16|Retail News|December 2016|www.retailnews.ie
ECR Ireland Shopper Engagement Awards
Wowing the Shopper: Reaping the Rewards The 7th ECR Ireland Shopper Engagement Awards saw five powerful campaigns go head-to-head to be named overall winner. THE 7th ECR Ireland Shopper Engagement Awards took place in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blanchardstown recently. Competition for the 2016 ECR Ireland Shopper Engagement Award was fierce, with five extremely worthy finalists judged by attendees of the event. Judged by their peers, finalists were evaluated on five different criteria: innovation, implementation, difficulty, results and collaboration. In his introduction, Declan Carolan, General Manager of ECR Ireland, spoke of the progress within the broader ECR Europe community. Ireland plays a leading role in this community and the success of programmes at home such as Feeding Ireland’s Future delivers direct benefits back to people in Ireland. Although youth unemployment is beginning to fall, it is still too high and Unilever were the winners of the ECR Ireland Shopper Engagement Award 2016 for the expanded Adopt a YouthReach the Persil campaign, #freethekids. Pictured are (l-r) Declan Carolan, General Manager, programme is making it possible for ECR Ireland, with Nada Mousa and Ben Graham, Unilever Ireland, and Sarah Love, companies to work with unemployed Goosebump. young people for longer periods during the year. this year. ECR Ireland and its working groups are endeavouring There is big news in where we shop. The grocery sector to stimulate collaboration in the sector to help Irish here is incredibly competitive and the three big players all companies introduce efficiencies and to be prepared for the have an almost identical share of the market. SuperValu future in areas like supply chain management, food waste continues to lead the way with 22.4% market share, but programmes, digital awareness etc. With Brexit looming and Dunnes, which has been delivering very strong growth Donald Trump intent on getting large American companies figures in recent months, is now number two with 22% and to the US, preparedness for the future is very much to be Tesco is now third with a 21.6% share. Aldi (11.4%) and Lidl desired right now. (11.6%) continue to gain ground. What we buy and how we shop has also changed. Trends Analysed Healthy foods and fresh foods continue to enjoy strong David Berry, Commercial Director, of Kantar Worldpanel growth. The real possibility of some kind of sugar tax provided attendees with another very valuable presentation is a huge concern to those brands that will be affected, on the latest data and trends in the Irish market. In Q2 of which is actually a great many. Not only that, the change this year, the market here experienced 2.5% growth, one in the public perception of sugar has seen sales of high of only a few countries in Europe to do so. Inflation figures sugar products fall. In short, although the market here is fell significantly in October to just 1.3% and this may be the growing, there is absolutely no time to relax and listening effect of weak sterling prices. The fall in inflation may see a to consumers and identifying issues early is more important slow in the increase in market value for the last quarter of than ever.