David’s Kitchen is a fine example of what is possible when retailers are prepared to back their own ideas with time and investment to deliver a best-in-class solution.”

What better prize for retailers who spend their lives making food for other people than the chance to go and enjoy having one of Scotland’s top chefs prepare food for them? The winners are heading to the renowned Peat Inn in Fife for a tasting menu and relaxing overnight stay in plush surroundings.

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TO ALL THE

WINNERS AT THIS YEAR’S SCOTTISH LOCAL RETAILER AWARDS 2017 FOR A WINNING BUSINESS JOIN OVER 1,300 MEMBERS ALREADY PART OF THE NISA FAMILY Visit

SLR June 2017.indd 33 13492 Retail Industry Awards A4 - Congrats Advert AW01.indd 1

www.join-nisa.co.uk

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FRESH & CHILLED RETAILER OF THE YEAR

NISA LOCAL PINKIE FARM CONVENIENCE STORE Fresh and chilled has long been the mainstay of a modern covenience offering and Nisa Local Pinkie Farm Convenience Store in Musselburgh has recognised that by placing fresh and chilled at the very core of its offer.

A massive range of fresh produce and chilled goods is the first thing shoppers encounter when they enter the store, while clever merchandising merges traditional farmers’ market style fixtures with ultra modern refrigeration units to great effect. Lots of locally sourced produce adds to the appeal in Colin Smith’s fine store.

FRESH & CHILLED AT HEART OF OFFER MASSIVE RANGE LOCALLY SOURCED PRODUCE INNOVATIVE MERCHANDISING “Pinkie Farm pulls off the neat trick of balancing a rustic, farmers’ market style appeal with a modern, clean chilled offer which is easy to buy from and a pleasure to shop.”

Life in the fast lane is nothing new to Colin and his team, so the prize of a fantastic rally experience should hit the spot, courtesy of our sponsors Direct Shelving Supplies. The Reward involves the chance to drive a high powered rally car as well as a thrilling trip in the passenger seat alongside a pro driver.

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BEST NEW STORE OF THE YEAR

ARDEER SERVICES Not to put too fine a point on it, Ardeer Services is simply stunning. This mega development involved a huge investment of around £1.5m but it’s not the size of the spend that’s most impressive, it’s the quality of the concept and the precision of the execution that makes this development so extraordinary.

Leveraging the power of big name brands like Nisa, Subway and Costa, Mahmood Saleem has built a service station that offers something for everyone, regardless of their reason for visting the store. Innovation abounds throughout what is a truly impressive business.

LEVERAGING THE POWER OF BRANDS HUGE INVESTMENT STUNNING EXECUTION INNOVATION THROUGHOUT “There is quite simply nothing else like this store in Scotland. It is truly unique and has been built by a retailer who truly, deeply understands local retailing.”

You know what would be just the ticket for a hard working retailer? VIP tickets to one of the four biggest music festivals in the UK, courtesy of sponsors Britvic. A real opportunity to relax, forget about the shop for a little while and enjoy some great tunes and a party atmosphere. www.slrmag.co.uk

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BEST REFIT OF THE YEAR

DAY TODAY 10 O’CLOCK SHOP When Mahmood Rahman set out to refit what was a tired, dusty store he set out to do it in style – and that’s exactly what he achieved with this hugely impressive store. High quality shopfitting has brought Mahmood’s vision to life with the standalone food to go section of the store a particular highlight.

Modern meets traditional with a careful choice of materials ensuring the store feels bang up to date but homely and welcoming. The whole store is a success with the refit rendering it utterly unrecognisable from its former incarnation.

HIGH QUALITY SHOPFITTING STUNNING FOOD TO GO SECTION BALANCE OF MODERN AND TRADITIONAL

GREAT MACRO SPACE PLANNING “It’s hard to believe this is the same store because the refit has transformed it into one of the most modern, well thought out stores in Scotland with great chilled and food to go offers.”

VIP tickets to one of the four biggest music festivals in the UK, courtesy of sponsors Britvic, will also be winging their way to Mahmood. A real chance to get away from it all and enjoy a few days of well earned down time from the store.”

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ACH

le

Today’s

Pepsi: Free, Reg, Diet, MAX, MAX Cherry; 7UP: Free, Reg; Tango Orange PMP £1.69/1.59; 2ltr

ry - 6 March 2016

The Day!

Day-Today voted Responsible Retailer of the Year!

With todays convenience sector becomming ever more competitive only the strongest, best equipped and most committed stores can thrive and survive.

The Day-Today group have developed a store redevelopment programme that is second to none in the industry, focussed on providing independent retailers with the support they need to stay ahead of the competition.

Our next generation stores project a truly professional image, both externally and internally to your customers and everything from corporate colour schemes to store equipment, modelling and ranging planned to the last detail.

The Day-Today family of stores represent local shopping at its very best.

Congratulations to Day-Today Wallyford for winning the Beer & Cider Retailer of the Year SLR Award 2017!

The Biggest & Best Symbol Group in Scotland 500 Stores and Counting Best In-Store Promotions Free Leaflets Free POS In-House Chill & Freeze Market Leading Technology Dedicated Support Team, Project Managers, Business Development Managers and an In-House Merchandising Team.

Congratulations to Day-Today 10 O’Clock Shop for winning the Best Refit of the Year SLR Award 2017!

Congratulations to Day-Today Lochside for winning the Responsible Retailer of the Year SLR Award 2017!

Contact Mike Leonard 07341 733 071

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RESPONSIBLE RETAILER OF THE YEAR

DAY TODAY LOCHSIDE, AYR Working in partnership with the local police, health professionals, local support groups and Trading Standards officers puts Sukhi and Jarnail Sangha’s Day Today store in Ayr’s Lochside right at the heart of the community.

While most retailers are alert to customers’ problems or those with specific issues, Sukhi and Jarnail have taken responsible retailing to a whole new level by taking giant steps towards getting to know their customers. Whether its drugs or problem drinking, the couple and their staff know the signs and do everything they can to help using empathy, humour where appropriate and always retaining full confidentiality.

Age-restricted items are clearly highlighted and staff fully trained, and regular information events are held in-store to help educate on social issues. Tidy, modern and well laid out, the store is welcoming and friendly – it’s not difficult to see why so many customers view it as a safe haven where they can shop without being judged and get help if they want it.

WELCOMING AND FRIENDLY RAPPORT WITH CUSTOMERS WORKS WITH POLICE AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

HOLDS EDUCATIONAL EVENTS It’s another highly appropriate Reward in this category, thanks to our sponsors TLT Solicitors. Sukhi and Jarnail will collect six places on TLT’s personal licence training course which will save them a few quid and get them off to a flyer with next year’s entry for this category into the bargain!

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12/06/2017 15:09:22

Cover Story SLR

AR R EW D S

2017

#THINKSMART RETAILER OF THE YEAR

ARDEER SERVICES Innovation sits at the heart of Mahmood Saleem’s monster £1.5m development of Ardeer Services. From ultra-efficient computercontrolled energy usage systems to bespoke vending-style tobacco units, from leveraging the power of mega brands to creating a new way of looking at the forecourt concept, the store is stunning.

Spending £1.5m is a major commitment but spending is this well is admirable with so much innovation being built into the fabric of the building to future-proof it long into the distance. A truly inspirational development.

COMPUTER-CONTROLLED ENERGY SYSTEMS

BESPOKE UNIQUE TOBACCO UNITS CREATIVE LEVERAGE OF BIG BRANDS OUTSTANDING GREEN CREDENTIALS “A lot of the innovation at Ardeer is obvious to the customer but much, much more of it is invisible, hidden away in the background but contributing to a truly next generation store.”

No stranger to innovation and technology, Mahmood picks up a smart new Apple Watch 2 as his Reward in this category, thanks to our sponsors PayPoint.

Just the job for staying in touch, on time, on schedule and ahead of the game in Ayrshire. www.slrmag.co.uk

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Cover Story SLR

AR R EW D S

2017

TEAM OF THE YEAR

SINCLAIR GENERAL STORES Sinclair General Stores on the tiny island of Sanday, just off Orkney, is a store like no other we’ve ever come across. For a start the island only has a population of 400 so the store has to cater for a wide range of requirements that most local retailers would rarely if ever encounter. Running a store like this is only possible with a team that owner Jackie Sinclair describes as “some of the best people you could ever meet”. Working at the store is more of a vocation or passion than a job and every member of the team contributes something different. An inspirational story!

PASSION, COMMITMENT AND DRIVE EXCEPTIONALLY BROAD SET OF SKILLS A VOCATION MORE THAN A JOB ‘WHATEVER IT TAKES’ ATTITUDE “What Jackie and her team have achieved on this tiny island is nothing short of phenomenal.

Every team member seems to have four roles and all of them bring passion and enthusiasm.”

For a category like Team of the Year, the Reward had to be something special that everyone could share in – which is why sponsors The Retail Data Partnership settled on a bumper luxury hamper that the winning team could share out to celebrate their success.

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www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:09:34

UK’S #1 VAPING KIT

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Cover Story SLR

AR R EW D S

2017

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

KATE SALMON, SWA After more than 30 years with the Scottish Wholesale Association, it was only right and proper that the inimatable Kate Salmon was recognised at this year’s SLR Rewards. While Kate’s future with the organisation is yet to be fully decided, there is no question that in the last decade or so she has transformed SWA into the household name it is today, driving innovation in an array of directions, launching new events, building the lobbying arm and generally fighting the good fight on behalf of wholesalers and retailers across Scotland. One of the true characters of this industry, she will be missed when she finally does retire.

OVER 30 YEARS WITH SWA DRIVING FORCE OVERSEEN TRANSFORMATION BUILT A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE “Kate is a force of nature, as anyone who has ever met her will be fully aware. Her commitment to the SWA and her flair for ‘getting things done’ can only be admired.”

For a woman as hard working and committed as Kate, she deserves all the recognition, respect and more that comes with the Lifetime Achievement Reward, and her dedication is bound to impact and echo throughout the industry for many years to come – celebratory drinks are on Velocity Worldwide.

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www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:09:39

Cover Story SLR

AR R EW D S

2017

SCOTTISH LOCAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR

ARDEER SERVICES It takes a special store and a special retailer to win the ultimate Scottish Local Retailer of the Year award – but Ardeer Services is that store and Mahmood Saleem is that retailer. Committing to a £1.5m investment is admirable enough but it’s how Mahmood has spent this money and the quality of thought that has gone into developing this store that makes Ardeer Services so very, very special. The attention to detail is mind blowing; the big picture strategy just as impressive. To hear Mahmood explain the thinking behind every aspect of the store is to journey into the mind of a genuinely exceptional local retailer.

HUGE £1.5M INVESTMENT STUNNING ATTENTION TO DETAIL UNIQUE, GROUND BREAKING CONCEPT FIRST RATE EXECUTION “Ardeer Services is up there with the best local retailing developments ever seen. No detail has been judged too small to obsess over.

Everything there is there for a reason.”

As befits a category as important as this, the Reward is something very special indeed: a trip to Chicago in October to attend this year’s NACS conference, the largest convenience retailing event in the world. The event should provide Mahmood with some great ideas to continue developing his store. www.slrmag.co.uk

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News

Products

Mason jar promo Quaker Oats has teamed up with MissPrint to give shoppers

ProductNews

the chance to get their own free limited edition mason jar to use when making overnight oats. Each of the promotional packs of 1kg Quaker Oats has a unique code which shoppers can enter online to receive their MissPrint designer jar. Quaker is also giving away sets of mason jars online as well as sharing bespoke recipes, alongside a huge digital campaign including video content via celebrity influcencers’ social media platforms.

Ice-cream meal deal

CHECK OUT THE LATEST LINES TO HIT THE SHELVES P58 SOFT DRINKS Energy drink serves up non-carbonated offer

Monster Hydro Launching this summer, CCEP energy drinks brand, Monster, has added a new generation of refreshment energy to the soft drinks category with Monster Hydro.

Monster Hydro offers a new proposition to consumers as a non-carbonated energy product

and is available in 550ml bottles in three distinct flavours: Tropical Thunder, Mean Green and Manic Melon.

The launch is supported by nationwide sampling and digital campaigns to target the brand’s core audience of 25-45 year old males.

One Stop has introduced 14 ice cream lines as the snack portion

SOFT DRINKS

of its £3 meal deal promotion

Coca-Cola drives its Zero Sugar range

to drive sales in the summer months. Lines added include Ben & Jerry’s ‘Wich Sandwiches, Wall’s Max Duo, Cornetto, Solero and Oreo.

Häagen-Dazs resets Ice cream favourite, HäagenDazs, has announced a major brand reset. New packaging and formats, a new experientially focused marketing programme and a new lifestyle led campaign are supported by a £5m marketing programme.

Tassimo promo BelVita is giving consumers the chance to win one of 2,000 Tassimo machines in a new

Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has launched a nationwide sampling campaign to drive consumer trial and support sales of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, which recently became the fourth biggest cola brand within grocery and convenience in the UK. The campaign sees the distribution of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar samples of to households, offices, regional train stations, tube stations and shopping centres across Great Britain throughout the summer. Samples will also be accompanied by a voucher for a follow up free bottle of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar to further encourage more people to trial the no sugar variant.

The activity follows the £14.5million marketing investment made in 2016 to launch Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in GB. Simon Harrison, Operational Marketing Director GB at CCEP, said: “Our strategy to encourage more consumers to trial our great tasting zero sugar variant is building a loyal fan base for the variant.”

SOFT DRINKS

Lucozade works it out Lucozade Sport has launched a new app as part of its Made to Move initiative. Encouraging the nation to get more active through prize incentives, the app is live now until 31 July and is being supported by £2.5m marketing spend across social, digital and OOH. The free to download Made to Move app rewards every user with a free Pure Gym Day Pass and enters them into daily and weekly prize draws for every 5,000 steps taken. Codes for extra entries into the prize draws can be found on promotional Lucozade Sport bottles across Orange, Raspberry, Mango & Passionfruit and Orange Low Cal variants in 500ml and 4x500ml formats.

on-pack promotion. Consumers can purchase promotional 300g packs then visit the designated website and enter their details and the barcode number. Weekly prize draws will take place until 16 September.

Tasty in No Time Costcutter Supermarkets Group has launched a new integrated campaign for its Independent own brand. The Tasty in no Time campaign showcases the range, and is supported by in-store POS including header boards, shelf stripping, and tear off recipe cards.

KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST NEWS AS IT HAPPENS – FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SLRMAG

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www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:09:51

Products

News

Muller’s new ambassadors Muller has signed up British sprinters Adam Gemili and Dina Asher-Smith as brand ambassadors. The duo will CONFECTIONERY

Mrs Tilly’s widens reach Premium Scottish confectioners, Mrs Tilly’s have secured new business listings with Scotland’s leading delivered wholesale specialists – J W Filshill. The partnership will see Mrs Tilly’s Tablet, Fudge and Macaroon bars distributed across Filshill’s Key Store estate as well as their independent retailer accounts.

www.slrmag.co.uk

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BISCUITS Pladis report shows category sales are up

appear in Müller’s athletics

Biscuits beats crisps

inspired multimedia campaign

The manufacturer of some of the countries most beloved biscuits, pladis, recently unveiled its annual Biscuits in Britain report. The research discovered that 99% of consumers buy into the category, and also that biscuits outperformed crisps, cakes and popcorn, seeing consumption on average of three times a week and on nearly 6 billion occasions in 2016.

The consumer insight report revealed that taste is still an important driver of purchase and consumers choose snack foods based on need states, such as rewarding oneself, as much as for a functional need such as hunger or health.

James Thomas, UK Head of Category Development at pladis, said that biscuits play an important role within snacking and are wellplaced to respond to evolving category drivers and future headwinds.

“The biscuit category will evolve and respond to these challenges by continuing to improve the shopping experience, delivering consumer led innovation and ensuring ranges meet shopper needs,” he commented.

advertising and on pack

which includes new television adverts, digital and print promotion. Michael Inpong, Chief Marketing Officer at Müller said: “We want to help inspire the next generation to get out there and have fun with athletics and to be working with the stars of British Athletics is a real honour.”

Mudder makes the Trek Trek has signed a two-year deal as the official nutrition bar for endurance event Tough Mudder UK. All event participants will be offered Trek samples at event feeding stations, while all finishers will also receive free samples of Trek Protein Energy Bars.

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Off-Trade

News

Off-TradeNews SUMMER DRINKS SECURE SALES P70 CIDER Strongbow launches festival campaign

Strongbow makes an entrance

TOP TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL IN-STORE MERCHANDISING FROM In the second instalment of the Inspire, Display, Sell advice columns from My Store Matters, Diageo looks at how retailers can boost alcohol sales in store through effective implementation of the ‘Display’ pillar of advice.

DISPLAY

Sets out four key rules to help retailers effectively merchandise their range in order to improve the shopper journey and boost sales.

The four key elements of this advice are: 1 BLOCKING Subcategories (such as vodka, gin and rum) should be blocked together as it helps shoppers to see what the store has to offer more easily.

2 BRAND SIGNPOSTS Brand leaders are recognisable so place them in the centre of the sub-category to make them stand out.

3 CLEAR PRICING Shoppers are less likely to make a purchase if they are unsure of how much it will cost. Ensure the price of each product is clearly labelled.

To celebrate its sponsorship of Isle of Weight, Kendal Calling, and Victorious music festivals, Strongbow is offering shoppers the chance to ‘Make an Epic Festival Entrance’ with a prize worth up to £10,000 for eight lucky winners who come up with an imaginative way of arriving at any of the three partnered festivals. Other prizes include tents, sleeping bags, Bluetooth speakers, Pac a Macs and mobile phone chargers.

Toby Lancaster, category and shopper marketing director at

Heineken, commented: “Cutthrough on-pack promotions such as this give retailers the opportunity to drive excitement in the category and encourage shoppers to make the most of the summer events.

“The summer is a particularly busy selling period for drinking occasions such as BBQs” The on-pack promotion is featured across 10-pack cans in Original, Dark Fruit and Cloudy Apple varieties, as well as across 12-pack cans and 20-pack cans in Strongbow Original.

CIDER

Cider festival delivers almost £2m Nisa’s annual three-week cider festival event generated sales totalling £1.84m from promoted lines, up by over £1m on the previous year and providing a huge 126% sales uplift.

The promotion is designed to help retailers to drive additional sales with competitive pricing on popular ciders.

4 MAXIMISE FRIDGE SPACE Half of all beers or ciders purchased in the convenience channel are consumed on the same day so tap into this opportunity by providing a greater variety of chilled ready-to-drink beverages.

Since implementing the advice into his Century Wines store, Perry Chahil says; “I’d never really focused on product pricing in my store, the most I did was handwrite the labels. Since working with Diageo on the ‘Display’ element of their I,D,S advice, I have introduced branded price labels for my core range. Not only does this help instil a sense of trust in my customers, but it also helps provide an additional point of interest to draw the eye”.

For more information on Diageo’s NEW My Store Matters advice, visit WWW.MYSTOREMATTERS.net or speak to your local rep today.

DRINKING HABITS Study shows increase in at home drinking

At home drinking grows Sales of lager, ale, gin and sparkling wine have contributed to the growth of the off-trade BWS market by 2.3% to £16.1 billion in the past year (Nielsen). Brits continue to favour drinking at home, spending an extra £363 million on alcoholic drinks in the retail trade compared with the previous year.

Lager has overtaken sparkling wine to be the biggest contributor of value growth in the market.

Nielsen analyst Helen Stares said: “The growth is significant. This time last year we were looking at a much more modest growth figure of 0.7%, so value is accelerating. At the same time volume, which had shown a small decline of 0.6% a year ago, has moved back into the black, up 0.8%.”

CIDER

Thatchers 2016 Vintage New ‘Vintage Cider’ has arrived from Thatchers.

The dry 7.4% ABV cider features a new label that focuses on the family story of Thatchers. In image of the cider maker’s founder, William Thatcher, can be seen on the neck label.

The 500ml bottle has an RRP of £1.80.

KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST NEWS AS IT HAPPENS – FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SLRMAG

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www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:09:52

Off-Trade

News

ews BEER Dutch brewer promotes acceptance with new label

Heineken Opens Your World Heineken has launched its ‘Open Your World’ campaign, which sees limited edition packaging featuring a world map across Heineken bottles cans and multipacks. The campaign launched with a film, ‘Worlds Apart’, that brings together two total strangers divided by their beliefs to prove that even the most divided groups can come together to find common ground.

Cindy Tervoort, head of marketing, Heineken said the campaign is about looking out rather than looking in. “For us,”

she says, “openness is more than just a value. It’s what we stand for. We believe that sharing a connection with someone over a beer is one of the ways in which our consumers can have a new experience that opens their world, and the new limited edition Open Your World packaging is a great way to encourage shoppers to do just that.”

Limited edition packaging is available now across Heineken bottles cans and multi-packs with a campaign manifesto on the back.

BEER Lager promotes its foundation in music

Red Stripe promotes musical heritage Red Stripe has launched a new programme titled ‘This Feeling TV’. The first episode premiered online, signalling the return of music television to the small screen for the first time in many years.

The Libertines’ co-frontman Carl

Barât, Line of Duty actor Martin Compston and UK punk outfit, Slaves all featured in the first instalment.

A further three programmes of the show, will be aired later this year, with guests set to be revealed in due course.

RUM Football star champions Captain Morgan

Wells sells Charles Wells has agreed terms to sell its brewery and brand sales interests to Marston’s PLC for a cash consideration of £55 million, plus working capital adjustments. The other Charles Wells assets – pubs in the UK and France, are not included in the sale.

Absolut Tobasco Absolut has partnered with Bloody Mary cocktail ingredient, Tabasco Sauce. Absolut Original with the Tabasco Sauce neck tag has an RRP of £19.45 for a 70cl bottle. Shoppers can recreate the famous Bloody Mary cocktail

Rio Ferdinand captaincy reinstated Ex-Manchester United Captain Rio Ferdinand resumed his captaining duties as part of a new integrated campaign from popular rum brand Captain Morgan. The campaign, which includes a 30 second TV ad that also stars One-Day International cricket Captain Eoin Morgan, is supported across a variety of platforms including online, experiential, and off-trade.

Q: We run a convenience store. My wife was recently made bankrupt.

Now we’ve been told the shop has to shut because the licence has been lost. But we’ve kept our annual fees up to date and we hold the licence for our shop jointly. Is the licence in jeopardy?

Stephen Says: If the licence is held by you and your wife as a partnership, then her personal sequestration does not affect the licence as it is held by the partnership, not your wife as an individual. Check your licence carefully. Even if the licence had been lost you wouldn’t have to close altogether – just stop selling alcohol. However, these situations are complex and I recommend you speak to a specialist lawyer.

Q: I would like my daughter to manage our shop, but she has a conviction for drink driving. Does this mean she can’t hold a licence?

Niall Says: a conviction like this does not necessarily mean she won’t be granted a licence. It will depend on all the circumstances.

There are numerous examples of licensing boards granting a licence to someone with a criminal conviction. Note, however, that the police are now also allowed to take into account not just convictions but whether someone is “fit and proper” to hold a licence.

Q: We are considering buying a shop in the next village, but it has been closed for at least two years.

How does that affect the licence?

Do we need a new one?

Stephen Says: You’ll need to make sure there is a licence in force.

Some licensing boards will remove licences where a premises has not traded for some time so this is definitely one to check out. A quick call to the local licensing board and they should be able to tell you over the phone if there is still a licence in force. If there is, then you should apply to transfer that licence. If there isn’t, you’ll need to go through a new licence process.

Either way, if you are buying the premises I’d make sure the sale is conditional on licensing approval.

by visiting the Absolut drink website for the recipe.

TTER @SLRMAG

www.slrmag.co.uk

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Inside Business

2 Minutes | Gary Winter, Parcel Services Director, PayPoint

Gary Winter As part of its plans to turbo charge its Collect+ service, PayPoint has appointed Gary Winter to the newly created role of Parcel Services Director, charged with significantly growing the network of retailers participating in the scheme.

A NEW ROLE HAS BEEN SPECIALLY CREATED FOR YOU GARY, BUT WHY NOW?

FACTFILE Gary Winter is Parcel Services Director at PayPoint, a newly created role.

The early part of his career was spent in the mail and parcels side of the industry before he moved to the supplier side where he worked first with UK Mail and then with Royal Mail where he was Head of Business Development for the Packets and Parcels business.

He has extensive experience in eCommerce and describes himself as “passionate about customer experience”, a passion he intends to bring to his new role.

PayPoint felt that they needed a dedicated Parcel Services Director because we are very keen to widen the usage of the Collect+ network, which is already the industry-leading service in the UK and has been since it was launched around 8 years ago. The latest move was prompted by an agreement between PayPoint and Yodel last year which opens the Collect+ service to other parcel carriers for the first time, so that more retailers and consumers can benefit from the convenience of Collect+.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW YODEL WERE INVOLVED IN THE FIRST PLACE? Collect+ had in fact been a joint venture between PayPoint and Yodel, and a very successful one, but last year we struck a new agreement that would allow us to broaden the network and bring more retailers on board.

YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE IN THIS FIELD, THEN? Yes, I’ve worked in the eCommerce and delivery industry for around 17 years and have held senior positions with a number of UK parcel carriers including UK Mail, Royal Mail/Parcelforce and Hermes. I am, and have always been, passionate about the customer experience.

SPECIFICALLY, WHAT IS YOUR CHALLENGE AS PARCEL SERVICES DIRECTOR? My role is to make the industry leading Pick Up/Drop Off network available to as many on-line shoppers as possible, regardless of who they shop with. That means working with more retailers and more carriers to increase the reach of this service and the value that it brings to their businesses.

DO YOU HAVE A SET TARGET IN MIND FOR THE NUMBER OF RETAILERS YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD? There are over 29,000 retailers using PayPoint across the UK and of those, over 6,200 participate in Collect+. My 50

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aim is to take that number over the 7,000 mark this year.

To achieve that, we need more parcels and we need more eCommerce partners, which is why we are evolving the network – for everyone’s benefit.

WHAT WILL THE BENEFITS TO RETAILERS BE? In a nutshell, more parcels means more footfall means more profit. The average amount of money that a Collect+ customer spends in-store over and above the Collect+ transaction is £3.30. Over 80% of customers using Collect+ have never been in that store before. Over 60% of customers have never used Collect+ before and over 80% of those surveyed said they would re-use the service.

IS SCOTLAND A FOCUS FOR YOUR GROWTH STRATEGY? Very much so! Our reach in Scotland is very important to us. It’s a challenging geography to service, obviously, so it’s vital that we are there to ensure that these services are available to as wide an audience as possible. www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:09:56

GroceryAid is the trading name of the National Grocers Benevolent Fund. A registered Charity Reg. No 1095897 (England & Wales) & SC039255 (Scotland). A company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales no 4620683

What are you doing to help grocery people who struggle to survive? Get involved and show that you’re not buying debt too.

Call 01252 875925 or visit www.groceryaid.org.uk

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12/06/2017 15:09:57

#drs | What’s Trending?

Inside Business

WHAT’S TRENDING?

#drs

The controversial Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is dividing opinion in the industry with many retailers seeing as an unnecessary and expensive solution that once again leaves retailers having to do the hard work and incur yet more cost.

Sukhi Sangha Day Today, Lochside As retailers we are having to deal with more changes and new legislation which are having a huge financial impact on our businesses. This is one we could do without. DRS would cause concerns due to space allocation, storage, cost and hygiene. It should not be imposed on us; it should be a voluntary initiative.

Consumers don’t want to spend hours and hours standing in queues with bags recycling. Local authorities in Scotland already have their own schemes which are successful. Retailers would have to increase staff hours to manage scheme but we are already struggling with enough as it is without DRS. Next month

Just when we thought we were turning a corner and it couldn’t get any worse, governments on both sides of the border come up with another ill-judged idea without looking at the implication of their actions.

We shop keepers have enough challenges without over the top regulation in the convenience sector and now this. The obsession that small businesses on wafer thin margins are an easy target for incompetent councils whilst local people have little or no obligation about how they conduct their lives has really become a joke. Cleaning up after irresponsible public becomes our responsibility.

James Lowman ACS Chief Executive A deposit return scheme would bring massive new burdens on local shops, add cost to the supply chain, and lead to less recycling through local authority kerbside collections. More than 90% of stores in the sector are under 2,000sq ft, so finding space to fit a reverse vending machine or to take potentially hundreds of bottles and cans behind the till every week is an expensive challenge. For those that can’t put a machine in, staff in store would have to manually administer the scheme at the till point, creating queues and potential flashpoints with customers that may have packaging not eligible for a deposit refund.

Kate Salmon SWA Executive Director It’s convenient to recycle at home, so why would someone take empty cans and bottles to their local store or another central location, even if there is a monetary incentive?

Wholesalers and our retail customers would also be hit by millions of pounds of extra costs – more warehouse space will be needed for Scottish-only product lines, retail space will be used for return vending machines that cost around £35,000 and storage space will have to be used for returned bottles rather than stock. They would also have to cope with a potential new illicit cross-border trade in plastic bottles.

#posteutpd2 We want to hear how the legislation has impacted on your business after the deadline. Send your responses to: abegley@55north.com

www.slrmag.co.uk

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Arjan Mehr Londis Retailer

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Inside Business

Research Digest

MULTIPLE OPERATORS PUSH C-STORE NUMBERS UP The number of stores in the convenience sector has grown marginally over the last 12 months, increasing by 0.4%, according to the latest data from IGD Retail Analysis and William Reed Business Media.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE FIGURES INCLUDE: In recent years, the co-operative and multiple operators were the primary engines of growth in the UK convenience market, but 2016-17 presents more of a mixed picture. Overall the co-operatives saw small but limited growth. Although the multiple segment remained the largest driver of growth over the last 12 months, it still saw a slowdown from the previous year.

This latest year has seen the number of stores in the symbol segment back in growth after a step back in 2015-16. Growth in the symbols has led to a decline in the unaffiliated independent segment, with these stores typically providing a key recruiting ground for the symbols, as retailers seek to develop their offer in an increasingly competitive market. However, the segment remains the biggest in terms of store numbers.

Once again, the forecourt segment returned to modest decline. The structure of the segment continues to change in terms of ownership, with the key national dealership networks still pursuing expansion and acquiring more stores.

For the first time in several years, the number of sites operated by the oil companies remained more stable.

Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive, IGD, said that the rise in numbers is an indication that there is still room for growth amid concerns over the rising threat of online and discount retail. She said “The increase in convenience store numbers might be small, but it’s nevertheless a sign of the enduring appeal of small stores.

However, with other formats such as online and discounters growing in popularity, convenience stores will have to work ever harder to gain growth in the future. However, we believe there are some really clear opportunities for this part of the market.

“First, convenience store operators have a huge chance to engage the younger generation. One in five (19%) 18-25-year-olds mainly shops in convenience stores, which is more than double the number of those aged 26 and over (7%).

“There’s also a huge opportunity for food-to-go, with more than eight in 10 (83%) of c-store shoppers saying they could be encouraged to buy more food-to-go at their main convenience store.

“Convenience stores need to offer shoppers convenient and effortless ways to get the products, meals and food-to-go options they want, in the shortest time possible. Those operators who get this combination right have a unique opportunity to build on changing shopper habits.”

CONVENIENCE STORE NUMBERS DRIVEN BY SYMBOL AND MULTIPLE OPERATORS Number of stores 2016 Unaffiliated independents Symbol groups Convenience forecourts Convenience multiples Co-operatives Total convenience Joint ventures Total convenience excluding JVs

19,054 15,139 8,478 4,136 2,850 49,657 2,868 46,789

Number of stores 2017 18,841 15,491 8,434 4,280 2,872 49,918 2,938 46,980

Share of stores 2017 Change in store numbers 2016 % – April 2017 % 37.7 -1.1 31.0 2.3 16.9 -0.5 8.6 3.5 5.8 0.8 100 0.5 2.4 0.4

RETAILERS EXPECT TOBACCO RULES TO IMPACT New research commissioned by Palmer & Harvey shows that local retailers have major concerns about the impact the new tobacco rules will have on their business and customers over time.

According to the research, most retailers fear the switch to plain packaging, and other changes, will mean higher costs, lower revenues and more illicit tobacco. Also, 54

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retailers expect the changes to increase demand for e-cigarettes and vaping. Sixty per cent of those surveyed believed the rule changes came as a surprise to shoppers.

The survey was carried out among more than 130 retailers at Palmer & Harvey’s annual Pro Retail event for retailers, suppliers and manufacturers.

Martyn Ward, Managing Director of Palmer

& Harvey, said: “The new tobacco laws are a significant change for the convenience retail industry.

“Store owners expect them to add complexity and cost to their business. There is also the prospect of more illicit trade in tobacco products and smaller stores struggling to stay afloat, threatening a vital social and economic hub for local communities.” www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:00

Research Digest

Inside Business

CTP 2017 REVEALS THE ‘CHANGING FACE OF THE SHOPPER’ Findings and key headlines from the HIM Convenience Tracking Programme (CTP) were released last month, revealing the changing face of the UK shopper. CTP is the largest one-off face-to-face convenience shopper study in the UK. Within a sevenweek period HIM visited over 1,400 stores, spending over 8,000 hours speaking to 20,000 shoppers and collated over 100,000 question responses.

The key findings were as follows: Q Societal change is having massive impact on consumption and shopping behaviours. In the 2017 Future of Convenience report, HIM identified long-term future trends based on changing preferences and priorities. These trends are occurring because of the changes society is experiencing and as a result HIM considers them vitally important for the sector. These trends have been personified with HIM’s six new shopper profiles:Balanced Well-Beings (Are healthconscious but are in-store purchasing a treat) Q Ethical Idealists (Higher interest placed on ethical values and trust) Q Cash-Strapped Families, (Price-conscious, lower income families with children at home) Q Cosy Night In Cooks (Affluent couples with no children making a purchase for that night) Q Lunch Hour Breakers (Full time worker buying food-to-go) Q Relied on Retirees (Retirees who have adult children living at home) Q Cosy Night-In Cooks: 23% have more than five items in their basket (vs 14% av) Q Cosy Night-In Cooks: 38% are cooking entirely from scratch (i.e. with no preprepared ingredients) that evening Q Cash-Strapped Families: represent 14% of the convenience customer base Q Two thirds of Cash-Strapped Families say “Prices are very important” but only www.slrmag.co.uk

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one third of Cash-Strapped Families are satisfied with Prices in convenience stores

FORMATS AND LOCATION: RIGHT RANGE, RIGHT STORE Just as understanding the modern shopper base allows a more strategic approach to be taken, the same applies to the convenience landscape. No longer is a one-size-fits-all model good enough. To maximise small store space effectively and grow the channel category by category, retailers need to understand fundamental differences between in-store characteristics in order to maximise sales.

Londoners are twice as likely to trade up in to premium options vs. shoppers in Scottish cities if the range is available.

Neighbourhood, rural stores over trade in fresh fish and meat, wine and chilled desserts – the perfect combination for creating a ready to go meal solutions.

It’s not just locations, in store features also change behaviour. One in four of retailers offer hot drinks to go and such a feature can drive additional traffic. 45% of those buying a Hot Drink to Go say it’s the main reason they are in-store.

IN-STORE EXPERIENCE Traditionally, expectation for the in-store experience revolved around staff – namely friendliness and helpfulness, driven by the local nature of convenience stores. The modern shopper’s expectation of what an enjoyable in-store experience is has been buoyed by their experiences in other channels and by the proliferation of the super-cs, and this is something the rest of the industry must address.

per week), pick up more items (2.9 items per week) and are more likely to recommend the store to a friend (average likelihood to recommend 9.6 out of 10).

Since 2015, promotions being the reason behind impulse purchases has dropped from 43% to 23%. Meanwhile there has been an increase in impulsivity been driven by temptation in store.

Louise McWhirter, HIM’s Head of Insight & Digital, said: “Our latest research shows that marketplace competition is increasing, while external factors including various pieces of legislation to be are also putting pressure on retailer bottom lines. At the same time shoppers are more demanding than ever both in terms of the shopping experience and value for money expectations.

As a result, intelligent insight is needed to support the industry in making smarter decisions. It has become clear that we need to move beyond just demographic averages when looking to understand our shoppers.

We need to start considering behaviours, priorities and attitudes to fully engage with our convenience customer base. Similarly, a one size fits all model in convenience is impractical for a retail landscape affected by massive points of difference. Right range, right store scenarios rely on understanding fundamental differences in store location and in-store features and can present huge opportunities for retailers and suppliers alike. By doing so we are in a better position to deliver on shopper satisfaction, drive basket size and ultimately create loyalty.”

CORRELATION ANALYSIS: EXPERIENCE RATINGS VS LIKELIHOOD TO RECOMMEND STORE TO A FRIEND Those shoppers rating the in-store experiences as excellent visit more frequently (3.9 times JUNE 2017 | SLR

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WOODLANDSlocal

Inside Business

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Woodlands Local | Monthly Update

SUNSHINE BRINGS SMILES AND SALES

Unseasonably warm weather over the last few weeks has done no harm at Woodlands Local as we gear up for what will hopefully be a busy and sunny summer.

BY ANTONY BEGLEY

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here’s nothing that puts a smile on the face of a retailer quite like a bit of sunshine and the last month or so has seen more than its fair share of decent days, helping to push up footfall and sales across the store at Woodlands Local. The sunshine has brightened up another otherwise challenging month as we continue to attempt to recruit new staff and build on the good work by our new store manager Arlene. It’s fair to say that the shopfloor has never looked better since we’ve had the store, with great availability and a much more logical macro layout after a series of tweaks implemented by Arlene.

It’s also been a very successful couple of months in terms of the promotional packages we’ve run in store, taking advantage of a strong couple of promotional periods from Filshill and Costcutter. In particular, the BOGOF deal on Walkers £1 bags springs to mind with more than 40 cases sold in the last month or so, and a series of good wine deals from Filshill have helped push wine sales up in the store by around 15% over the last month. The 4-pack Bud, Stella and Tennent’s deals also proved a major hit during the last few weeks of warm weather.

On the downside, the sales of hot food take a hit when the sun comes out which has a serious impact as our food to go offer tends to deliver strong margins. That has been offset however by the introduction of a new range of freshly prepared salads which are proving popular, particularly with the staff of the Community Hospital across the road.

Which all goes to show that local retailing is an industry where you can never switch off.

Every month, every week, every day brings new opportunities and new challenges and one of

our biggest learnings in the store over the last three years is that we can never switch off and rely on systems and procedures to consistently deliver for us. There is always work to be done in terms of reacting to changing conditions like weather, sporting events, buying patterns, Lottery jackpots and a thousand other things.

CHILLED & FROZEN One area where we’ve done well in the last few weeks has been, unsurprisingly, ice cream.

We’ve taken a two-pronged approach, offering our shoppers two options: a value-driven own label range of ice creams and lollies from Costcutter’s Independent range, and a premium range at much higher prices with serious cash margins. Somewhat surprisingly, the split in sales is far closer to 50/50 between these two offerings than we’d expected with many shoppers seemingly unconcerned about premium pricing when the sun is out and they’re looking for a cold treat.

A rework of the freezers to accommodate a better range of ice creams also led us to remerchandise the rest of the freezers, using Epos data to strip out a few of the slower moving lines and re-site some of the better lines in easier to find positions. We have also added in a few more frozen lines, including three from Quorn for the first time. There are also a few chilled Quorn lines on offer now too and those started selling on day one, which was a pleasant surprise. We were very unsure as to whether there was a demand for free-from lines in our part of Falkirk, but it just goes to show. The first pack of Quorn sausages was sold before the team had even finished putting the new stock on the chiller www.slrmag.co.uk

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Monthly Update | Woodlands Local

Inside Business

shelves and we’re hopeful that we can tap into a new audience with this meat-free range.

MISSION SHOPPING Our experiment with a mission-shopping based layout for the store is gradually unwinding as customers have consistently failed to understand the layout of the store and have continued to look for grocery, for instance, where they expect to find it, rather than in the ‘meal for tonight’ zone we had created.

The breakfast and lunch zone and the hot food zones have been retained as they are working reasonably well but the meal for tonight zone has now been scrapped in favour of a more traditional layout. The ambient meal for tonight section has now been replaced by a more conventional large format section – multipacks of crisps, soft drinks and confectionery – and the aisle end is already delivering bigger sales than it did as a meal for tonight aisle end. Lesson learned on that front, unfortunately.

BREAD WINNER Another major reworking of one part of the store sees the far wall reworked to bring all bread, cakes, biscuits, teas and coffees, cereals, jams and spreads and baking products together for the first time. The fixture now looks much tidier and we are hopeful that it makes more sense to our customers too.

As a consequence of this, we have also had to rework the grocery aisle (where the cereals used to be) but we are making good progress on that. We obviously have a lot more space to play with now and have added a lot of grocery lines that we are confident will add to our offering. Our world foods section has also been developed a little further and now covers Mexican, Italian, Indian, Chinese and Thai.

STAFFING As always, staffing remains a challenge.

We have successfully recruited one new potentially full-time staff member but have been ploughing through treacle to find more suitable candidates. There have been several more no-shows for interviews and several more interviews that did happen but the candidates were not suitable for a variety of reasons. There is absolutely no doubt in our minds that staffing is the number one challenge in the local retailing and will continue to be so.

The fact that our wage bill has risen by many thousands of pounds a year through the minimum wage doesn’t help, particularly as we get absolutely zero for that extra money.

Balancing out staffing requirements with an acceptable monthly wage bill has never been trickier and we don’t see it getting any easier any time soon. www.slrmag.co.uk

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Hotlines

Product News & Media Watch

Duo Crunch Chocolate Hazelnut Mondelez International Healthy biscuit brand, Belvita, has brought another offering to its Duo Crunch line in the form of Duo Crunch Chocolate Hazelnut.

Available now, multipacks of five Duo Crunch bars, each containing two crunchy biscuits made with wholegrain cereals with a chocolate and hazelnut filling, have and RRP of £2.79.

Dairylee Dunkers Nacho Mondelez International Cheese snacking brand Dairylee has added a new range to its popular Dunkers range with the addition of new Dairylee Dunkers Nacho. Available now, Dairylea Dunkers Nachos features tomato salsaflavoured mini tortilla chips to dunk into Dairylea cheese and RRP at £2.42.

Haribo Frenzy Haribo Returning for the third time is Haribo’s successful Frenzy campaign. Available now, Haribo Starmix Berry Flavours and Haribo Tangfastics ice cream and sorbet flavours are on offer in a range of bag sizes including £1 PMPs as well as a new 70g bag price marked at 50p.

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KP goes nuts this summer KP Nuts has launched two on-trend flavours, as well as a new on-the-go range. Joining the core range are new variants Salted Caramel and Smokehouse BBQ, both available in 225g packs, RRP £2.29.

The on-the-go range of nuts and energy mixes comprises of: Original Salted Peanuts (50g); Dry Roasted Peanuts (50g); new Fruit & Nut Energy Mix (40g); and new Orange Nut Fudge Energy Mix (40g), all RRP 89p.

The new products are backed by a £3m marketing support campaign comprising TV, digital and social activity throughout June and July 2017, bringing the brand back to UK TV screens for the first time in 25 years.

Andy Riddle, Branded Sales Director for KP Snacks, commented: “The new on-the-go range and the innovative new flavour range are born from extensive insight and research – with both scoring extremely positively for both concept and product within our target younger, female demographic. “To make the most of this opportunity and drive category sales, we recommend that retailers stock a strong range of KP Nuts at multiple sites in-store.”

Hubba Bubba New Wrigley The bubble gum expert has introduced two brand new flavours to its Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape portfolio: Cola and Fancy Fruit Bubble. At a recommended retail price of 92p, both Bubble Tapes are available in a length of 180cm in the range’s recognisable clamshell packaging.

Maoam Crazy Roxx Haribo Joining Maoam’s extensive sweet line-up is Maoam Crazy Roxx, a new treat which contains a selection of irregular shapes packed full of fruity flavours. On shelf now, Maoam Crazy Roxx are available in a variety of pack formats including £1 price marked 150g sharing bags.

Mars Brownie Mars Chocolate UK Mars Chocolate UK has announced a new variation to the iconic bar: Mars Choc Brownie. Bringing together the cake and chocolate categories, Mars Choc Brownie is available in single (RRP 61p), fourpack multipack and four-pack snack size multipack, as well as single and multipack PMPs

www.slrmag.co.uk

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Product News & Media Watch Philadelphia Dips Kraft Heinz

Popped Thins The Food Doctor

Soft white cheese brand, Philadelphia, has brought a duo of innovations to the category with the launch of two new products: Philadelphia Flip & Dip and Philadelphia Simply Dip. Flip & Dip is available in Sweet Chilli, Mexican Salsa or Caramelised Onion flavours and Simply Dip is available in Olives and Herbs flavours. Both RRP at £1.49

The Food Doctor has targeted the Scottish independent retail sector with the launch of its four-strong range of Popped Crisp Thins. The high fibre and high protein Popped Crisp Thins are available in Spicy Chipotle, Sweet Chilli, Hot Wasabi and Mild Korma flavours.

MEDIAwatch

Hotlines



Single Sensations Cadbury has launched its new ‘Singles Sensations’ campaign, championing the tastes and textures of five of its key singles bars: Cadbury Crunchie, Twirl, Boost, Double Decker and Wispa. The £6m campaign, which features different a 10 second creative for each of the bars, launched with a new TV commercial and festival activity.

Encona starts from scratch Seabrook redesign Seabrook Crisps

New Mini Cheddar flavours Pladis

Seabrook Crisps has revealed a bold and bright new packaging design. From bright pink to luminous yellow, the bright colours are meant to stand out on shelf. The new Crinkle Cut designs cover the core Crinkle range which includes individual bags sized at 31.8g, 50g, and new 100g £1 PMPs for the independent retail sector.

Jacob’s has extended its Jacob’s Mini Cheddars range with the addition of three new flavours: Red Leicester, Stilton and Smoked Applewood. The new range comes in a multipack format, with an RRP of £1.88. It is supported by a £4m media campaign including advertising, PR and digital activity and a TV ad airing from July.

Hot pepper sauce brand, Encona, has announced the launch of a new above-the-line campaign to get consumers cooking from scratch at home. The campaign includes outdoor, digital, social, PR, and in-store activity, and designed to showcase the brand’s versatility as both a cooking ingredient and table sauce.

Don’t wait till the end to add Encona. Pep up your prawns with a 20-minute marinade in our Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce to infuse them with a succulent sweet and zesty tang. It’s stirring stuff.

For the full recipe, delicious inspiration and to see the whole Encona range visit: enconasauces.co.uk

#StartWithEncona

Jacob’s star cross’d lovers Jacob’s has launched a new TV advert for its sharing range, Jacob’s Cracker Crisps.

The advert heroes Jacob’s Cracker Crisps Sour Cream and Chive flavour, and takes viewers into a family home, taking inspiration from Romeo and Juliet by showing a young couple whose families have differing views on whether crackers or crisps should be served.

Warburtons breadies for action Flora Freedom Unilever

Kinder Bueno Mini Ferrero

Flora has extended its dairy free range to include three new flavours: Walnut, Coconut & Almond, and Avocado & Lime. The new additions are supported by ATL media, digital and in-store activity and all RRP at £1.50

Ferrero has expanded its Kinder sharing bag range with the introduction of Kinder Bueno Mini. The , the Kinder Bueno Mini sharing bag includes 16 individually wrapped bite-sized versions of the classic Kinder Bueno and has an RRP of £2.

Warburtons has released the first-look images on-set of their latest advert starring Peter Kay. While Warburtons – the UK’s biggest bakery brand – is keeping details of their latest TV campaign closely under wraps, it has confirmed that the advert featuring the comedian will premiere on UK TV screens later this year.

Tangerine shows its softer side Tangerine Confectionery has invested £1m in its branded sugar portfolio which includes an awareness-building TV advertising campaign on the Softies range. The launch of Fruit Salad Sour Softies and the new packaging design for the full range will be backed by a four-week TV advertising campaign running from 5 June until 2 July on Sky 1, ITV2, Dave and E4.

for all the latest product news, head to www.slrmag.co.uk/category/product-news/ www.slrmag.co.uk

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Feature

Crisps and Snacks

CRISP UP YOUR SALES

Local retailers will know the importance of the crisps and snacks category in their stores, but the category is constantly diversifying, and so SLR gives the lowdown on the latest trends.

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risps and snacks remain a vital sales opportunity for retailers as 93% of people eat snacks, with 63% of those snacking at least once a day, 82% buying snacks on impulse and 18% snack on-the-go. The crisps, snacks and nuts category is a busy one, and with so many brands looking to drive visibility and compete at the fixture, NPD has become more important than ever before.

Crisp brand favourites such as McCoy’s and Hula Hoops are seeing continued innovation to reinforce brand loyalty. The ridged crisp favourite recently launched the McCoy’s Chips – a crinkle cut chip looking to recreate a full-on chip shop experience. The £1 PMP 70g packs come in two chip shop flavour favourites: Salt & Vinegar and Curry. Hula Hoops Big Hoops also recently extended it’s £1 PMP with its new Chilli flavour.

HEALTHY GROWTH For many consumers, however, health continues to be a key focus, and it is having a significant impact on shopper behaviours and eating habits. Research by Mondelez International suggests that the health and wellness food and beverages category is due to grow by 13% by 2020 from its current value of £20.6bn in the UK. “This increased awareness of healthier eating is having a major impact in savoury snacks, as consumers look for more permissible options that provide a greater choice,” says Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager at Mondelez International. “The trend is driving a shift away from snacks such as crisps – which may be considered unhealthy – and a growing appetite for products which are baked, not fried. As a result, the Crisps category is currently seeing a decline of -6.0% in value

BY IAIN HOEY

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www.slrmag.co.uk

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Feature

Crisps and Snacks

KP MERCHANDISING TIPS Stock the right range to meet shopper needs.

This means stocking the best sellers, covering all snacking occasions and missions, and tailoring the range.

Use impactful displays both on and off shelf including branded POS to create stand out and secondary displays to encourage impulse purchase.

Use PMPs and promotional offers to create value and customers trust, utilising brand strength to heighten appeal.

Merchandise similar products together by type or brand e.g. family products or ridge products together.

sales, while Popcorn and Savoury Snacks are growing at +1.6% and +13.9%, respectively.”

The sector is on consumer trend at the moment, as brands look to meet consumer demand for products that are both permissible and convenient, with bagged savoury biscuits among the star performers in the past year.

Following launch in May 2015, Ritz Crisp & Thin has proven itself highly incremental to the category with one of the highest repeat rates of all new product launches in the category in the last five years. Mondelez continues to invest in marketing campaigns for the product, as its Ritz brand returned to the small screen earlier this year, with a multimillion-pound campaign.

“The success of Ritz Crisp & Thin is an indication of the growing significance of savoury and the consumer demand for snacks that taste great but are more permissible than traditional crisps,” says Nash.

Also in the segment, Burton’s Fish ‘n’ Chips brand launched its biggest ever on-pack promotion for Fish ‘n’ Chips, with a 12-week Ticketmaster partnership. Running until the end of June, shoppers are being given the chance to win gift cards to purchase tickets to a host of events including theatre, music, sports and more, with £1 million worth of fan experiences up for grabs.

Protein and meat snacking is also becoming increasingly popular within the snacking category as consumers look for ways to stay fuller for longer as they fuel their busy active lifestyles. Earlier this year, Peperami launched a new Beef variant to sit alongside our iconic and much loved pork sausage snacks – the first time Peperami has introduced a new meat into the range for over 10 years.

NUTS AND TRAIL MIXES Fruit, nut and seed mixes are also on trend, with many category segments seeing triple digit growth over the last two years, according to Mars Chocolate Drinks and Treats. The fruit, nut and seed snacking category is now worth £2.8million, showing significant growth through predominantly own-label products as there are few, if any, premium brands in the category. Research also shows 62

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that globally, nuts and seeds are a top ten favourite snack for 41% of consumers.

Michelle Frost, general manager for Mars Chocolate Drinks and Treats says that established brands branching out into the segment can really drive sales. “We are always seeking out new opportunities to offer consumers more choice, and these new Trail Mixes give our customers even more ways to enjoy their favourite chocolate brands,” she says.

Taking full advantage of the recent popularity of nuts, KP Snacks is investing in its KP Nuts brand with planned NPD and advertising support. Catering specifically to the needs of the convenience channel, the brand offers a £1 PMP range – available across its Original Salted, Dry Roasted, Salt & Vinegar and Chilli variants.

PROMOTE OCCASION SNACKING Shopper behaviour has changed from regular weekly shops for the whole family to being almost solely driven by occasions. Matt Collins, Sales Director for Convenience, Wholesale, Discounters & Foodservice at KP Snacks, says that whilst 52.6% of spend within the convenience channel is for replenishment missions, but the fastest growing sector by far is ‘Meal For Tonight’. “Crisps and snacks represent a huge opportunity to grow basket size when shoppers are in-store, as they sit outside of this mission but will tempt hungry shoppers as they plan their evening meals,” he explains.

“Replenishment is the biggest mission and capitalising on this with off-shelf feature will help maximise the opportunity to grow sales,” Collins continues. “Placing crisps and snacks on promotion has become a great driver of incremental spend, with 31% of shoppers purchasing items on deal as opposed to just 18% when they’re not on offer.

“We’re seeing the demand for PMP formats remaining strong as they provide shoppers with much needed value.

“But,” Collins finishes, “whilst we continue to increase our range of PMPs, we also continue to offer a comprehensive range of non-PMP to give retailers choice.” www.slrmag.co.uk

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Feature

Chocolate

KNOCK THEIR

CHOCS

OFF!

Ever the impulse king, chocolate continues delivering significant sales and profits for local retailers. SLR looks at why it’s such an important category.

BY IAIN HOEY

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eople love chocolate. It’s a scientifically proven fact. Inside chocolate is a compound called phenylethylamine that stimulates the brain to release a neurotransmitter called dopamine which helps control our body’s reward-system, and is released anytime we have a positive experience. Eating chocolate releases dopamine and causes us to associate chocolate with our positive emotions, and so we desire more chocolate because of its link to happiness.

When it comes to chocolate spend per head, the UK is top of the leaderboard, with research from Mintel indicating that the average Brit consumes 8.61kg of chocolate per year, which equates to 191 individual chocolate bars, or 43 200g tablet bars of chocolate.

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Whilst this is a strong statistic for any category, and particularly significant for local retailers as chocolate is an impulsedriven snack, it is noticeably down from five years ago, when the average Brit consumed almost a third more chocolate at than they are now. This is likely attributable to the rise in the nation’s health consciousness and the dutifully rising price of confectionery.

In spite of this, however, Marcia Mogelonsky, Director of Insight at Mintel Food and Drink, is confident that chocolatebased confectionery will always see strong performance, and that this apparent drop can be attributed to how treats are categorised.

“The big issues revolve around permissibility and the blurring of lines between snacks and confectionery,” she explains. “Even though boundaries are fading, there is still

something about chocolate confectionery that has remained constant. Chocolate is still a treat and, as something special, it typically gets a pass. While consumers may be looking for more healthy foods, they will trade health for indulgence when it comes to chocolate.”

Valentine’s day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas make up the big four for chocolate sales. Now that Easter has come and gone, and Halloween is not for several months, sales of chocolate will likely settle back into everyday levels. But the cholate industry continues to drive sales, with NPD and promotions to reignite consumer passion, as well as promoting old favourites over the summer months to keep sales up. We give the lowdown on all the essentials in each segment from some of the biggest players in the category. www.slrmag.co.uk

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Feature

Chocolate

SINGLES

TABLETS

WHY Even amid the pressures of growing costs, consumers are still buying into the singles market.

The segment is always seeing some excitement, most noticeably in the healthier indulgencies, with brands pushing higher protein and better for you products. Healthier NPDs are helping singles sales stay as strong as ever, alongside the consistent performance of big brand favourites.

Cadbury are currently driving a £6m TV, digital, social and out of home awareness campaign to promote its top five bestsellers among adult consumers.

KEY PRODUCTS

WHY

Q Twirl Q Double Decker Q Crunchie Q Boost Q Wispa

MERCHANDISING TOP TIP

Offering more for your money than a singles bar, available in PMPs and capitalising on the at home sharing and big night in category, tablet bars are a perfect option for customers looking for good value for money. Nielsen data show that tablet products have seen 2% growth, possibly as they are often pioneers for new flavour variants, such as Dairy Milk Oreo Peanut Butter and Galaxy Swirlers, before their rollout in a smaller singles format, putting them at the forefront of NPD in the chocolate category.

Multi-face key lines – this helps to ensure strong availability and attracts shoppers to make those all-important impulse purchases.

KEY PRODUCTS

Harris Aslam, Director at Eros Retail, says: “Consumers are still attracted to the biggest brands so it is important to keep [singles] countlines like Mars, Snickers, Twix and Bounty in stock. We have started to promote the Duo variants of these bars which consumers see as offering greater value.”

SHARING BAGS

Q Oreo Mint Q Oreo Peanut Putter Q Cadbury Dairy Milk Big Taste Q Galaxy Swirlers Caramel Crunch Q Galaxy Swirlers Shortbread Crunch

KEY PRODUCTS Q Cadbury Fudge Minis Q Cabury Dinky Deckers Q Malteasers £1 PMP Q M&M’s £1 PMP

WHY Sharing bags have driven the largest growth ahead of other chocolate segments in recent years, with NPDs coming left, right and centre from some of the biggest name brands. Their bitesize format and resealable packaging make them ideal for big night in and sharing occasions, as well as a little and often treat.

The category sees no signs of slowing down with Maltesers and M&Ms boasting a 9.2% increase in sales and new offerings such as Cadbury Fudge Minis.

Bep Dhaliwal, trade communications manager at Mars Chocolate UK, says “There are a number of different occasions that can be classified as a night in – from a more formal planned night together, to a fun night in with a group of friends in front of the TV. The rise in popularity of the ‘Big Night In’ occasion has resulted in sharing packs playing an increasingly key role in the Confectionery market.”

Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager at Mondelez International, says: “We have seen a growing consumer trend for premiumisation, as consumers look to trade up to products which provide added value.

We also continue to see consumers wanting delicious treats they can really enjoy. We have introduced a number of innovations over the past 12 months which deliver to these need states, helping to drive growth in the category.”

MERCHANDISING TOP TIP

MERCHANDISING TOP TIP

When merchandising pouch lines, core favourites should be displayed in a prime location, for example, at eye level on a wall display.

Ensure you use all POS available to you, such as dumpbins & counter units – these are guaranteed to raise awareness and generate impulse sales.

PMPS WHY A price marked pack is a key driver in impulse sales. With confectionery prices creeping up, it offers transparency and reassures a shopper that they are getting the same value for their money as competitors such as at discounters and multiples. PMPs can usually be found on chocolate products in every segment, 66

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from 60p singles to £1 bags and tablet bars.

Harris Aslam, Director at Eros Retail, champions the price-marked-pack: “PMPs are important in every category and confectionery is no different. If a deal is on-pack it brings greater credibility and gives the consumer a stronger perception of value.”

KEY PRODUCTS Q Mars £1 PMP treat bags Q Galaxy £1 PMP block lines Q Dairy Milk £1 PMP tablets Q Wispa Gold PMP 50p Q Cadbury Freddo PMP 30p www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:25

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AVAILABLE FROM 22ND MAY

Mars® is a registered trademark. ©Mars 2017.

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Feature

Chocolate

MERCHANDISING Top tips from Mondelez and Mars Q Group products by product format (singles with other singles etc.)

Q Position best sellers in the bestselling location Q Group brands together within segments Q Use manufacturers’ POS, such as dumpbins & counter units Q Ensure all shelves are fully stocked Q Have clear prices in position Q Ensure shelf edges are clean so the product looks at its best Q Where possible, take products out of their case Q Only double face very top selling lines Q Site alongside savoury snacks and drinks, to promote additional basket spend

BRAND ACTIVITY ROUNDUP ‘Adopt a Cow’ Cadbury Dairy Milk heroes its glass and a half of milk credentials in its ‘Adopt a Cow’ on packpromotion on singles and multipacks of Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons, Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo and Cadbury Dairy Milk Little Bars from this month. The £4m campaign offers families the chance to adopt one of 20 cows and win a ‘farmtastic’ weekend away to meet their new friend.

A Despicable Surprise Kinder is continues its growth momentum by partnering with Universal’s latest summer blockbuster – Despicable Me 3. The new Kinder Surprise eggs – containing instantly recognisable Minion characters – are until August and are supported by in-store activation.

Cadbury’s Premier promotion Up for grabs in the promotion are ten personalised Premier League match day experiences for two, 50 pairs of match tickets every week, 200 Premier League replica footballs and up to 200,000 free Cadbury singles bars from the 4th of August.

Galaxy Swirlers

BETTER FOR YOU

Mars Chocolate UK marked National Tea Day (April 21) by launching of Galaxy Swirlers, an ‘easily breakable’ bar of Galaxy chocolate fingers aiming to tap into the 22bn hot drink occasions

WHY

in-home every year, Galaxy Swirlers is available

In spite of chocolate being an indulgent snack, healthier chocolate options should not be ignored. Many brands have been trying to capitalize on the better-for-you trend to entice people to give into their cravings for a chocolate treat. This sub-category often features dark chocolate instead of the more sugary milk chocolate, stir in fruit, high protein content and other ingredients consumers typically regard as healthier.

in two flavours – Caramel Crunch and Shortbread Crunch.

Singles sensations sweeping the nation Cadbury has announced the new ‘Singles Sensations’ 360-degree campaign to champion

KEY PRODUCTS

the tastes and textures of five of its key singles

Q Bounty Protein Q Mars Protein

bars. The new £6m campaign is running across TV, social and outdoor and focuses on the indulgent experiences that consumers experience

George Puro, president of Puro Research Group says “Consumers are interested in trying new tastes and textures, and manufacturers are diversifying products to accommodate this.”

when enjoying the bar.

Mars looking for brownie points Bringing together two of the nation’s favourite food categories, cakes/pastries and chocolate, Mars Choc Brownie combines thick chocolate nougat with indulgent dark caramel, covered in classic Mars chocolate, creating a new twist on a chocolate classic. It is available now in singles and 4-packs.

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www.slrmag.co.uk

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Feature

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Summer Drinks

TIM T CHIL www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:38

Summer Drinks

ME TO ILL www.slrmag.co.uk

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Feature

With the sun breaking through the rain just long enough for a BBQ and a bevvy in classic Scottish summer fashion, SLR breaks down the drinks market with tips to make the most of the warmer weather before it disappears.

A

few days in the sun last month warmed up consumer appetite for summer, causing the annual urge for donning shorts, sunglasses, and pouring a drink to relax into the warmer weather. Both alcoholic and soft drinks play their role in summer drinks occasions, and SLR rounds up industry expert advice to give the lowdown on how to drink in the profits.

“In a typical year, drink now soft drinks benefit from an average 17% retail sales value uplift from June to August,” explains Mark Sterratt, Head of Marketing, Strategy and Planning at Lucozade Ribena Suntory.

“For every one-degree temperature change, soft drink sales increase by +1.6%, so there’s a massive incentive for retailers to get their impulse soft drinks range right, right now.”

The soft drinks category has stood its ground in convenience in recent months; increasing sales by +0.1% to be worth £2.1bn. The number one footfall driver to convenience, ‘drink now’ soft drinks, are worth over £1.5bn RSV to the convenience channel, according to HIM research. The majority of soft drinks growth in convenience was driven by water, energy, iced tea and coffee. Meanwhile, the low-calorie segment benefitted from the trend for healthier soft drinks, achieving +3.3% growth (to £362m), versus full sugar soft drinks which declined by -0.5% (to £1.7bn) in convenience.

As a result, the soft drinks category responded with reformulations of many of their existing products.

Almost two thirds (57%) of low calorie soft drinks growth was seen in energy and cola.

This was reinforced by brand marketing campaigns which

focused on no or low added sugar ranges and Pepsi was the number one brand contributor to convenience channel growth, up +9.8%, adding £10.6m to the channel.

THE SUMMER OCCASION From BBQs to the Big Night In, summer is a time of get-togethers and basking in the warmer weather. Drinks play a fundamental part at any gathering, so retailers should never underestimate the power of a sunny afternoon to create a spontaneous last-minute drinks mission-shop. To take full advantage of the occasion, Trystan Farnworth, Commercial Director, Convenience & Impulse at Britvic, advises on merchandising.

“Specially created big night in displays consisting of the most relevant products across several categories should be sited in visible and high-footfall areas where consumers’ attention is likely to be captured even if not necessarily on a big night in shopping mission,” Farnworth says. “Shoppers may be in a hurry as they pick up last minute items for social occasions, so group sub-categories together to make it easier for shoppers to find what they are looking for.”

It may be worth focusing more on adult soft drinks, including 750ml bottles of Appletiser or Schweppes Sparkling Juice Drinks, which Amy Burgess, Trade Communications Manager at Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) says are ideal as consumers look for a premium drink to make their gathering feel more sophisticated.

“Summer 2016 accounted for more than a quarter of annual soft drinks sales, underlining the strength of the category at this time,” JUNE 2017 | SLR

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Feature

Summer Drinks

MERCHANDISING TIPS FROM TRYSTAN FARNWORTH, COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR OF CONVENIENCE & IMPULSE AT BRITVIC

Q Stock the right range – For immediate refreshment it is important to stock a broad range of branded soft drinks from established segments such as carbonates, juices and juice drinks, energy and vitality drinks and water. Retailers should also take advantage of growing segments such as ice tea which are more interesting for discerning customers, as well as leading kids brands such as Fruit Shoot.

Q Great merchandising – Shoppers are often in a hurry as they pop in to pick up bits and pieces throughout the day, so group sub-categories together to make it easier for shoppers to find what they are looking for. We recommend segmenting the chiller into 4 areas – carbonates, stills, energy & vitality and water. Always make sure single serve drinks are kept chilled and ready to drink straight away to drive impulse purchase from thirsty shoppers.

Q Highlight NPD – Shoppers want to discover new things, so make sure new carbonated soft drinks – such as our recently relaunched and extended R White’s range – stand out in the chiller and with additional point of sale around the store to point customers in the right direction.

Q Be visible – Make sure soft drinks are in a prominent location in store, such as near the till area, to encourage impulse buying. Leading brands should always have sufficient space on shelf to help shoppers who are looking for their specific favourites find what they are looking for. Restock shelves frequently to keep up with demand – any gaps in the chiller represent potential missed sales.

Q Make the most of food occasions – Soft drinks are the most frequently purchased food-to-go item with 39% of shoppers buying a soft drink versus just 24% purchasing confectionery, for example. To increase the number of items bought for on-the-go consumption, offer meal or snack deals across food and drink categories.

Q Offer value – As well as offering promotions and cross category deals, PMPs are a great way of reassuring shoppers that they are getting great value.

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Burgess elaborates. “Periods of warmer weather can be the catalyst behind growth, whether people are looking to cool down whilst on the go, or stocking up for a family outdoor occasion like a barbecue or picnic.”

Rain or shine, a summers evening is the perfect excuse for a more romantic big night in. With recent research from Pernod Ricard UK revealing that two thirds of wine drinkers consider the ‘time for me and us’ occasion as a key moment to purchase a bottle of wine, keeping the wine shelves stocked with popular brands should be a priority.

Promoting the occasion, Pernod Ricard UK recently launched a ‘Win Dinner on Us’ promotion. The neck tag offer runs across Campo Viejo, Brancott Estate and Jacob’s Creek, and gives consumers the chance to win dinner delivered straight to their door.

The research also points to wine as being an impulsive purchase, according to Lucy Bearman, Head of Customer Development at Pernod Ricard UK. “It was fascinating to discover that when shoppers actually prepare for their ‘time for me and us’ nights, they are rarely thinking about wine when they are in-store as part of this occasion,” she tells.

“By identifying this missed opportunity, the launch of our on-pack promotion aims to inspire shoppers to consider purchasing wine as part of the occasion. Triggering this wine drinking occasion in-store at the point of purchase is a huge opportunity for retailers to tap into.”

HEROING HEALTHIER The soft drinks market has evolved, with shoppers increasingly looking for greater choice at the fixture. The growth in popularity of low-calorie soft drinks means that this summer it is more important than ever for retailers to constantly evauluate their offering and offer the key players in the category.

“We’ve taken bold steps to help consumers make healthy choices through reformulating our drinks without compromising taste or quality,” says Farnworth, championing Britvic’s commitment to providing low sugar alternatives. “We removed added sugar Fruit Shoot and Robinsons Squash ranges in GB and we have reformulated other brands, such as Drench, to reduce sugar content. We’ve also been innovating in this area with the launch of our new Sparkling range of Drench which includes naturally sourced stevia and no artificial sweeteners, colours or flavourings.”

Positioning also plays a key role. For example, shoppers that are looking for a healthy option tend to look at the water fixture in the chiller, so retailers might consider stocking juice drinks in the chiller cabinet, positioned between carbonates and water.

New sugar free lines, such as Irn-Bru Xtra, might be well positioned between regular and sugar free brand variants.

AG Barr is currently investing £5 million in Rubicon Spring, one of the fast selling ranges of products which combine sparkling spring water with fruit juice to deliver a big taste with 15 calories or less per bottle. “Branded flavoured sparkling water is currently one of the strongest performing areas within the soft drinks market, growing at +144%,” says Adrian Troy, AG Barr’s Marketing Director.

WATER IN GROWTH Bottled water is the fastest growing segment within the £7.5bn soft drinks category, according to HIM research.

The research indicates that the majority (65%) of this growth comes from shoppers switching from other soft drinks, notably colas, flavoured carbonates and juices which has been driven to a large extent by consumers

www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:44

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12/06/2017 15:10:45 25/05/2017 13:34

Feature

Summer Drinks

57%

low calorie soft drinks growth seen in energy and cola

concern about sugar.

Bottled water holds potential for further growth, especially during the summer time, as almost two thirds of people in the UK (59%) still only drink just one serving of water or less a day, and 80% drink no more than two servings of water.

Silika Shellie, Head of Category and Shopper Development at Nestlé Waters advises retailers to encourage sales of bottled water with signposting in store, positions in locations such as the till-point or the soft drinks fixture with secondary sitings, including water in meal-deal offers and bundle deals, and stocking well-known brands in both still and sparkling varieties.

“Consumers are becoming more aware of the need to reduce the amount of sugar they consume, and are switching from sugary carbonates and juice drinks to bottled water,” Shellie tells. “However, more can and should be done to encourage the healthy hydration habit, as many people are still not achieving The Department of Health’s recommended daily target to help the body maintain its fluid balance.”

ESSENTIAL ENERGY Even energy drinks such as Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar have been making their attempts to capture the health-conscious consumer market.

But with summer a key period for energy drinks, there may be a risk of too much innovation standing in the way of incremental sales.

Within Energy, sizes are driving category growth, with core continuing to contribute significantly to share.

But, the market has become extremely crowded with more brands, variants and formats than ever before. The key 76

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to delivering sales through merchandising is rationalisation, according to Richard Fisher, Category Development Manager at Red Bull UK, ensuring the right range is available at all times is imperative.

“With an increasing number of skus entering the Sports & Energy category, many stores have placed an increased importance on standard and value tier brands, providing them more space on shelf, resulting in a negative impact on the value of the category,” Fisher says. “Within functional energy drinks, although standard and value brands have a higher frequency of purchase, premium brands, such as Red Bull actually drive a higher spend per shopper.”

A PRICE MARKED PROMISE Price and value are key drivers for shoppers and most convenience retailers agree that they are a clear indicator to reinforce both a positive price perception and trust in their store and prices.

The latest research from HIM found that one in three UK adults say that knowing a convenience store sold PMP positively influences their decision to visit that store, with 79% of shoppers viewing PMP as a promotion.

The local retail market can struggle when it comes to offering everyday low prices, so when reviewing their product range, retailers should consider stocking price marked packs (PMP) to offer shoppers obvious value for money.

Today’s shoppers seek a balance between price

and convenience when making purchase decisions,” says Brtivic’s Trystan Farnworth.

“PMPs provide visible value-for-money and grab the attention of savvy consumers. They present a significant sales opportunity for independent retailers in simplifying the shopping experience for their customers and driving consumers’ positive value perception.

Research also shows that 50% of consumers trust price-marked-packs more than plain packs.”

A BOOZY NIGHT IN Summer habitually creates a desire for indulgence, and the summer alcohol drinks market is among the most important in driving incremental sales. Offerings from all segments in the alcohol category fit the summer bill, from a nice cool beer or cider, to a bottle of wine or a cocktail. Whatever the drink, stocking products which catch the summer vibes can drive incremental sales in store.

“Two thirds of convenience retailers experience a 10% increase in their wine and spirits sales during the summer months and a further 27% of retailers see an increase of 20% or more,” says James Middleton, Impulse Channel Director at Pernod Ricard UK. Pernod Ricard UK has identified through a bespoke shopper study that most wine drinkers enjoy a glass, often with food, on summer nights in with friends and family.

With sales of premium wines and spirits for this occasion accounting for £977m over the past five years and over two thirds involving people consuming alcohol at the weekend, it should be a consideration for retailers to provide their shoppers with an extensive premium offering. “[Summer is an] important time for retailers www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:47

stock up now

SLR June 2017.indd 77 78323_DES-DOS_AD_SLR_A4.indd 1

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12/06/2017 15:10:47 25/05/2017 13:23

Feature

Summer Drinks

“It may be worth focusing more on adult soft drinks as consumers look for a premium drink to make their gathering feel more sophisticated.”

AMY BURGESS, TRADE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AT COCA-COLA EUROPEAN PARTNERS (CCEP)

SUMMER MERCHANDISING TIPS FROM AMANDA GRABHAM, HEAD OF BRAND MARKETING, ALCOHOL AT SHS DRINKS

Q Range review – undertaking a seasonal range review using EPoS data to identify slow sellers and replacing them with a wider range of flavours of the popular best-selling brands, new launches and seasonal lines.

Q Clear display – making the display clear and easy for shoppers to navigate by arranging together by brand and then flavour; keeping traditional RTDs, RTS cans and pouches together.

Q Mixed offering – stocking a mix of pack formats to cater for different occasions – 700 ml bottles are preferred for sharing occasions when consumers are getting together and having a drink before they go out for the evening and they are also ideal for making RTD cocktails; while 4-packs tend to be purchased for sharing at parties or events such as barbecues.

Q Keep drinks chilled – having plenty of chilled stock available – our research shows almost half of WKD consumers meet up at least once a week with friends for a night in2, and Fridays and Saturdays are the most popular evenings for meeting at a friend’s house before going out.

Q Seasonal spotlight – giving additional feature space to traditional bottled RTDs during key calendar events when there is an increase in young adults socialising such as summer, the end of the exam term and the barbecue season.

Q Group flavours – Positioning RTDs adjacent to fruit ciders as they have a similar fruity taste profile and appeal to similar consumers and consumption occasions.

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to get their wine and spirits ranging right and provide shoppers with a comprehensive offering of ‘good, better, best’,” says Middleton. “Rather than stocking five similar wines and spirits at the lower end of the value spectrum, it is far more effective to offer three that offer different propositions.

“The summer occasion sparks the incentive for consumers to begin throwing parties (11%) and having social gatherings (22%), creating a huge opportunity for retailers as consumers look to trade up,” Middleton continues. “To help promote wine and spirits, it’s important for retailers to inspire shoppers with choices to compliment these occasions. The trend for premium is continuing to deliver growth as consumers are opting to drink less but better, we therefore recommend that retailers allocate the right space to trusted brands.”

The RTD segment sells steadily all year round, but like most alcoholic drinks, sales tend to increase when the sun shines and the temperature rises due largely to people seeking refreshment and socialising more at events like BBQs. SHS Drinks says RTD cocktails are quick and easy to make, add a sense of occasion when consumers are socialising and are a fun talking point. The cocktail trend, it says, is also great news for convenience retailers as it provides the opportunity to generate incremental sales from the spirits and mixers used to make the drinks.

“RTDs are still very much part of young adults’ summer drinks repertoire, and that’s because fruity alcoholic drinks are as popular as ever amongst 18 to 24-year-olds, who are the key consumers of alcohol RTDs,” explains Amanda Grabham, Head of Brand Marketing, Alcohol

at SHS Drinks. “We just need to ensure that these brands engage and connect with young consumers’ lifestyles and that’s what we will be focusing WKD activity on this summer.”

Also grabbing the sweet toothed drinker’s attention this summer is likely to be cider, as last summer saw a significant surge in glass bottled cider sales in the impulse sector, with the average weekly sales volume between June and August being 50% higher than average weekly sales during the other nine months of the year.

To maximise the summer sales-opportunity it is worth considering allocating more space to glass bottled cider during the summer months. It is also advisable to stock a good selection of ciders in the chiller as more than half (55%) of shoppers consume their purchases within two hours of purchase. SHS Drinks recommends focusing on the sectors of the cider category which are performing well, and offering a selection of packs, including 750ml bottles for sharing, to meet different summer consumption occasions.

“As summer approaches, it’s a good opportunity to review your cider range and check that you aren’t over-facing on fruit and pear ciders now that sales of these are starting to wane,” advises Grabham, who points to the fact that volume sales of fruit ciders in Scotland’s impulse stores fell by 14% last year, while pear sales down by 15%.

“Taking out the slower sellers will free up space which can be re-allocated to give faster selling brands more facings; to create a heritage section within the fixture; and to introduce new lines to meet new consumer trends.”

Beer is worth more than £2.7bn in the grocery channel, and with www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:48

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12/06/2017 15:10:48 12/04/2017 10:41

Feature

Summer Drinks

purchases being driven by a consumer need to satisfy certain occasions, the summer months are increasing these occasions with BBQs and the like.

“Keeping an eye on weather forecasts to predict the peaks and troughs in demand will enable retailers to stock chillers accordingly and keep up with the often impromptu nature of BBQ purchases,” advises Toby Lancaster, Category and Shopper Marketing Director at Heineken. “BBQ shoppers will be open to suggestions for food pairings so consider ranging beers and ciders with relevant food pairings in the chiller to drive extra sales and create an engaging in-store experience for shoppers this summer.”

And finally, the segment big brands such as Heineken are tipping to be the next trend: alcohol free beer. Recent research from IPSOS has shown that whilst 50% of people now say they moderate their alcohol consumption only 47% of shoppers are satisfied with the existing alcohol-free beer offering in the UK market, and are looking for trusted global premium brands to have an offering in the segment. Heineken 0.0 was launched into the market earlier this year and David Lette, Premium Brands Director at Heineken says it is performing well. “Our master brewer is so confident in Heineken 0.0 that he has given it his seal of approval,” Lette enthuses.

“Drinkers love it too – initial feedback from 80

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both consumers and customers has been overwhelmingly positive.”

WHAT GOES WHERE Lucozade Ribena Suntory’s Mark Sterratt says it is vital that retailers provide true ‘convenience’ by stocking the best-selling brands shoppers expect to see in all retail outlets. He also advises that retailers should also ensure that their soft drink range is kept cold at all times. “Customers may be less inclined to buy a drink if it’s not chilled, 70% of shoppers pick up their soft drinks from a chiller, so it’s essential to keep soft drinks cool to make the most of every food-to-go sales opportunity,” he explains.

“Point of sale material has a proven record of driving those it reaches to purchase a product,” he continues.

“For independent retailers – with time-pressed consumers who don’t walk down every aisle in the store and tend not to buy on impulse – disruptive point of sale materials are absolutely vital. Retailers should make use of manufacturers’ POS

materials, given research also highlights that branded point of sale assets are more effective than their unbranded equivalents.”

THE BOTTOM LINE This summer, chillers should be well stocked with a comprehensive range of single-serve formats for thirsty shoppers who will be looking for immediate, cold refreshment in all drinks segements. Sharing formats are key for popular summer occasions such BBQs and picnics, whilst bank holidays and particularly hot weather will encourage spikes in demand for larger bottles and multipacks too.

Key summer brands and new launches should be highlighted with seasonal POS at the chiller, till and, importantly, outside the store to disrupt shopper behaviour and encourage trade-up within the range.

Multi-buy promotions can also help to drive a higher basket spend and inspire extra purchase. As the temperature rises, retailers should expect increased footfall in store, meaning the summer season is a key sales opportunity for the convenience sector. www.slrmag.co.uk

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12/06/2017 15:10:51 23/05/2017 13:25

Feature

Retail Technology

TECHING ALL THE RIGHT BOXES

The role of technology in local retailing is getting ever wider as more and more solutions begin to appear. SLR takes a look at some of the most useful tech currently available to retailers.

BY IAIN HOEY

T

here’s no question that the presence of technology in local retailing is growing exponentially, helping retailers in every aspect of their work both behind the scenes and, increasingly, front of house. Today’s tech is helping influence and speed up buying decisions and processes as well as allowing retailers to better understand how their shoppers make transactions – and then turning this knowledge into sales.

All convenience retailing technology can generally speaking be found of a broad spectrum with ‘passive’ at one end and ‘active’ on the other. Passive technologies are all about capitalising on the shopper who is already in the store. Active technologies help spur the consumer into making a decision such as visiting a particular store or purchasing a particular deal. In reality, most tech falls somewhere in between, and much of the tech is built on a platform of data. Modern technologies often allow for the seamless capture, storage and analysis of data, helping to drive better decision-making for the future.

A digital virtuous cycle and one more and more easily available to local retailers.

At its heart, local retailing is an industry driven by convenience. Shoppers want to come in, find what they’re looking for, pay, and leave – and there is an increasing number of technologies that retailers can use to help shoppers achieve just that, boosting sales and basket spend, often without the shopper even realising.

EPOS The longest standing and most familiar in-store technology is of course EPoS. A decade or two ago there were still many retailers unconvinced of the merits of EPoS. These days the notion of running a store efficiently without an EPoS system is pretty much unthinkable. There is no better way of transacting sales, while at the same time capturing critically important business information. There are many good systems 82

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on the market each with their own strengths and weaknesses – but buying one can be a tricky and difficult business.

Retailers should carefully consider their options when choosing a service provider, according to Stephen Burnett, Managing Director of EPoS supplier The Retail Data Partnership. “Competitive pressure is not going away,” he warns. “It’s only going

to increase. Retailers need to take a good hard look at the partners they want to work with. Not all of them have the retailers’ best interests at heart. Don’t get locked into long term contracts with providers of services that are in decline. Look for new and innovative solutions that will really work with you to build your business.”

In particular, it’s worth considering how well www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:51

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The Retail Data Partnership Ltd 12/06/2017 15:10:51

Feature

Retail Technology

“Technology is the best weapon we have for fighting back.”

BOOKER RETAILER MANDEEP SINGH

the system you’re looking at deals with day to day transactioning. How well can you manage issues at the tillpoint to minimise disruption and speed things up for the customer? How easy and intuitive is the system to use? What sort of training is provided for your staff, and what is the ongoing support package like?

How easy is it to add goods-in and how does the system deal with stock handling? What sort of reports can the system run and how easy are they to understand and manage?

The key is to take time and really get under the skin of any system before you sign on the dotted line.

DIGITAL SIGNAGE One trend which is developing, although not for the first time, is digital signage. Many companies have had a go at providing fitfor-purpose solutions for the local retailing industry over the years but none have really stuck. The latest company that seems to be making good headway and gaining traction in stores across Scotland – including in our own Woodlands Local – is Hi Street Digital. Bright, attractive digital signage of any kind is going to drive awareness and, directly or indirectly, sales.

In the modern world, consumers are used to digital screens and see them many times every day so it makes sense to bring this into the convenience retailing environment to drive awareness of products and deals as well as simply adding a little colour to the store.

Hi Street’s system has the added benefit of 84

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being customisable to your own store and promotional package (by symbol group) and is remotely manageable.

HEAT MAPPING Knowing your shoppers and their habits is one of the fundamental principles of being a local retailer, and technology can help enhance the process and drive loyalty, thanks to the likes of ‘heatmapping’, once the preserve of the major multiples but increasingly accessible for convenience stores.

VCA’s heatmapping technology uses multiple cameras to accurately map customer journeys in-store, showing the areas which see the most dwell time, and giving real time updates to retailers. Footfall analysis is made simple with the VCA’s analytics, which can automatically collect statistics on customer behaviour, enabling retailers to make informed business decisions.

The system uses multiple overlapping detection lines and zones ensure only specific activity is recorded. It has a real time, remote and easy access dashboard. This captures data which is displayed via simple charts, heat maps and reports which allow individual store managers or on-the-road regional managers to make informed decisions, whilst enabling head office marketing and merchandising personnel to compare at a glance, business intelligence from high and low performing stores without leaving their desks.

VCA analytics can also analyse and manage queuing times and queue lengths which can

help the efficient deployment of staff, whilst reducing the risk of customer frustration and walk-offs. Data captured by VCA analytics can provide an insight into how long customers have to queue to pay for items, as well as how much time customers spend in particular aisles, all of which retailers can use to effectively merchandise and run their store.

CONTACTLESS Contactless payment technology falls somewhere in the middle of passive and active, depending on what method is used, but is increasingly ubiquitious in local retailing outlets. On the one hand, there are simple card readers which require shoppers to tap their card to complete the transaction.

The technology has been on the market for almost 10 years, but it skyrocketed in 2016, leaping from £7.75bn of spend to £25.2bn in the UK. As the technology becomes more commonplace, consumers are likely to expect its presence, with research from Payments UK indicating that by 2018 a third of card payments will be contactless.

“Having a range of different payment options available to suit customers’ preferences will make a store feel like a more convenient place to shop, encouraging customers to choose to buy more,” says Steve O’Neill, Marketing Director at PayPoint.

The upper limit for contactless payment transactions is currently £30, and average convenience retailer basket spend is safely below this figure, offering contactless www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:53

Run your whole store with one device

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12/06/2017 16/03/2017 15:10:54 10:10:09

Feature

Retail Technology

USING SOCIAL MEDIA 1) Identify your target audience Are your typical shoppers male or female? Young or old? What are some of their likes and dislikes? Are they local to you? Do they come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds?

2) Create content Status updates: inform customers of new deals, new products or services, special offers in store, ask for customer feedback.

Photos: of new products or services, shout outs to customers, latest offers, competitions.

Videos: live videos streaming, promotional videos, campaigns, vines, GIFS. Sharing customers posts: share your customers good reviews of your business, pictures which they have tagged your business in etc.

Respond to comments: engage with every shopper query directly and as quickly as possible.

Hashtag: use popular, trending topics such as #mondaymotivation, to raise visibility.

payment options would be a sensible piece of tech to have installed.

Of course, it’s not just cards that boast contactless spending, with giants like Apple, Android and most recently Samsung Pay also taking their share of the tap-andgo transactions. With fingerprint-based technology, these solutions are arguably even safer than the simple card-tapping solution and should grow in future.

Consumers may begin choosing their contactless payment method more carefully however as contactless card payment fraud more than doubled to £7m in the UK in 2016.

LOYALTY Where contactless becomes ‘active’ is with the likes of apps like Zapper. Described by the company as a ‘data insight platform’, Zapper is a next generation app-based ‘tap and go’ payment solution that delivers loyalty, vouchering and discount benefits for both retailers and shoppers. Shoppers download the app and can use it pay at the till, as well as redeeming vouchers – and the system captures all transactional data into the bargain, providing insight for future activity.

It sounds nifty, and with widespread success in South Africa proves it can become a fixture in retail.

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stores are adopting mobile payments, loyalty and vouchering technology,” says Gerry Hooper, CEO at Zapper UK. “It’s essential for them to digitise these processes to increase the speed of payment at the till and engage with the consumer, not only in store but also at other times of their day too.

“Convenience stores are small enough to be agile and move quickly,” Hooper continues.

“They need to take advantage of advancing technology. This technology can be used to communicate with customers and is more measureable. Stores can analyse their reports for a campaign and benchmark their findings.

Plus, with digitised promotions, they can see what offers or messages drives which habits and purchases.”

A recent trial conducted in seven Nisa stores in and around Peterborough delivered encouraging results. Over 850 unique customers across the stores used Zapper for more than 4,800 transactions with a 41% redemption rate across all vouchers issued to shoppers via the system. Zapper claim a 63% increase in weekly visits by loyal shoppers against the industry average and a 35% increase in basket spend with repeat visits by regular shops reaching 4.19 visits per week.

COUPONING Zapper’s is not the not the only couponing app in convenience, of course. There are

several available such BigDL, an app which uses IBeacon technology. The IBeacon flags up retail promotions in stores local to consumers, sending out notifications about promotions to shoppers within a radius of the local store. The technology also provides symbol stores with the capability to accept electronic coupons that are available exclusively to consumers on the app.

SOCIAL MEDIA Alongside apps, social media is often touted as being a huge opportunity for marketing and driving footfall with its built-in potential to increase a store’s reach. With platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and everything else in between it can be hard to know how to focus your efforts.

But with so many options, it is likely better to focus on one or two rather than trying to spread your presence across all offerings as in order to make it a genuine footfall driver it is likely to take some serious effort.

Jamil Mohammed, Group Digital Director at Booker, champions the use of social media in driving footfall, but reports that less than 10% of convenience stores have a Facebook page. Premier retailer Mandeep Singh runs one of the most successful Facebook group of any convenience store. His Singh’s Premier Facebook group within his local community, which since its launch has accumulated www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:55

Transform your business

Shahid Razzaq, owner Family Shopper, Blantrye said, ‘We were the first convenience store to launch Zapper in Scotland and our customers love being able to pay with an app on their smartphones. It’s simple to use and means we can also offer a loyalty card to our frequent shoppers. We are looking forward to the future with Zapper.

Zapper.’

The smart way to pay Email: retail@zapper.com SLR JuneGrocer 2017.indd 872017 - FINAL.indd 1 Scottish - MAY

Tel: 0333 370 4414 12/06/2017 25/04/2017 15:10:56 13:49:55

Feature

Retail Technology

almost 11,000 members, is a strong footfall driver for his store. He reports, however, that his time spent on the social network has increased from 30 minutes a week to around two hours per day. This may be off-putting for some retailers, but it is the little-and-often strategy that helps drive his sales.

“Whenever there’s an empty shop and you’re standing at the counter with nothing to do, it only takes a minute to go online and reply to people,” Mandeep says. His strategy for driving customer loyalty includes regular promotions, competitions, videos, and their aim to respond to every single comment left on the Facebook group by the close of business each day.

What is right for your store might not be right for everyone else, it can be a case of trial and error. The work put in by the likes of Mandeep shows that social media can be time consuming – but if you are seeing results from your efforts, it is definitely worth the time and in the more you do it, the easier it is likely to become.

SHOPPER ENGAGEMENT Lastly, bringing together a wide range of technologies in-store, is Darius for Retail: a unique solution that provides a means of capturing and harnessing all of the available data and then turning that into actionable insight. The system, which is being trialled in a number of stores across Scotland, allows retailers to manage and track the entire customer journey pre-store, in-store and post-store, allowing them to actively engage with shoppers and influence behaviour at all stages and deliver bigger basket spends and increased frequency of visit.

Darius allows user to bring all of their data from all sources into one place and analyse it quickly and accurately to drive powerful marketing communications campaigns. It boasts the capability of pulling data from Epos systems, payment systems, wifi, vouchering apps and more – providing users with a ‘single source of truth’ database and driving personalised communications to shoppers through the channel of their choice – email, SMS, etc – based on that individual customer’s transactional history and interests.

In whatever form, there is no question that technology is a permanent fixture in local retail. “Technology has become increasingly crucial for independent retail businesses to succeed in the competitive convenience landscape,” adds PayPoint’s Steve O’Neill.

“Having the latest data on product sales can help retailers to make smart choices around which products to buy in for customers. With almost half (46%) of corner shops seeing supermarkets as their biggest competition, they are preparing to take them on through an increased adoption of retail technology.”

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ZAPPER WHAT IS IT? A mobile app that makes payments and e-commerce quick, simple and secure.

WHO MAKES IT? Zapper WHAT DOES IT DO? A new way to pay: Zapper enables shoppers to open the app, scan a unique QR code at till point to quickly pay then leave starred rate and review feedback, instantly visible to the retailer.

Communicate with customers: Zapper provides an instant solution for retailers to survey their shoppers and understand individual trends and habits. Zapper’s Pay-at-Counter digital tablet can display rolling adverts to customers about offers and updates whilst they are waiting to pay.

Shopper insights: Zapper’s online portal enables retailers to analyse these valuable data insights with variables such as; time of day, total basket spend, regular items, plus instant rate and review feedback results. They can also communicate directly with individual customers and reward by sending offers personalised to their previous shopping purchases – meaning no more paper coupons and unwanted offers.

WHY DO I NEED IT? “In reality retailers need to explore what’s out there to find what’s best for their business.

Zapper isn’t just for chains and symbol groups.

Upgrading EPOS is a substantial investment and with cash becoming increasingly more expensive to manage and keep flowing, it’s important to look at other technology options to find the right solution for your business.

“Zapper has a live 24 hour support team to answer any queries, and settles both payment and voucher redemptions next day – which is much quicker than most other providers.”

– Gerry Hooper, CEO, Zapper

UCOUNT.IT WHAT IS IT? A cloud based counting and tracking reporting solution that presents useful data in the form of simple charts, heat maps and reports.

WHO MAKES IT? VCA Technology WHAT DOES IT DO? Heatmap analysis: Cloud based uCount. it provides an accurate method of analysing precise footfall numbers along with heat maps to identify shopping trends. It captures real-time customer data which can be used to analyse the success of sales promotions, conversion rates and product placement strategies.

Queue analysis: It can analyse and manage queuing times and queue lengths to aid maximum productivity by the efficient deployment of staff, whilst reducing the risk of customer frustration and walk-offs. Alerts can

be generated automatically so that a store’s management can react to a sudden influx of customers by positioning staff accordingly.

Customer insights: Integration with EPOS can provide accurate analysis of conversion rates by time of day and product value, whilst heatmap data will give better insight into typical routes and dwell time through the store for customers who buy particular types of products, as well as age and gender data.

WHY DO I NEED IT? “‘User friendly’ may be an overused phrase, but it is in fact an accurate description of VCA analytics. The significance of this should not be underrated, as there is a perception in the marketplace that analytics can be difficult to implement and use.”

- Kevin Waterhouse, Executive Vice President, Global Sales for VCA

DARIUS WHAT IS IT? A cloud-based digital shopper engagement platform that allows you to send personalized communication to your shopper before, during, and after their shopping journey.

WHO MAKES IT? Velocity Worldwide WHAT DOES IT DO? Pre-store: Through this cloud based platform, retailers can send communications in the form of marketing programs, promotions, coupons etc. to their shoppers to entice them to come to the store. Communication can be sent across various channels, such as email, social media, print, in-store, and more.

In-Store: Once the shopper is connected to the store’s Wi-Fi, Darius can inform the shopper of special offers or other notable items using proximity technology. Darius can also suggest items that the shopper likes or needs – based on personal profiles that are created by shoppers who choose to opt-in. Darius updates and tracks these profiles. At checkout, Darius records shoppers’ purchases, coupons used, and time spent in store, and adds these to their individual profiles to be used for future personalized communication.

Post-store: As shoppers disconnect from the Wi-Fi, they receive an incentivized exit survey about their shopping experiences. Meanwhile, Darius maintains shopper profiles, and uses easily understandable and measurable analytics so that future engagement with shoppers can be more personalized and effective.

WHY DO I NEED IT? “Darius for Retail is built as an Open Standards Platform and can therefore integrate with existing and new technologies meaning retailers can get going now no matter what level of technology experience or investments they currently have.”

– Enda McShane, CEO of Velocity Worldwide.

www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:56

Critical support services, EPOS & technology solutions for convenience & fuel retailers

TLM Technologies provides world-class technology and support to convenience and fuel retailers.

Covering EPOS, Back Office and Head Office we develop unique technologies and integrate the systems necessary to make smarter, more profitable decisions. We also provide the critical services retailers rely on to keep operational, including pump maintenance and systems support.

We can provide your business with: • • • • • •

Our solutions cover: EPOS – to deliver a first-class customer experience Back office – to streamline store management and drive better decision making Head office – to provide a consolidated view of your entire business’ performance Systems integration – to get systems inside and outside your business working together Comprehensive support – helpdesk, hardware, software, pump maintenance and training.

• •

Industry leading EPOS, back office and head office solutions Systems integration, development and enhancements Dedicated UK helpdesk and support specialist team Hardware and software installation and support Consultation and training services DOMS / site controller installation and support Innovative price changing software and lighting solutions for pole signs Forecourt maintenance contracts on fuel dispensers and tank gauges.

For more information on how TLM can support your business call: 0845 1800242 email: info@tlmgroup.co.uk

Intelligent retail for convenience & fuel

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visit: tlmtechnologies.co.uk

12/06/2017 23/05/2017 15:10:57 15:56:55

Feature

Mints and Gum

GET MINTED Mints and gum continue to be strong performers for convenience. SLR rounds up the latest category trends and insights.

BY IAIN HOEY

WRIGLEY’S FIVE SIMPLE STEPS TO MAXIMISE GUM SALES

I

t is a small category, but mints and gum are among the most impulsively purchased products in convenience, and they are a consistent sales driver in c-stores if organised well. Retailers should stock market leaders alongside new flavours and innovations to drive repeat purchases and keep the category fresh. Effective merchandising, offering a substantial and varied appeal and keeping on top of the market can help drive category sales among all demographics.

The total gum category is currently worth over £263m, with growth predominantly driven by sugar free gum, a trend which Julio Guijarro, Marketing Director at Wrigley UK, says is likely to continue. “Chewers seek out a healthy addition to their day-to-day oral care routine,” he explains.

The day-to-day oral care routine and the trend towards sugar free gum continues, with 80% of women claiming to be more concerned 90

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about tooth loss and oral health than weight gain (mintel report), while 16-34-year-olds are more likely to be concerned with oral health in comparison to other age groups.

“As chewers increasingly look for a convenient addition to their oral care routine, it’s important for retailers to understand that gum is a healthy option to stock at the till point,” Guijarro says.

Research published in the British Dental Journal in February 2016 revealed significant potential cost savings on dental treatments if people chewed sugarfree gum after eating and drinking.

“If all 12-year-olds across the UK chewed sugarfree gum three times a day the NHS could save up to £8.2 million every year – the equivalent to 364,000 dental check-ups,” Guijarro tells. “With this expert advice in mind, it is important that retailers take note and understand that gum is a must-stock at the till point.”

Q Availability is key – gum is more impulsive than any other confectionery line so remember to re-stock each morning and prior to peak traffic times.

Q Stock the best-sellers Q Champion new products Q Multiple gum sitings – e.g. next to a second till point, confectionery aisle or dental section to drive additional purchases and ultimately maximise sales.

Q Offer a wide choice of pack formats and flavours to meet different consumer demands – e.g. stock bottles, stick and pellets, as well as a variety of flavours.

www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:10:59

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Feature

Mints and Gum

The current leaders in the category are the Peppermint and Spearmint variants, according to Nielsen Data, making up nearly half of chewing gum sales. Guijarro says that in order to grow profits, you must merchandise your store effectively, with multi-siting and a wide variety of products on offer. “Gum is a significant front of store margin provider,” he says. “At recommended retail price, Wrigley’s gum typically delivers over 30% profit – significantly higher than other products.”

“Gum displays are highly space efficient and are easily merchandised,” he continues.

“At a typical counter, a standard impulse gum display holds 608 individual packs.”

Recent NPDs in the gum category from Wrigley are the 60 pellet Cool Breeze Bottle, a pack refresh for Extra White, a new incar gum holder, and the introduction of £2 PMP 46-pellet bottles and £1 PMP 21-pellet hanging bags. The brand has also seen a flurry of media campaigns, including its Time to Shine, Smile Back and National Smile Month promotions in the past 12 months.

The mint segment, which is worth over £147m, has also seen a steady stream of marketing activity. In August 2016, Mondelez International brought a brand new, sugar-free mint to the market – Trebor Mighties. The product has been supported since January, as part of a £3.4m national TV campaign which highlights people’s appreciation of the brand’s ‘unapologetically minty mints’.

Trebor also recently launched an in-store competition, ‘Get Minted’, which offers customers a chance to win over 100 prizes ranging from £50 to £5,000.

Also seeing a media campaign is Smint, which has developed a unique three layered mint that it alleges can guarantee clean breath for up to two hours. “Over half of all mint purchases (51%) are for mouth refreshment when on the go,” says Ambrogio Perfetti, Smint Brand Manager, “so the outdoor and digital campaign that supports this launch will shout about its unique two-hour fresh breath credentials. Stock up now to ensure your shoppers are ‘Fresh to Impress’.”

Mints and gum have a vital role to play in the 92

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confectionery aisle as insights from Kantar show that 45% of consumers buy into the category. Ferrero’s Customer Development Director, Levi Boorer, says mints and gums most commonly occur as impulse purchases in convenience stores, which he says can be maximised by siting in disruptive locations such as at the counter or beside the newsstand. He also notes that there has been a trend moving towards different flavours.

“The mints and gums category has seen an increased consumer demand for a range of fruit flavours over the past few years.”

9 OUT OF 10 shoppers who interact with gum buy it

62%

of single gum purchases are unplanned

45%

of consumers buy mints

www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:11:02

UK’s best-selling mint brand!*

Exclusive promotion for convenience only

£4.9m media campaign including TV!

* Source: Nielsen MAT Value Sales w.e. 24.12.2016. **T&C’s apply, see www.deliciousdisplay.co.uk for details.

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12/06/2017 15:11:03

UTC

RUDE LOCHINVER POST OFFICE CAT CALLS IT A DAY

SKITTERY SUCCESS RUNS IN THE GENES Erudite and sophisticated though he is, UTC couldn’t resist a titter at the news in a press release that the Skittery brothers in Herefordshire have been crowned winners in Heineken’s Golden Apple Awards, 30 years after their father won the same prize. Skittery success obviously runs in the genes.

The Skittery brothers were said to be flushed with success. [Dear, oh dear... – Ed] The Golden Apples have been a thing since 1968 and reward best practice among the farmers that supply apples for Heineken’s cider (or HP Bulmer’s as it was back then).

PET HATE

The auld yin has never had much time for pets. Walks in the rain and putting warm poo in small plastic bags has never appealed, nor has spending time entertaining the shortattention span little critters, so he has found the ideal solution for pet owners who can’t be bothered with the hassle of having pets: the pet drone.

A snip at only £79.97, the ProFlight Pathera Cat Drone takes the drudgery out of having to actually play with your cat by doing it for you. “Hours of endless fun,” said the press release. It comes with three attachments – mouse, fish and feather dangler toys – and will skilfully navigate and track your moggy, keeping toys at paws while “a live camera providing in-flight footage lets you record, relive and share playtime videos and pictures.”

UTC can literally think of nothing worse than sitting watching hours of video footage of a cat playing with a fish dangler.

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THE NEXT BIG THING: TREE WATER Much gnashing of falsers and colourful language was prompted at SLR Towers last month as UTC received a press release about the latest ‘next big thing’: tree water. Yes, you read that correctly, tree water. Westlab Group are hoping that they have found the next coconut water and retailers across the country will be flocking to their door. But what exactly is tree water, we hear you ask. Well, it’s water that has been extracted from trees. It comes in many varieties: birch, bamboo and maple, for example – and is naturally low in sugar and calories, as water tends to be.

UTC is currently working on his next big thing: sock juice.

Naturally low in preservatives, sugar and sweeteners but high in sweat and toe nail clippings, he reckons it would be a big hit with hipsters.

It’s all about customer service these days, as we all know. But being something of a torn-faced auld git himself UTC has a soft spot for those less willing to bow to convention, so he was fair tickled to hear about a grumpy cat who has been a feature at Lochinver Post Office for the last 22 years.

Flash, for that is the name of said cat, is slinking into retirement as the Post Office service for Lochinver is being moved to a local supermarket. “Just another loyal employee cast onto the scrapheap by the mults” were UTC’s actual words.

Flash reportedly sits on the counter of Lochinver Post Office and is well-known to local customers and visitors to the area but routinely sits rather rudely with his back to them. Post Mistress Ann Macleod confirmed that “he’s very rude” but customers love him and through social media he’s got followers all around the world. Old Flash and UTC were clearly separated at birth.

www.slrmag.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:11:04

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