30 CATEGORY FOCUS Back to school
Back to school
Free from
An exciting return!
Summer drinks
Health and beauty
After experiencing the trials and tribulations of home schooling when many children have also missed seeing their school pals on a daily basis, the ‘back to school’ season will be a bigger occasion than ever and a major family focus in homes across the country, with parents doing everything they can to make their children’s experience a positive one
I
t’s no secret that, when it comes to school lunches, Irish families crave products and brands that provide convenience, value for money and nutrition. Now that the school season is fast approaching, products that tick those boxes will be in high demand. Back to school is undeniably a costly time of the year for parents. Value is at the fore of many minds when shopping for lunchbox fillers. Multipacks have proven to be a hit for their convenience and value. In recent years, there has been a welcome explosion of healthy choices across the FMCG sector. The brands commanding attention reassure parents of the nutritional and natural value of their products, as several of the bestselling brands highlighted here aptly demonstrate.
All under one roof A recent study by analyst Mintel showed the importance of grocery stores featuring a broad back to school range, with easy-to-shop merchandising. According to Mintel, parents find it helpful to have most of the back-to-school items they need to buy under one roof, with 77% saying it’s more convenient to shop at a retailer that sells a wide range of these items. This goes hand in hand with the popularity of grocers for back-to-school shoppers, with 45% saying they bought items from a supermarket in 2018.
ShelfLife July 2020 | www.shelflife.ie
Mintel reports that back-toschool shoppers acknowledge that value for money has improved, with nearly twothirds (65%) saying there are now better options for some of the lower-cost back-toschool products than there were previously. Despite this improvement, over half (53%) of parents still find the back-toschool shopping period stressful.
Standing out “The popularity of supermarkets during the back-to-school shopping period is driven by the consumer desire for convenience and value,” says Samantha Dover, Mintel senior retail analyst. “They appeal because they offer a broad range of products needed for the start of the academic year, including stationery, lunchboxes and tech products, all under one roof. However, online-only and discount retailers are increasingly challenging their strength in this market. “One way for retailers to stand out in a crowded marketplace is to make the back-to-school experience less stressful for parents,” Dover adds. She advises that “retailers could take inspiration from their European counterparts and, more specifically, Spanish children’s concept store Little Stories, which is a great example of how to improve the retail environment for both parents and their children. It uses primary colours
Each 100ml bottle of Actimel contains 10 million exclusive L. Casei cultures, Vitamins B6 and D
and cartoon motifs to create a child-friendly interior, in-store paths for children to follow and a half-height counter helping them feel part of the buying experience.” Research from Shopper Intelligence, which surveyed 16,492 Irish shoppers between November 2019 and March 2020, also demonstrated the importance of the back to school occasion for retailers. “An important, pre-planned and regular purchase occasion, the back to school category can drive loyalty to a store if done well,” Shopper Intelligence reports.
Support your immune system Actimel is an ideal option for the back to school lunch box for parents who are anxious to provide a nutritious choice. Each 100ml bottle of this fermented milk drink contains 10 million exclusive L. Casei cultures, Vitamins B6 and D, helping to support an individual’s immune system*. Available in a range of flavours, the No Added Sugar range has continued to perform strongly since growing the range just over two years ago. In fact, recent data shows it has increased by +33.8% in value terms and by +30.1% in volume terms during the latest 12 weeks**. To provide The total Actimel brand has grown by +29.1% in value terms and +19.2% in volume terms during the latest 12 weeks
>>
