Talking Shop February 2019

Talking Shop ISSUE 99 – February 2019

The magazine for Premier retailers

PLUS

The real deal

No half measures No corners were cut when Sheetal and Jimmy Patel decided a full refit of their Northampton store was required.

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Premier Meal Deals and WOW deals hit the mark

Cracking sales

A late Easter this year means more opportunities

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E M SA T A E R G S L A E D

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Talking Shop | February 2019

Welcome

Talking Shop ISSUE 99 – Februa

ry 2019

A very warm welcome to your

The magazin

e for Premier

retailers

latest issue of Talking Shop, packed full of great advice, news and information to help you grow your footfall, sales and profits. In this issue we will be taking an indepth look at a number of great opportunities that could help you grow your business. The Premier Meal Deals and WOW Deals have been a huge hit with Premier retailers and shoppers alike. We examine how you can really make the most of these deals to grow your sales right through the day and attract fresh footfall to your store. We catch up with a few Premier retailers who have seen big sales and profit growth by removing their tobacco gantry and replacing it with a new spirits fixture. The tillpoint is the only area in your store that every shopper has to visit, so it makes sense to work that vital space harder in-store. We also take a look at a new CBD range from vaping suppliers Edge, we learn more about The Retail Data Partnership’s innovative Local Loyalty solution and, with Easter coming up, we consider how you can make the most of the sales opportunity in this extended Easter season. Our four store profiles in this issue should also provide plenty of inspiration and food for thought. Sharing great ideas is core to the Premier ethos. I wish you all good trading and an outstanding Easter!

Martyn Parkinson, Brand Director Premier

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PLUS

No half measures

No cor ners wer e Jimmy Patel dec cut when Sheetal and Northampton ided a full refit of their store was req uired.

The real deal Premie

r Meal Deals and WOW deals hit the mark

Cracking sales A late Easter this year means more opportunitie s

COVER STORY There were no half measures for Jimmy and Sheetal Patel in their recent refit.

THE THREE BIG STORIES 28 The real deal

Making the most of Premier’s Meal Deals and WOW deals.

33 Cracking sales

A late Easter gives retailers more time to grow sales.

45 Set spirits free

Siting spirits behind the till can set profit growth free.

Share your shop news

If you’ve got news, tips or feaure ideas, get in touch with Talking Shop. Just pick up the phone and call:

0141 22 22 100 or write to: Talking Shop c/o 55 North Ltd. Waterloo Chambers 19 Waterloo Street Glasgow, G2 6AY or email: talkingshop@55north.com DISCLAIMER: Prices are correct at time of going to press, but may be subject to change.

February 2019

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33

22

28

Evolution in Cornwall

Meal deals mean sales

56

39

Hardys delivers

Ones To Watch

07 Bigger and better

22 Adapt and evolve

45 Counter productive

The benefits of being part of a

Cornwall retailing family stay

Premier retailers see the benefit of

bigger group continue to be

successful by embracing change.

replacing the tobacco gantry with

passed on to Premier retailers.

09 Best in the land

24 Give them what they want

a spirits fixture.

54 Loyalty matters

Booker’s Shawfield branch named

It’s all about meeting and

Launching your own loyalty

best in Scotland.

exceeding shopper expectations in

scheme is easier than ever.

11 Community news A round-up of the latest community news from Premier stores.

13 Food to go still growing The opportunities in the food to go

Southampton.

61 Profit watch

28 The real deal

Joining Premier boosted profits by

The Premier Meal Deals and WOW

33 Cracking sales

market look set to keep growing in

A late Easter means lots more

the future says a new report.

opportunities to cash in on.

15 No half measures

39 Ones To Watch

Northampton retailers take their

A look at the latest products to hit

store to an entirely new level.

the shelves of Premier stores.

18 Balancing act Getting the right offer for the local community is key in Neath.

5% overnight for Davinder Parhar.

Deals are driving profits.

45

Set your spirits sales free February 2019 TalkingShop

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PACK DESCRIPTION

MIDAS CODE

Grenade Carb Killa Cookies & Cream 60g

M220899

Grenade Carb Killa RTD Fudge Brownie 330ml

M220894

Grenade Carb Killa Caramel Chaos 60g

M220902

Grenade Carb Killa RTD Cookies/Cream 330ml

M220895

Grenade Carb Killa Birthday Cake 60g

M239613

Grenade Carb Killa RTD White Chocolate 330ml

M229517

Grenade Carb Killa Peanut Nutter 60g

M239165

Grenade Carb Killa RTD Choc Mint 330ml

M224852

Grenade Carb Killa White Choc Cookie 60g

M224853

Carb Killa® is the best selling Protein Bar in the UK*

Carb Killa® Bars make up 3 of the top 5 SKUs sold in Symbols & Independents**

Grenade® is the fastest growing Protein Shake Brand***

*IRI Marketplace Total UK Sports Nutrition, Value Sales 52we 2/12/18 **IRI Data, Convenience Market, Protein Bar Market. 52we 2/12/18 ***IRI Data, Shakes Category, Convenience Market, Actual Value Growth. 52we 12/8/18

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PremierNews NEWS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND OPINIONS FROM ACROSS PREMIER

Bigger group, better for all Since Booker became part of a bigger group, the company has been working hard to deliver the benefits of this increased scale to all Premier retailers. Becoming part of a bigger group has enabled Booker to quickly deliver a whole range of valuable benefits that have helped Premier retailers grow footfall, sales and cash profits. Having access to much bigger buying power has already provided great benefits such as improved pricing on seasonal Easter products, promotions on special packs such as Coke/Diet Coke Cubes and Gordons Pink 10-packs, and channel-exclusive product launches including Coke Zero Cinnamon. Then there’s also been improved pricing on 26 Muller lines with over 40% POR and on Warburtons lines through both branch and Central Billing. These benefits have helped Premier

THE LATEST BENEFITS:

With immediate effect, Premier will be launching a number of new initiatives aimed at delivering better prices in your store. These include: l The launch of the Premier Tobacco Club – reduced WSPs and improved PORs on 6 tobacco lines l The launch of ‘7 day deal pricing’ on the top-selling 4-pack price-marked beers l Guaranteed WOW Deal on every promotion for the next 12 months

retailers build stronger, more profitable businesses – and even more benefits have just been unveiled. These include the launch of three new initiatives that will help retailers significantly boost cash profits and bring

more shoppers to their stores more often. The Premier Tobacco Club is an innovative initiative that is delivering greatly reduced WSPs and improved PORs on six of the biggest selling tobacco lines. A ‘7-day deal pricing’ package on a range of top-selling 4-pack price-marked beers has been launched while Premier has also announced that there will be a WOW Deal on every promotion for the next 12 months. Martyn Parkinson, Brand Director Premier, commented: “We look forward to continuing to share the benefits of being part of a bigger group and seeing your business grow.” For further information please contact your RDM.

BOOKER TOBACCO CLUB

The Booker Tobacco Club offers Premier retailers access to significantly discounted RSPs on six popular tobacco lines: Product

Case size

WSP

Saving

RSP

POR

Players KS Real Red

10x20s

£67.43 £65.97

£1.45

£8.70

7% 9%

Players SK Real Red

10x20s

£67.43 £65.97

£1.45

£8.70

7% 9%

Players KS Crushball

10x20s

£68.15 £66.70

£1.45

£8.70

6% 8%

Gold Leaf RYO + Papers 5x50g

£68.03 £66.52

£1.51

£18.15

10% 12%

Gold Leaf RYO + Papers 5x30g

£41.25 £40.33

£0.92

£11.00

10% 12%

Riverstone RYO

£36.66 £35.75

£0.91

£11.00

20% 22%

5x30g

To qualify for these deals, Premier retailers imply need to commit to: l Maintaining stock of the 6 lines l Selling at or below RSP l Agreeing to and complying with Tobacco Club T&Cs

Make up to

£3,500

per year extra cash profit

IMPROVED PRICING ON 4-PACK PMP BEERS

Also available with immediate effect is greatly improved pricing on selected 4-packs of price-marked beers: Product

Case size

Saving

POR

Fosters PM £4.50

6x4x440ml

£2.00

31.6%

Carling PM £4.75

6x4x500ml

£2.00

30.1%

Stella Artois PM£5.79 6x4x500ml

£4.00

36.1%

Carlsberg PM £4.69

£3.50

36.1%

6x4x500ml

*Pricing and packs are subject to change.*

February 2019 TalkingShop

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News

INBRIEF Booker honoured for its ACTION DEMANDED OVER 30% INCREASE IN SHOPLIFTING Paddy Lillis, leader of shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw, has called for Government action in light of a new Office for National Statistics report showing a 30% increase in police recorded incidents of shoplifting in England and Wales over the last decade. Usdaw carried out its own survey of shopworkers among over 3,500 people and found a 25% increase in violence, while the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) reported nearly a million thefts from UK convenience stores in 2017, a 65% increase on the previous year. Lillis commented: “The rising trend in shoplifting is extremely

‘Outstanding Contribution’ at Centenary NFRN Awards Booker’s ‘Outstanding Contribution to Independent Retailing’ was recognised and rewarded at the recent NFRN Centenary Dinner and Awards. Booker was honoured at the recent National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) Centenary Dinner and Awards for its ‘Outstanding Contribution to Independent Retailing’. Booker Wholesale CEO Charles Wilson accepted the award on behalf of the company and his colleagues at Booker. Commenting on the award, Charles Wilson said: “It is an honour that Booker has been recognised with this award. It is our privilege to serve thousands

OUTSTANDING NIGHT: Charles Wilson receives the award on behalf of his Booker colleagues.

of independent retailers and we look forward to doing a good job for them in the years ahead.

We congratulate the NFRN on reaching 100 years and hope they prosper in the century ahead.”

worrying for our members. The evidence from retailers, police and our own survey of shopworkers all show a disturbing increase in retail crime. We have long been concerned that theft from shops is not taken seriously. Life on the frontline of retail can be pretty tough for many shopworkers. There needs to be government action to protect them. The police must have the resources from Government to respond to incidents and investigate shop thefts. “We want to see retailers, police and the courts working in partnership to ensure better protection for shopworkers. Retail staff are an important part of our communities; their role must be valued, respected and protected.”

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DRS consultation launched in England, Wales and NI The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), alongside the Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Northern Ireland has launched a consultation on a proposed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers. The consultation seeks views on proposals to introduce a DRS for drinks containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The scheme follows a similar consultation launched last year by the Scottish Government and is aimed at driving up recycling

rates by encouraging shoppers to return plastic bottles, glass bottles and cans to retailing outlets for recycling in exchange for a financial incentive. The cost of the deposit would be added to the price of the drinks included in the scheme when they are purchased. This deposit would be redeemed when consumers return their empty drinks containers to a designated return point. The legislation would have a significant impact on Premier retailers and closes on May 13th. Truls Haug, Managing Director of Tomra UK, part

of the world’s largest reverse vending company, comments: “Successful deposit return schemes can play a significant role in sparking a recycling revolution and we will watch with interest to see the consultation results. “Container deposit schemes can see up to 98% of drinks containers returned to recycling (for example in Germany). With one million plastic bottles bought around the world every minute, and that number estimated to rise by 20% by 2021, demand is there to prevent and reduce the negative impact waste has on the planet.”

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News

Booker Shawfield named ‘Best Cash & Carry’ in Scotland Booker’s branch in Shawfield in Glasgow has been named Scotland’s top cash and carry at the Scottish Wholesale Achievers Awards.

INBRIEF SELF-SCAN TILLS ‘FUEL SHOPLIFTING’ In a recent survey, a quarter of shoppers have admitted to stealing via self-scan checkouts with the rise in theft linked to the growth in the use of unmanned scanners. Evidence has emerged of shoppers adopting a number of tricks to beat the system including swapping barcodes of high-value items with cheaper products or deliberately pretending expensive fruit and vegetables are cheaper items, like carrots. Almost half (46%) of

WINNERS: Area Manager Michael McCrossan (2nd right) accepts the award while (inset) Craig Shand collects his.

those who admitted to shoplifting also admitted to doing it on a regular basis.

It was a special night recently for Booker Shawfield as it collected the coveted title of ‘Best Cash & Carry’ in Scotland at the prestigious Scottish Wholesale Achievers Awards. Additionally, Craig Shand of Booker Shawfield received the Employee of the Year Award. Organised by the Scottish Wholesale Association, the awards recognise the finest in

Scottish wholesaling with the Shawfield branch in Glasgow scooping top honours as the best in the business at the Gala Dinner in The Sheraton in Edinburgh. Head judge Ian Johnstone of category sponsor AG Barr commented: “Booker Shawfield not only demonstrated best-in-class operational processes, such as customer

service, category advice and communication, but also showed strong links to the local community and an ability to embrace the use of technology to enhance the customer experience and drive incremental sales. What made this cash and carry really stand out was its passion for the training and development of its customers, as well as its staff.”

The latest retail industry figures, suggest that stores with self-scan facilities lost around 3.97% of stock compared to just 1.47% on traditionally staffed tills. A recent survey established that over 42,000 self-scan tills are now in place in British stores.

Vaping replaces quitting as goal for 2019 Scope for further growth for Premier retailers in the vaping category has been highlighted with the findings of a significant new survey revealing that switching from smoking to vaping has made it onto a list of the nation’s ‘modern’ resolutions for 2019. Almost 10% of respondents to the survey said that their aims for 2019 were to switch to vaping

rather than to quit smoking. Vaping has grown to become a major trend in the UK and with 40% of UK smokers having never tried vaping [Public Health England] the opportunity exists available for retailers to make the most of this category. This is particularly relevant with the ‘Vapril’ festival approaching which encourages smokers to try

vaping for the month of April. A spokesperson for blu, who commissioned the study, said: “Unlike online and vape stores, traditional retailers usually offer both tobacco and vaping products for sale. This, combined with their unique relationship with their loyal shoppers, means that independent retailers are well placed to capitalise.”

February 2019 TalkingShop

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1 MENTHOL STICK

2 SPEARMINT CAPSULE

NEW RRP

3 1

PEPPERMINT CAPSULE

9

£

.35

Sterling King Size Dual Triple Green 20s TPD Booker Mcode: M244466

2

You are free to sell JTI products at whatever price you choose, RRP effective from 29 October 2018. 2 Source: Nielsen Market Track, MAT Oct 2018.3 POR achieved when Sterling Dual Triple Green purchased at the outer price of £71.68 and sold at RRP of £9.35 Limited time only, while stocks last.

1

4

B&H King Size Blue Dual Double Capsule 20s TPD Booker Mcode: M244465 POR achieved when you purchase B&H Blue Dual Double Capsule at the outer price of £64.01 and you sell at £8.35 or when you purchase Sterling Dual Triple Green at the outer price of £72.45 and you sell at £9.45. Available from 13th Feb 2019 to 12th March 2019.3 Subject to availability. 4 You are free to sell JTI products at whatever price you choose. RRP effective from 29 October 2018. 3

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CommunityNews OPINION, NEWS AND ACHIEVEMENTS FROM PREMIER RETAILERS

New community-focused Premier opens in Barton Green Premier retailers Mandeep and Amarjit Dosanjh have officially opened a new community store in Barton Green, Nottingham. Nottingham retailers Mandeep and Amarjit Dosanjh have recently opened a brand new community-focused Premier store in the Barton Green area of the city and have seen sales increase by 40% in just a matter of weeks. Mandeep told Talking Shop: “We bought the store last year but wanted to fully refurbish it and we wanted to join Premier as we identified Booker as the best possible partner for us. We officially joined on December 17th and within just a few weeks we had seen sales rise by 40%. Things are definitely going in the right direction!” The 980sq ft store was officially opened by Lilian Greenwood, MP for Nottingham South, who cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. The store also had a Post Office installed in December and both the couple and the community they serve are delighted with the new store. Mandeep and Amarjit had previously run a post office in Melton Mowbray which they sold last year to take on this new business. Lilian Greenwood MP said: “The community has really benefitted from Mandeep and Amarjit Dosanjh by adding a post office and fully modernising the store.”

INBRIEF FARAZ GIVES VULNERABLE SHOPPERS A LIFT

Kirkcaldy Premier retailer Faraz Iqbal has been once again offering hugely welcome support to vulnerable members of his local community after it was announced that the local block of flats was to have a new lift fitted. Faraz, who runs Premier Linktown Local, explained: “It’s a big block of flats and

Mandeep added: “The community is very happy. We have had nothing but very positive feedback about the improvements we have made. People are finding the opening hours are very convenient and there is lots of parking.” Since joining Premier they have also introduced a ‘support a charity’ scheme for customers. The couple have chosen the Good Companions charity, which organises monthly get togethers for local elderly people and home visits for the elderly in the area to help tackle isolation and loneliness. The couple presented the first of the monthly cheques for £111 to the charity at the official opening event. This money helped pay for refreshments and a Christmas party.

there are a lot of elderly and vulnerable people who live there. Having no lift is a major problem as they find it very difficult to get up and down lots of flights of stairs. So when we heard about this we immediately offered to deliver to any shoppers that needed us to.” The refurbishment of the flats is set to take several months. “We know everyone in the local area and we felt it was vital they could still have their shopping when they needed

£500,000 scratch card win makes for a very Happy New Year! A lucky customer of Ramsgate Premier retailer Hiran Patel got 2019 off to the best possible start by winning an amazing £500,000 on a scratchcard bought in the store on the 2nd of January! Hiran runs Premier Ram’s News & Off Licence and was over the moon when a regular customer came in to verify that she had indeed scooped the life-changing prize. Hiran told Talking Shop: “She is a regular

customer of ours and she literally couldn’t believe it when she won £500,000 from a £5 scratchcard. It’s a lot of money so she was obviously delighted.” Since then, word quickly spread in the local community and Hiran says he has seen sales of scratchcards “go through the roof”. He said: “It’s a tight community so news got round quickly and suddenly everybody wants to buy their scratchcards from me!”

it,” said Faraz. “We advertised it on our Facebook page and the response we got was fantastic. It’s a small thing but it means a lot to our customers.”

TALKING TACTICS What are you doing in-store to stand out in your local market? Share it with us and your Premier retailer colleagues at talkingshop@55north.com 0141 222 5380

February 2019 TalkingShop

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NOW IN

PMP

®

WITH TWICE THE FRUIT*

E AVAILABL ING ELL IN BEST S RS FLAVOU

NGO A M & E G N ORA PEACH &R Y RASPBER ROBINSONS, THE UK’S no.1 SQUASH*

A BOTTLE OF ROBINSONS CREATIONS IS SOLD EVERY 4X SECONDS**

ROBINSONS CREATIONS IS THE no.1 SQUASH LAUNCH IN 5 YEARS*

STOCK UP NOW! Sources: *Nielsen Scantrack, Total Coverage, Value Sales, 52w/e 29.09.18 **Nielsen Scantrack, Volume sales, 52 w/e 9th June 2018

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Winner of the Soft Drinks Category. Survey of 10,399 people by Kantar TNS

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IndustryNews A DIGEST OF NEWS FROM THE INDEPENDENT RETAILING INDUSTRY

HIM: Food to go ‘to grow by £0.5bn in three years” The latest Food To Go market report from research specialists Him predicts the market will grow by £0.5bn in next few years. Premier’s growing focus on the food to go market looks increasingly prescient as the latest food to go market report from research specialists HIM is predicting that the market will grow by a further £0.5bn in the next three years. Based on exclusive research from HIM and sister company MCA Insight, the report says that the entire UK food to go market is set to be worth a whopping £21.2bn in 2019, that’s 3% up on 2018. The convenience store sector will account for £6.2bn of that, equating to approximately 30% of the market. The insight was gained from over 72,000 online consumer surveys and 20,000 face-to-face shopper interviews. The findings suggest that, despite continuous growth for the total market,

the share that convenience holds has declined slightly since 2013. Val Kirillovs, Research and Insights Director at HIM, said: “Despite a slight decline in share over the last six years, the food to go market remains pivotal to the convenience sector. Our shopper research highlights price and convenience as two of the key trends that retailers need to focus on.” “Consumers are placing greater importance on range, in particular healthier options. Those retailers that are seeing great success in food to go are offering a variety of hot and cold options that cater to the needs of their particular shoppers. These will be best placed to maximise their share of the £0.5bn prize that has been forecasted for the channel over the next three years.”

INBRIEF ORGANIC SALES UP 6.2% IN CONVENIENCE According to the Soil Association Certification’s Organic Market Report for 2018, independent retailers saw sales of organic products increase by 6.2% last year. This growth was driven by healthy and ‘hyper-local’ shopping habits as well as the wider organic ranges available from wholesalers. The report also found that the UK’s organic market is now worth £2.33bn, a record high, after 5.3% growth in sales in 2018. Almost £45m is spent on organic products every week. Categories that continue to drive growth include wines, chilled foods and canned and packaged grocery.

Premier Broadway part of ground-breaking DRS pilot

Additionally, the chilled

Dennis and Linda Williams’ Premier Broadway Convenience Store has been chosen as one of three stores in Scotland to trial reverse vending machines in preparation for the launch of a Deposit Return Scheme in Scotland. Under the Scheme, shoppers will receive a cash payment for returning empty beverage containers for recycling. The scheme aims to increase recycling rates and reduce littering and it is likely that similar schemes will be launched throughout the rest of Great Britain. Running until April, shoppers at Premier Broadway will receive 10p for every empty plastic bottle or can they return to the store. Dennis told Talking Shop: “We are delighted

increased by approximately

convenience sector, including fresh vegetarian products, saw sales grow by over 25%. Sales of organic fresh fruit, salad and vegetables also £15m during the last 12 months. Key trends include the growth in free-from options and healthy eating.

RECYCLING DRIVE: Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tries out the DRS machine.

TALKING TACTICS What are you doing in-store to stand out in your local market?

to be one of the stores involved in this groundbreaking trial. This will help the community to recycle, reduce litter and improve the local environment.”

Share it with us and your Premier retailer colleagues at talkingshop@55north.com 0141 222 5380

February 2019 TalkingShop

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STORE PROFILE | Northampton

Store CV:

No half measures!

Name: Premier Jimmy’s, Northampton Retailers: Jimmy and Sheetal Patel Time as retailers: 22 years Time with Premier: 22 years Size: 1,000sq ft Staff: 9 Services: Licensed, Lottery, ATM, hot food and drinks, in-store bakery, slush machine, dessert bar Nearest competition: Asda and Lidl ¼ mile away; half a dozen inde pendents within ½ a mile Trading hours: 6.30am to 9.30pm Mon – Sat; 7am to 9pm Sun

When Northampton retailer and PDG member Jimmy Patel and his wife Sheetal decided that it was time to relaunch their business they knew that nothing short of a full refit would do.

SWEETHEARTS: Sheetal and Jimmy sample some ice cream from the new dessert bar.

O

ne of the t o u g h e s t decisions any retailer faces is accepting that their business needs a full overhaul to allow it to fully capitalise on a fast-changing world where shoppers’ needs have evolved beyond recognition in the last five years. That was precisely the sort of decision that faced Northampton retailers Jimmy and Sheetal Patel and

they have tackled the challenge head on, as Jimmy explains: “We are in the unusual position of owning two Premier stores that sit directly across the road from one another. The original store, which we’ve had for over 22 years, was a complicated shape, built over two levels that made access difficult and also made it difficult to try and incorporate the space we needed for fast growing categories like food to go, chilled, bakery and desserts.” February 2019 TalkingShop

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The couple had done the best they could over the years to tweak the store but realised last year that there was nothing else for it but a full refit. Jimmy says: “We’d gone as far as we could in terms of updating and adapting it but we decided that the only way to truly future-proof the store was to knock it down internally and start again. It’s a small store at 1,000sq ft so we had to re-design it to make sure we made the best possible use of every square foot we had available.” That decision was complicated by the fact that they also had to decide the fate of their store across the road. Should they continue with it and try to give the two stores different USPs? Or should they focus all their attentions on a single store? “It wasn’t an easy decision,” laughs Jimmy. “But we ultimately decided we would be better concentrating all of our attention, effort, time and

investment on a single store.” As Talking Shop caught up with Jimmy and Sheetal they were in the process of preparing to close the other store on March 28th, a sad day undoubtedly, but a decision that allows them to really knuckle down and focus on making a huge success of the remaining flagship store. “It will be sad,” accepts Jimmy, “but we know we’re making the right decision.” Not a couple to do things by halves, they decided on day one that if they were going to do a refit they were going to do the best job they could possibly do. “We closed for the refit on the 17th of October last year and re-opened on the 3rd of January this year,” explains Jimmy. “The project over-ran a little but we expected that as it was a major piece of work. We gutted the store completely, took it back to bare walls and floors then replaced and renewed everything – and I mean everything!”

TRANSFORMATION: The once cramped store now feels open, bright and airy.

SWEET TREATS: The new dessert bar is already proving popular with shoppers.

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COOL INVESTMENT: The biggest expense in the refit was all new chillers for a bigger range.

CLEAN SWEEP: The store is now on a single level and is cleaner and easier to shop for all.

GOOD TO GO: The massive ‘surprise’ hit has been the new food to go and coffee station.

As part of the work, an entirely new floor was laid which meant that, for the first time, the entire store was on a single level which made the store truly accessible for all and made navigation around the store simpler too. “Gutting the store let us achieve two key things,” says Jimmy. “It let us create an accessible, neat shape that would make the shopping experience easier and better for all our shoppers. It also allowed us to free-up lots of space to let us build the store more efficiently around categories we wanted to get more out of. We’d always wanted to have a good food to go and coffee offer, we knew we needed much more chilled space and we were keen to add a dessert bar and a bakery, for instance. Re-building the entire shop from the ground up let us achieve all those aims. It also made the shop unrecognisable from before and our shoppers just love it.”

February 2019

01/03/2019 15:01:08

What are your views? Call 0141 222 5380 or email talkingshop@55north.com Jimmy and Sheetal have brought in a comprehensive food to go and in-store bakery solution while a Douwe Egberts bean-to-cup Barista One coffee machine was also added to offer shoppers fantastic new options. “We’ve only been open again for just over a month and we’re already doing over 100 cups a week, so the coffee machine has been a success,” says Jimmy. “But it’s the hot food that’s been a real revelation. The food to go

IN THE SPIRIT: The tobacco gantry has been replaced with a backlit spirits fixture.

NEXT LEVEL: The food to go offer has been taken to a new level in the store.

has just gone through the roof to a level we could never even have hoped for. That’s been the biggest surprise for us.” A “very significant” investment was also made in all new chillers that allows the store to offer a far broader range of fresh and chilled lines. “It was the most expensive part of the refit,” says Jimmy, “but the new closed-door cabinets look fantastic and let us offer the sort of range that today’s shoppers

CAFFEINE HIT: Jimmy’s is already selling over 100 cups of coffee a week.

BAKE OFF: An upmarket bakery range includes locally sourced lines and products baked fresh in-store.

are looking for.” Another innovative highlight is a new dessert bar that offers a range of sweet treats, ice creams, waffles, milk shakes and more. “We wanted to add as many points of difference as possible and we’d visited a few other Premier stores that were doing well with dessert bars,” explains Jimmy. “It’s taken a little time for our shoppers to get used to the idea but sales are already starting to increase and I think that will continue and grow as the warmer weather arrives.” To create all the space for these new offerings, Jimmy and Sheetal have had to reduce focus on several categories, principally grocery and news and magazines. He comments: “We worked with Premier to identify the categories that were under-performing and the two clear choices were traditional tinned and packet grocery and news and magazines. We’ve gone down to a very basic core range in both categories now and we only stock lines that we know sell well.” Jimmy has also taken the opportunity to rework the tillpoint area, removing the tobacco gantry and replacing it with a new spirits fixture to make better use of high value space. “The cigarettes are now under the counter and the difference is amazing,” he says. “The tillpoint looks inviting and colourful now and we’re seeing sales of spirits increase too.”

As for the rest of the store, Jimmy and Sheetal have adopted best practice throughout, embracing the Sandwich, Evening In and Frozen Meal Deals, stocking a comprehensive range of Booker own-brand products and making the promotional programme as visible as possible in-store. “It’s been a very challenging last few months,” admits Jimmy, “but we’re already seeing the benefit after only a few weeks. Sales are up over 10% already and basket spend is up about 9%. “We’re expecting big growth – particularly when we close the shop across the road at the end of March. We’re obviously hoping that most of the shoppers from that store will come here and that should help deliver a significant boost.” There’s no doubt that Jimmy and Sheetal have had to make some tough decisions but having the courage to take those decisions and invest in their business looks set to ensure they have a strong, sustainable business that will serve them well for years to come. “We believe the store is now tailored precisely to the needs of modern shoppers,” concludes Jimmy. “It’s taken a lot of time and a lot of investment but shoppers’ expectations are so high these days that only by meeting and exceeding them can we be sure of continuing to grow the business.” February 2019 TalkingShop

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STORE PROFILE | Neath

act Balancing

FAMILY FOCUS: Matthew (left) with his father (centre) and the team.

Store CV:

Name: Premier Arbourne’s, Skewen, Neath Retailer: Matthew Arbourne Stores in chain: 2 Time as a retailer: 27 years Time with Premier: 15 years Size: 3,000 sq ft Staff: 13 Services: licensed, Lottery, Pay Point, ATM, hoot food and drinks, butchery, Post Office, Payzone Nearest competition: One Stop 300 yards; Tesco 1 mile Trading hours: 7am – 10pm

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I

Running a modern store is all about getting the right balance of products and services instore, believes Neath retailer Matthew Arbourne, and that’s exactly what he’s achieved with Premier.

n many ways, Neath Premier retailer Matthew Arbourne sees his role as simply keeping up a long tradition of entrepreneurship that runs in his family, all the way back to the 1940s, as he explains: “My grandfather first opened the store way back in 1948 as a sort of haberdashers and it has gradually evolved over the decades as it passed into my father’s hands and then into mine around five years ago when my dad officially retired. I say ‘officially’ because he still turns up at the shop most days! He can’t keep away. Retail gets into your blood.” In Matthew’s youth he spent a lot of time in and around the store, mainly because his grandparents lived directly across the road from the business. He says: “My parents

were always busy so after school I used to head to my grandparents house opposite and I suppose that’s how my apprenticeship in retail really began. I loved the buzz and the energy of the shop and I don’t think that has ever faded.”

GRADUAL TRANSFORMATION

Over the many decades since 1948 the store gradually transformed into a fully fledged convenience store, embracing a broader and broader range of food and drink – but at the heart of the business for many years has been the butchery offering. “Everyone in Skewen village knows the butchery and it’s been here a long time,” says Matthew. “To be honest, the butchery is much less important to the overall success of the store these days and it accounts for a

February 2019

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What are your views? Call 0141 222 5380 or email talkingshop@55north.com

BIG SPENDERS: Matthews goal of increasing basket spend is working!

PREPACK GROWTH: Butchery sales increasingly come through prepack options.

MEAT AND GREET: The butchery remains an important footfall driver for shoppers.

much smaller percentage of total sales than it once did, but it’s one of the things that keeps people coming back to the store on a regular basis so we’re perfectly happy with that.” The butchery for many years was a traditional butcher’s counter but these days the range is pre-packed and sold from the shelf. The format may have evolved but the range is still all made on site and is hugely popular, making it an invaluable footfalldriver. “We get massive footfall,” muses Matthew, “but the challenge in the last few years has been to make more of that footfall. When we get those shoppers through the door, we want to make sure they pick up more than simply what they came for – and that meant working hard on the range in-store, giving them as many reasons and opportunities as possible to pick up a few extra items on each visit.”

FOOD TO GO FOCUS

READY TO GO: The store sells over 1,500 home made ready meals a week.

One key development on that journey was building a bespoke kitchen next door, as Matthew explains: “We owned a café next door but we closed that down to allow us to build a purpose built kitchen where we could prepare all of the butchery lines as well as start doing a whole range of home-made ready meals,” says Matthew. “We do about 20 different lines including everything from classics like chilli, lasagne and cauliflower cheese to full chicken, lamb, beef or pork dinners.” As Matthew also runs another store in nearby Winch Wen, part of the attraction of

HEART OF THE VILLAGE: The store is a vital resource to the local community.

February 2019 TalkingShop

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What are your views? Call 0141 222 5380 or email talkingshop@55north.com

VAPE DRIVE: Digital signage helps boost vaping sales.

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS: Wine is a potential growth area.

ROOM TO GROW: The store aims to grow ready meal sales.

DRINK TO THAT: Alcohol sales remain vital, although form a much lower part of store turnover these days. SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: The store offers shoppers as many reasons as possible to visit.

SEASONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Matthew never mises the chance of some seasonal sales.

creating the kitchen was to allow it supply both of stores. “We currently sell around 1,500 ready meals a week in this store but we will be taking that up to about 2,000 when we start supplying the other store too,” he comments. Despite selling such a broad range of home-made ready meals, Matthew also stocks an extensive range of Discover the Choice lines, including many of the most popular ready meals. “You would perhaps think that with all of our own ready meal range we wouldn’t stock the Discover the Choice range but many shoppers like the value and quality and I’m all for offering them the range they want to buy,” he says. Working with Premier however, Matthew feels that he has succeeded in balancing the range he offers much more effectively which will help with longer term sustainable growth. He explains: “Before we were overreliant on certain categories like the butchery and alcohol but in the last couple of years

we’ve managed to balance out the store offer which I feel makes the business much stronger and more resilient.” A broader range of convenience lines has been added as well as an Espresso Essentials coffee machine. The store operates a Post Office and Matthew has embraced all of the key trends such as protein, free-from, vaping and fresh and chilled. Booker own brand lines also form a core part of the business and Matthew runs all of the Premier promotions, which he says are a great footfall-driver for the store. “It’s a balancing act getting a modern convenience store right but I think with Premier we’ve achieved that and the business is better placed for growth than its ever been,” concludes Matthew. “We’re in a small village and most of our shoppers rely on us heavily so we’ve tried very hard to make sure we can offer them everything they need all under one roof, so there’s no reason to leave the village for their shopping.”

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STORE PROFILE | Pelynt, Cornwall

Staying ahead

of the game Over more than 30 years the O’Keefe family have evolved and grown their business, successfully keeping up with the times and in line with changing shopper demands.

I

n an independent retailing market that is arguably changing faster than ever, one of the key skills of the modern retailer is the ability to quickly and efficiently move with the times, a skill that has served the O’Keefe family well in Cornwall for over 30 years. The store in the beautiful village of Pelynt was first acquired by Joe O’Keefe in 1978 and has been in family hands since then, with Joe’s children Katy and Thomas now also actively involved in running the business. Katy explains: “My dad was a butcher and we used to travel down to Cornwall from Gloucestershire on holiday every summer. We fell in love with the place and I remember my dad telling me that if a good site come up for sale, he’d be tempted to up sticks and move down here to open his own butchery business.” As luck would have it, that’s what actually happened. Katy says: “When my dad first bought the business we wanted to make it more than just a butchers so my dad ran the butchery side and my mum added a convenience retail side to the business and it just grew from there.” At the time the store was only 700sq ft and it became obvious

MEAT THE FUTURE: Thomas hard at work in the butchery department.

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over the years that the business had outgrown the small site. Luck intervened once more when the landlord announced that the shop was to be pulled down which forced Joe to seek new premises. At the same time, part of the old school across the road became available and the business was transferred seamlessly into new, larger premises around five years ago. “By that time the store was doing really well and we quickly realised that we needed even more space,” recalls Katy. “So we added an extension and a lean-to, as well as a storage container which we used as a store room. I know it’s not very conventional but it works really well for us!” That extension was completed two years ago and the now 1,500sq ft business had the platform it really needed to drive much more significant growth. “We have long been ‘famous’ in the village for the butchery,” says Katy. “We’re the only proper butchers for about 12 miles in any direction so it drives steady and significant footfall. One of our key aims is to ensure that we convert that footfall into higher sales and bigger spends once our shoppers arrive and, with Premier’s help, we’ve become increasingly successful at that over the years.”

FAMILY AFFAIR: Joe (front) with Thomas and Katy.

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What are your views? Call 0141 222 5380 or email talkingshop@55north.com

Store CV:

Name: Premier Pelynt Store, Pelynt, Cornwall Retailers: Jo, Katy and Thomas O’Keefe Time as retailers: 31 years Time with Premier: 15 years Size: 1,500sq ft Staff: 10 Services: Butchery, licensed, Pay Point, Lottery, ATM, DPD, hot food and drinks. Nearest competition: Spar 200 yds, Co-op 5 miles, Morrisons and Aldi 12 miles Trading hours: 5am – 7pm Mon to Sat; 8am – 6pm Sun

Despite the fact the store has some seasonality challenges with the summer absolutely frantic, she says the store now has good year-round trade. “We have a very loyal shopper base, even though the village is tiny, and the butchery is busy all year-round too, partly because we have a growing online business too” she says. And when she says ‘busy’, she means it. She calculates that the store made and sold over 10,000 burgers last year. To put that into some sort of context, that’s around 300lbs a week! “Local sourcing is important in this part of the world,” Katy explains. “We supply various butchery products to local businesses and we even supply the meat that gets used by our suppliers to produce the pies and sausage rolls and so on that we then sell in the shop, so it’s quite a nice, circular thing where we all help each other. We also buy a lot of products locally like eggs, milk, bakery lines, cider and so on.” But there’s a lot more to the store than the butchery and local produce, as Katy highlights: “Being in a small village with no big stores for miles, my dad always wanted to provide the sort of store where our shoppers could get everything they need in one place.” That means an extensive convenience and grocery range as well

PREMIER FOCUS: The expanded store has more room for a broader range.

GIN PARLOUR: Over 70 gins are stocked.

LOCAL FLAVOUR: The store offers a range of locally sourced products.

RARE SELECTION: A huge fresh meat offer is avilable.

as over 70 gins. “We try to keep on top of all the big trends,” she explains. “We’re also working hard to expand our hot food to go offer and we now sell a broad range of freshly prepared food such as fish and chips, curry and roast dinners on a Sunday. You’ve got to keep trying things and growing the business.”

COMMUNITY-DRIVEN

Also critical to the business in a tight-knit village like Pelynt is active community engagement. “We help out wherever we can, whether that’s sponsoring the local football team or organising learning days for the schoolkids. We’ve even had them in to teach them how to cure their own bacon and make their own sausages. And we raise a fair bit of money for local and regional charities like the neo-natal unit at Plymouth hospital.” Joe, Katy and Thomas provide an outstanding example of how evolving with the times and being in tune with the local shopper base can help all retailers grow and develop their businesses. “If we can achieve this sort of growth in a tiny village like this, then so can any Premier retailer,” concludes Katy. “If you want it enough and you’re prepared to work hard enough, growth is there for us all.”

DREAM TEAM: The butchery remains a big draw for local shoppers.

FRESH FACE: High quality fresh produce keeps shoppers coming back.

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STORE PROFILE | Southampton

Give them

t n a w y e h what t

Hampshire retailer Kethan Adarsh has built a chain of three Premier stores in just six years and puts this success down to focusing on getting the basics right first time, every time. 24 TalkingShop TS.indd 24

K

ethan Adarsh’s route into owning and running his own chain of three Premier stores in Hampshire will be one that is familiar to many retailers. After a decade as an employee in the industry at various levels of management, six years ago he finally decided it was time to strike out on his own and start working for himself. “I had been in the convenience retailing industry for over a decade with much of that time at a managerial level but I always had aspirations of one day having my own business,” explains Kethan. “About six years ago I started to feel that I had enough experience and enough knowledge to hand in my resignation letter and go start out on my own – and it was the best decision I ever made.” Within a few years Kethan had already acquired two stores and then, in December 2017, he added his third. “All three are Premier stores because, for me, it’s by far the best symbol group in the industry and the all-round package is second to none. Premier has been right behind me from the first day I joined and it’s thanks to their support that I’ve been able to grow the chain so quickly – and I’m already looking for the next store!” For Kethan, acquiring a new store means being good at identifying potential. “When I’m looking for new stores, I’m looking for stores that have the ability to grow and expand, even if the existing owners haven’t been able to unlock that potential themselves,” he says. And that was certainly the case at this, his third store, which sits on Hinkler Road on the outskirts of Southampton. “It was a decent store in a busy area but it required a full refit and a fresh approach,” he explains. “It was tired and a bit unloved but I saw instantly that it could be a great store with a bit of work.” That “bit of work” Kethan refers to amounted to a full refit of the store. “We basically just emptied it completely and started again, complete with all new chillers and equipment. It was unrecognisable when we had finished,” he says with a smile. Kethan’s hunch about unleashing the store’s potential once again turned out to be well founded. “Sales are up 20% since the refit and I can see a lot more growth in the future as we keep perfecting and honing it for the local community,” he comments. He admits that he “hasn’t exactly reinvented the wheel” but rather has simply got

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What are your views? Call 0141 222 5380 or email talkingshop@55north.com all the basics right. That meant bringing in a new range of food to go options and a coffee machine, adding in a far more extensive Booker own brand range, broadening the core range, ensuring the Premier promotional programme is executed accurately every period and re-allocating the space in the store to give more space to better selling lines. “It’s quite a big store at 1,800sq ft so we had a lot of space available to us,” says Kethan. “We took a fresh layout of the entire shopfloor make sure that space was being allocated to categories more efficiently. Better selling lines and categories that we believe will grow in future were given more shelf and floor space while slower selling categories were reduced in space. It’s not rocket science but it works.” In a busy residential store like this one, Kethan says the grocery range still performs well but it’s the chilled and impulse lines that are driving the growth. “We still do well on grocery in this store because of its location and the fact that many shoppers use it as their main store,” he says. “But with a much bigger impulse and chilled ranges now in-store we’re seeing good, profitable growth. “The own brand lines and the promotions have also really taken off because the value that they deliver is perfect for the area and my shoppers are clearly making the most of it.” The success of the frozen range has been one thing that took Kethan by surprise with the Frozen Meal Deal proving to be a huge hit with shoppers. He has also seen similar success with the Sandwich and Evening In Meal Deals while a new Edge vaping range has been similarly successful. “The store is in a very traditional area so we haven’t tried to be too clever with it,” concludes Kethan. “We’ve just tried to give shoppers a great store with a great range at great prices. “Focusing on getting the basics right every time is at the heart of the growth we’ve experienced. My shoppers now have a store that gives them everything they need all in one place.” It’s that ability to focus on delivering the right store for the location that is at least partly behind Kethan’s success in the last half dozen years – and there’s little doubt that this approach will continue to serve him well long into the future as he continues to expand his business with Premier.

REBIRTH: The store’s fortunes have been turned around.

HOT STUFF: A Rollover hot dog machine has helped boost hot food sales.

FOOD TO GO: The increased chilled snacking range is popular.

CHILLER THRILLER: New chillers have boosted sales in several categories.

Store CV:

Name: Premier Hinkler Road, Southampton Retailer: Kethan Adarsh Stores in chain: 3 Time as a retailer: 16 years Time with Premier: 6 years Size: 1,800sq ft Staff: 3 Services: licensed, Lottery, ATM, PayPoint, Collect+, UPS, Rollover hot dogs, coffee Nearest competition: Co-op ½ mile away Trading hours: 7am to 9.30pm Mon: Sat; 8am to 8pm Sun

DRINK TO THAT: All beer and cider lines are now chilled.

LIQUID PROFITS: The store has embraced the vaping category.

February 2019 TalkingShop

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280mm

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01/03/2019 15:01:34 01/02/2019 08:44

280mm

*Deal from 13/02/2019 -12/03/2019 18+, UK & ROI. Promotion Period: 01/01/2019 – 31/03/2019. Internet access, e-mail and ability to take & upload photo required. Participating Products: Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars, bags and tablets (37.5g – 300g). Buy 1 of the Participating Products, visit legends.cadburyfc.com, enter your details & scan the front of pack with the Cadbury logo for a chance to win. Prizes: 1 Premier League (‘’PL’’) experience [date/location tbc] (for winner and guest), 1 of 50 pairs of PL tickets (no guarantee of match/team) (for winner and guest) and 1 of 1950 PL goodies. 1 entry per day, per person, per email. Purchase necessary (excluding NI). Legend featured is for illustrative purposes only. See Website for full T&Cs (including prize details). Promoter: Mondelez Europe Services GmbH – UK Branch at Cadbury House, Sanderson Road, Uxbridge, UB8 1DH.

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01/03/2019 15:01:35 01/02/2019 08:44

FEATURE | Meal Deals & WOW Deals

The

real

With Premier’s outstanding Meal Deals and WOW Deals, retailers have everything they need to drive extra footfall, sales and profits throughout the day, all year round.

P

romotions are now a permanent feature of the modern store and have long been exceptionally useful in bringing more shoppers to the store more often and encouraging them to spend more money when they are there. Premier retailers have long benefitted from Booker’s extensive buying power which has helped Premier build a rolling promotional package that is second to none in the industry. The advent of Premier’s Meal Deal promotions over the last year or so, however, has helped retailers get even more out of the promotional programme by targeting increased shopper spend at specific times of the day and attracting more shoppers to the store in typically quieter periods of the day.

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deal

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What are your views? Call 0141 222 5380 or email talkingshop@55north.com

SANDWICH MEAL DEAL TOP TIPS Q Make sure you use all of the high quality and free POS to advertise the deal in-store. Q Retain your POS for us in every Period through to P1 for 2019 (starting March 13th). Q Advertise the Sandwich Meal Deal on your Facebook page to drive awareness and footfall.

PREMIER SANDWICH MEAL DEAL Massively popular at breakfast and lunch times, Premier’s Sandwich Meal Deal drives bigger basket spend at critical times of the day, as well as pushing up footfall. This increased footfall also presents retailers with the opportunity to add additional, incremental sales by ensuring that Meal Deal shoppers also pick up an item or two extra while they are in-store. It could be a

newspaper or a vape liquid, it could be a chocolate bar or a bag of sweets. Whatever it is, it all adds up and boosts sales and profits – and all because you had the Sandwich Meal Deal in place.

EVENING IN MEAL DEAL Helping to extend meal deal opportunities throughout the day is Premier’s Evening In Meal Deal which give shoppers the chance to buy two pizzas AND a 4-pack

PREMIER EVENING IN MEAL DEAL

of beer or a bottle of wine for just £7.99, a

The Evening In Meal Deal has been massively successful in a traditionally quieter part of the day. The deal allows shoppers to pick up two pizzas plus a 4-pack of beer or a bottle of wine, all for just £7.99. The deal has generated significant fresh footfall for Premier retailers who have really gotten behind it and communicated it well to their shoppers. Again, not only does the Evening In Meal Deal generate sales and profits in its own right, it also helps drive incremental sales in other categories, while helping to extend the busy part of the day even further. There are plenty of opportunities to upsell around the meal deal and a little thought can help drive additional sales of everything from garlic bread and pasta to soft drinks, confectionery and more.

saving of more than £2 on the price-marks!

CURRENT DEAL PIZZAS Discover the Choice Cheese Pizza Discover the Choice Meat Feast Pizza Discover the Choice Pepperoni Pizza

Case Size: 5 x 331g WSP: £8.50 Unit Cost: £3.40 POR: 33.2% RRP: £2.99PM BEER Stella Artois

Case Size: 6x4x330ml WSP: £15.99 Unit Cost: £3.20 Single Sale POR: 28.00% RRP: £5.00PM WINES Distant Vines Pinot Grigio Distant Vines Merlot Distant Vines Pinot Grigio Blush Distant Vines Shiraz Distant Vines Sauvignon Blanc

Case Size: 6x75cl WSP: £15.75 Unit Cost: £3.15 Single Sale POR: 21.3% RRP: £4.00PM

MINIMUM POR FOR RETAILERS IS 17.4% EVENING IN MEAL DEAL TOP TIPS

Q Be sure to use the free POS to promote the deal extensively in-store. Q Again, retain the POS for us in every Period through to P1 for 2019 (starting March 13th) Q Use Facebook to let your shoppers know about the deal and encourage them to visit in the evening. Q Try siting other products near the meal deal to help drive up basket spend – products like 2l bottles of soft drinks and sharing bags of crisps or confectionery are ideal.

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What are your views? Call 0141 222 5380 or email talkingshop@55north.com

WOW DEALS In addition to Premier’s phenomenally popular Mega Deal package, the Premier WOW deals take value to the next level and all Premier retailers are encouraged to make as much use of them as possible. The WOW deals deliver market-beating value and give Premier retailers a huge opportunity to drive significant footfall, sales and growth.

P12 WOW DEAL 10 XX 440ML CANS OF STRONGBOW ONLY £7.95 (SAVE £1.05)

P13 WOW DEAL 24 X 330ML CANS OF PEPSI MAX ONLY £6 (SAVE £4)

P1 WOW DEAL 4 X 550ML CANS OF MONSTER ENERGY ONLY £3.50 (Save £1.09)

Some offers may not be available in all stores and are subject to availability. The higher price shown is the Premier RRP and may differ in some stores. All offers are correct at the time of going to print.

NP13 ENDS: 12/03/19

Some offers may not be available in all stores and are subject to availability. The higher price shown is the Premier RRP and may differ in some stores. All offers are correct at the time of going to print.

Some offers may not be available in all stores and are subject to availability. The higher price shown is the Premier RRP and may differ in some stores. All offers are correct at the time of going to print.

NP12 ENDS: 12/02/19 EW

NP01 ENDS - 09/04/19

10x440ml

PM £4.59 4x500ml

24x330ml

£7.95 only

only

save £1.05

£6

£3.50 only

save £4

PM £9

save £1.09

£10 89395 16 NP12 Premier Posters MEGA DEAL.indd 6

17/12/2018 14:11

90575 22 NP01 Premier Posters MEGA DEAL.indd 7

89896 23 NP13 Premier Posters ALL.indd 2

08/02/2019 09:31

16/01/2019 08:43

WOW DEAL TOP TIPS

Q Stock up as early as possible on WOW Deals and ensure you buy enough to stay in stock at all times. Q Where space permits, why not build impressive and eye-catching floor stacks to ensure none of your shoppers could possibly miss the deal? Q Site the deals prominently and make sure they are adjacent to relevant categories to help tempt shoppers to make unplanned impulse purchases. Q Publicise the WOW deals heavily on social media and in your store to maximise footfall and bring as many customers to your store as possible.

PREMIER WOW DEALS

If the Mega Deals took Premier’s promotions to a new level then WOW deals have taken them to a new dimension. The WOW deals have been unbelievably popular with both Premier retailers and shopper since they were first launched, as it’s easy to see why. With deals like the current WOW deal on a 24 pack of 330ml Pepsi Max cans for just £6 – a massive saving of £4 – it’s no surprise that WOW deals have been flying off the shelves every Period. It’s vital that Premier retailers really leverage these deals to drive footfall, sales and profits but also to reinforce the fantastic value message to shoppers every day. WOW deals are a brilliant way of generating footfall.

CONCLUSION

The Premier promotional package is second to none and has been carefully created and evolved to deliver maximum value for Premier retailers. By stocking up early and buying enough to remain in-stock all the way through the promotional period, Premier retailers give themselves the best possible chance to leverage the huge power of these deals. February 2019 TalkingShop

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IMC - Booker Premier Talking Shop advert –

01/03/2019 15:01:45 22/01/2019 11:00

Easter | FEATURE

Late Easter means

MORE

SALES With Easter falling late this year, Premier retailers have an extended window of opportunity to drive maximum footfall, sales and profits during what is becoming a massively important seasonal event.

25.0% POR!

21.3% POR! February 2019 TalkingShop

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FEATURE | Easter

NOVELTY RANGE 2019

HAVE A CRACKING EASTER!

PREMIER’S OUTSTANDING NOVELTY ITEMS DEALS FOR EASTER Cadbury Mini Eggs Small Carton Case size: 24x38.3g WSP: £7.49 Consumer deal: £0.50 POR: 25.1%

Premier offers the following advice on making the very most of this year’s extended Easter season...

Cadbury Mini Eggs Bags Case size: 24x80g WSP: £15.49 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 22.6% Milkybar Mini Eggs Case size: 12x90g WSP: £7.50 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 25.0%

1 Stock up early

The simplest way to maximise sales of Easter products is to stock up early and have the products prominently on display early.

Smarties Mini Eggs Case size: 12x90g WSP: £7.50 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 25.0% Orange Smarties Mini Eggs Case size: 12x90g WSP: £7.50 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 25.0% Galaxy Golden Mini Eggs Case size: 22x80g WSP: £14.49 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 21.0% M&M’S Speckled Eggs Case size: 16x80g WSP: £9.99 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 25.1% Cadbury Easter Block Case size: 20x100g WSP: £12.49 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 25.1% Cadbury Caramel Filled Egg Case size: 48x40g WSP: £12.49 Consumer deal: Any 3 for £1.20 POR: 21.9% Cadbury Oreo Egg Case size: 48x40g WSP: £12.49 Consumer deal: Any 3 for £1.20 POR: 21.9% Cadbury Crème Egg Singles Case size: 48x40g WSP: £12.49 Consumer deal: Any 3 for £1.20 POR: 21.9%

2 Create a dedicated fixture It’s important to give your Easter offer some prominence in-store and create a ‘wow’ factor to drive impulse sales and basket spend. The easiest way to do this is with a dedicated Easter fixture, complete with in-store theatre and POS. Make your fixture unmissable!

Malteaster Bunny Single Case size: 32x29g WSP: £8.29 Consumer deal: Any 3 for £1.20 POR: 22.3% Cadbury Egg and Spoon Oreo Case size: 8x136g WSP: £9.99 Consumer deal: £2.00 POR: 25.1%

3 Multi-site

Even if you do create a dedicated Easter fixture, it still makes sense to site Easter products around the store in high traffic areas, particularly when it comes to novelty products. Site them at the tillpoint, or next to a food to go station if you have one, to really drive up unplanned Easter purchases.

Cadbury Egg and Spoon Double Choc Case size: 8x136g WSP: £9.99 Consumer deal: £2.00 POR: 25.1% Kinder Joy Easter Case size: 32x20g WSP: £16.00 Consumer deal: 2 for £1.50 POR: 20.0% Cadbury Crème Egg 5pack Case size: 28x197g WSP: £34.99 Consumer deal: £2.00 POR: 25.0% Cadbury Caramel Egg 3pk Case size: 42x117g WSP: £26.99 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 22.9% Cadbury Hollow Bunny Case size: 8x100g WSP: £10.49 Consumer deal: £2.00 POR: 21.3%

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4 Use the POS

It’s vital to make sure that your shoppers are aware of the fantastic deals that you have on offer in the store on Easter products. The way to do this by using the free POS to help communicate the great promotions available.

February 2019

01/03/2019 15:01:51

What are your views? Call 0141 222 5380 or email talkingshop@55north.com

E

aster has taken on more and more importance in the annual independent retailing calendar over the last few years and that is set to continue thanks to Easter falling very late this year on April 21st. That means there will be even more opportunities for Premier retailers to cash in on what is now recognised as one of the most outstanding seasonal opportunities of the year. To help retailers squeeze every last penny out of Easter this year, Premier has put together a knock out set of promotions that will drive footfall, sales and profit. The key to making the most of the opportunity is to focus on the two sections of the Easter market that have traditionally been

shown to be the most important to Premier shoppers: shell eggs and novelty products. These are also the products that drive the biggest sales and biggest profits for retailers. Premier’s exceptional Easter promotional package means that retailers are able to offer market-leading value on the brands and products that shoppers will be looking for this Easter, be that as treats for themselves, sharing products or gifts for friends, family and colleagues.

SHELL EGGS To help communicate the all-important value message quickly and efficiently to shoppers, Premier has once again kept its shopper deal strategy simple and clear: Small Eggs are £1, Medium Eggs are £2, Large Eggs are £3 and Luxury Large Eggs are £5. Great value, great

5 Make use of Facebook

Get your shoppers in the mood for Easter by posting your promotions and range on your Facebook page. The more aware they are that Easter is coming, the more likely they are to drop by to pick up a product or two.

DON’T FORGET THE STAPLES! While it’s critical to focus on Easter confectionery, don’t forget to ensure you are also in stock of a number of important Easter staple products. Steve Kelly, Channel Director at Premier Foods, says: “Certain store cupboard staples are essential over Easter. Brands such as Bisto, Oxo, Paxo and Ambrosia will help boost sales and profits with shoppers on the lookout for last-minute purchases to make each meal special.” Easter is a popular time for roast dinners, so products like Bisto and Paxo will be important with price-marked packs helping to drive sales. Similarly, dessert options are great for boosting basket spend with brands like Ambrosia being trusted by shoppers. Site all the products needed for a full meal solution together on the shelf to increase spend. l Ambrosia Devon Custard (400g) PM100 l Bisto Best Beef Gravy Granules (170g) l Bisto Beef Gravy Granules (170G) PM149 l Bisto Chicken Gravy Granules (170g) PM149 l Oxo Chicken Stock Cubes, 12pk (71g) l Oxo Beef Stock Cubes, 12pk (71g) l Paxo stuffing Sage & Onion Stuffing (170g) PM139

RETAILER VIEW JIMMY PATEL Premier Jimmy’s, Northampton “Easter seems to have become much bigger and more important in recent years and it’s one of those seasonal events that now rivals Christmas in terms of sales growth and general levels of interest from shoppers. “For me, the key is to really go big on Easter if you want to make the very best of it. “We will be dedicating a full fixture to Easter products because we feel that with Premier we have a fantastic range available to us and the pricing and quality is as good as my shoppers will find anywhere. “I want to make sure that they have absolutely no reason to go anywhere else this Easter. “Easter eggs are once again key for independent retailers and with the really simple pricing structure in the Premier promotions we have a great product from a great brand at a great price to suit every pocket. “Easter is a great time to have a bit of fun and make shopping an experience for our shoppers.”

February 2019 TalkingShop

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FEATURE | Easter

RETAILER VIEW

SHELL EGG RANGE 2019 PREMIER’S PROMOTIONAL SHELL EGG RANGE: Cadbury Dairy Milk Small Shell Egg Case size: 12x72g WSP: £7.99 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 20.1% Cadbury Buttons Small Shell Egg Case size: 12x85g WSP: £7.99 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 20.1% Milkybar Small Egg Case size: 12x65g WSP: £7.99 Consumer deal: £1.00 POR: 20.1% Mars Medium Egg Case size: 9x141g WSP: £12.00 Consumer deal: £2.00 POR: 20.0% Maltesers Medium Egg Case size: 9x127g WSP: £12.00 Consumer deal: £2.00 POR: 20.0% M&M’s Choco Medium Egg Case size: 9x135g WSP: £12.00 Consumer deal: £2.00 POR: 20.0% Toffee Crisp Large Egg Case size: 4x256g WSP: £8.00 Consumer deal: £3.00 POR: 20.0% Lion Bar Large Egg Case size: 4x280g WSP: £8.00 Consumer deal: £3.00 POR: 20.0% Galaxy Golden Large Egg Case size: 4x234g WSP: £8.00 Consumer deal: £3.00 POR: 20.0% Celebrations Large Egg Case size: 4x248g WSP: £8.00 Consumer deal: £3.00 POR: 20.0% Snickers Large Egg Case size: 4x274g WSP: £8.00 Consumer deal: £3.00 POR: 20.0% Cadbury Crème Egg Medium Shell Case size: 9x138g WSP: £11.25 Consumer deal: Any 2 for £4 POR: 25.0% Cadbury Mini Egg Medium Shell Case size: 9x130g WSP: £11.25 Consumer deal: Any 2 for £4 POR: 25.0% Cadbury Oreo Medium Shell Case size: 9x123g WSP: £11.25 Consumer deal: Any 2 for £4 POR: 25.0% Galaxy Indulgence Large Shell Egg Case size: 4x308g WSP: £13.30 Consumer deal: £5.00 POR: 20.2%

MATTHEW ARBOURNE Premier Arbourne’s, Skewen “Seasonal events are critical these days as they present a real focus point for shoppers and they definitely help in getting shoppers to spend a little more in-store. The Easter season is a long one this year so we have lots of opportunities to build a bit of momentum by driving up the excitement levels in the store and converting that into sales and profits. “We will encourage the team in the store to get into the Easter spirit and we’ll definitely be using the Premier promotions as the basis of our Easter offer. It’s an outstanding range and the pricing for our shoppers is perfect.”

quality and great deals at amazing prices. The shell egg promotional range features many of the biggest selling brands in the UK including Cadbury Dairy Milk, Mars, Maltesers, M&Ms, Galaxy, Snickers, Kinder and, of course, the iconic Cadbury Crème Egg. Every deal delivers a minimum of 20% POR while three special ‘any 2 for £4’ deals on a range of Cadbury medium shell eggs deliver outstanding PORs of 25%.

NOVELTY RANGE Novelty Easter products should form the second main strand of retailer activity over the next couple of months. These lines are tailor made for independent retailers offering great quality lines at affordable prices, making self-treats and gifts available to every shopper of any age. Premier’s extensive Novelty promotional range has been set up to run from the beginning of January and will run all the way through to the end of Easter. Most lines have been already been allocated out

Malteaster Bunny Large Shell Egg Case size: 4x265g £13.30 Consumer deal: £5.00 POR: 20.2% M&Ms Large Shell Egg Case size: 4x313g WSP: £13.30 Consumer deal: £5.00 POR: 20.2% Kinder Surprise 100g Egg Case size: 4x100g WSP: £13.00 Consumer deal: £5.00 POR: 22.0%

at the beginning of January to ensure that Premier retailers are able to make the very most of the extended season this year by stocking the lines and displaying them prominently as early as possible. Highlights are the market-leading Premier cost of just £12.49 on Crème Egg and Caramel Egg Singles. This pricing means that these lines are actually 30p cheaper than last year! With Easter so late, Premier will not be sending out any Shell Egg allocations until P1 on the 13th of March. Pricing on all shell eggs, however, will be set up from P13 through until the end of Easter, giving retailers plenty of time to cash in by buying early at the promotional price if they wish. While Premier retailers will receive an allocation from across these lines, the full shell egg range is available in-branch. So, this Easter, make sure you stock up early and stay in stock right through until Easter Sunday. It’s a great opportunity and it’s the chance to have some fun with shoppers in-store.

20.2% POR!

6 Stay in stock

It’s absolutely critical that retailers stay in stock of all key lines right up until Easter Sunday to ensure that they never miss out on sales through lack of availability. The promotional package is so strong that your shoppers will be looking for the deals right up until Easter Sunday – so make sure that you don’t let them down!

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February 2019

01/03/2019 15:01:56

To purchase these products now, visit www.booker.co.uk

Ones to

watch

A selection of key products that will deliver for you in-store

Add a little shimmer… WHAT? ALFRED BUTTON & SONS SHIMMER GIN LIQUEUR RANGE WHEN? AVAILABLE NOW WHY? With the continuing phenomenal success of the gin category, Booker is adding three fantastic new high-impact lines into its range. The Alfred Button & Sons Shimmer Gin Liqueur range takes the category to another level in terms of both flavour and visual on-shelf appeal. The ‘Shake to Shimmer’ lines provide a novel fruity twist to any G&T and can also be added to 25ml of Prosecco to give it a striking fruity shimmer. WHO? The range includes three exciting flavours – Lemon Sherbet, Parma Violet and Rhubarb & Rosehip – and will be popular with existing gin shoppers as well as drawing new shoppers into the category thanks to the eye-catching on-shelf appeal of the range. The brightly coloured liquids will look amazing on the spirits fixture and when the bottle is shaken, the swirl and shimmer adds great theatre to the in-store experience. WHERE TO STOCK? The shimmer range should be sited at eye-level on the spirits fixture where it is certain to attract attention and drive sales. All three products deliver excellent PORs of 20.3% for retailers. ALFRED BUTTON & SONS LEMON SHERBET SHIMMER GIN LIQUEUR ALFRED BUTTON & SONS PARMA VIOLET SHIMMER GIN LIQUEUR ALFRED BUTTON & SONS RHUBARB & ROSEHIP SHIMMER GIN LIQUEUR Case size: 6x50cl WSP: £71.70 RSP: RSP: £17.99 POR: POR: 20.3% February 2019 TalkingShop

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To purchase these products now, visit www.booker.co.uk

Wow! 30.3% POR!

NEW 200g size

Milk the profits WHAT? EURO SHOPPER MILK CHOCOLATE 200G BLOCK PM £1 WHEN? AVAILABLE NOW WHY? The Euro Shopper chocolate range has long been massively popular with both shoppers and Premier retailers and this popularity is set to grow even further with the launch of a Euro Shopper 200g Milk Chocolate Block price-marked at just £1. The £1 block market is now a major feature on all confectionery fixtures and this great value 200g product is set to drive sales, footfall and profits.

a broad range of shoppers of all ages. The prominent price mark and the fantastic value 200g format delivers the same great combination of quality, price and value that shoppers have come to expect from the Euro Shopper range and is a must-stock line for all Premier retailers. WHERE TO STOCK? Delivering over 30% POR for retailers, the Euro Shopper 200g Milk Chocolate Block should be merchandised within the main chocolate block fixture and is sure to be a strong seller. Why not try some sampling at the tillpoint to allow more shoppers to try the great quality for themselves? EURO SHOPPER MILK CHOCOLATE 200G BLOCK PMP £1

WHO? As always, Euro Shopper products will be popular with

Case size: 16 x 200g WSP: £9.29 RSP: £1 PMP POR: 30.3%

Clean up with new Happy Shopper range WHAT? HAPPY SHOPPER TRIGGER SPRAY RANGE WHEN? COMING SOON WHY? With the traditional spring clean season now getting underway, Booker has launched a fantastic new range of great value Happy Shopper trigger cleaning products. The comprehensive trigger spray range includes a Window Cleaner, a Multi-Surface Cleaner with Bleach, a Bathroom Cleaner and an Anti-Bacterial Cleaner. All lines are price-marked at just £1.25 and deliver outstanding PORs of 47.3%. WHO? With many households looking to spruce the home up after a long winter, demand for cleaning products typically rises at this time of year so this range allows Premier retailers to offer a brilliant combination of highly effective products and superb value for money, the hallmark of the Happy Shopper range. WHERE TO STOCK? Site all four lines within the household cleaning fixture where the bright, eye-catching packaging and highly visible price points will drive sales and profits. HAPPY SHOPPER WINDOW CLEANER; HAPPY SHOPPER MULTI-SURFACE CLEANER WITH BLEACH; HAPPY SHOPPER BATHROOM CLEANER; HAPPY SHOPPER ANTI-BACTERIAL CLEANER. Case size: 6 x 750ml WSP: £3.29 RSP: £1.25 POR: 47.3%

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February 2019

01/03/2019 15:01:57

To purchase these products now, visit www.booker.co.uk

Growing sales is child’s play WHAT? CADBURY DAIRY MILK FREDDO TREASURES CHOCOLATE WITH TOY WHEN? AVAILABLE NOW WHY? Out in plenty of time for Easter, the new Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo Treasures Chocolate with Toy marks a new direction for the confectionery giant and is aimed at the children’s treat market. The product features Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons with a surprise toy, all found in a purple egg box – ideal for treats and gifts, especially around Easter time. WHO? The line is Cadbury’s first venture into an area traditionally dominated by Kinder Eggs and is expected to be very popular with youngsters as well as with adults looking for small, affordable treats as gifts. WHERE TO STOCK? Stock the product prominently on the main fixture but also site it in high footfall areas such as the counter or on Easter-focused seasonal fixtures where the striking packaging will drive impulse sales and profits. The line delivers a POR of 25.1%. CADBURY DAIRY MILK FREDDO TREASURES CHOCOLATE WITH TOY Case size: 24 x 14.4g WSP: £13.79 RSP: 92p POR: 25.1%

Creating a stir

Bean there, done that WHAT? HARIBO JELLY BEANS PM £1

WHAT? ROBINSONS FRUIT CREATIONS 1L RANGE WHEN? AVAILABLE FROM NP13 WHEN? AVAILABLE NOW WHY? In July last year the Robinsons brand overtook the Coca-Cola brand as the number one consumed soft drink brand in the home [Kantar Worldpanel, Dec 2018]. Part of that success has been driven by constant innovation with the Robinsons Fruit Creations squash sub-brand a good example. Fruit Creations sold more than 10 million bottles in the 10 months since launch [IRI, Aug 2018] and two products from the range are now available to Premier retailers in £1.99 price-marked packs. WHO? Robinsons Fruit Creations Delicious Peach & Raspberry and Robinsons Fruit Creations Zesty Orange & Mango are available in the popular 1l bottle format. The squash category is worth almost £400m in convenience and is growing at 5% [IRI, Aug 2018] so stocking these new lines will help grow sales. WHERE TO STOCK? Stock the lines prominently on the main squash fixture where the brand and price-mark will attract attention and sales.

WHY? The number one sweets brand has extended its portfolio with a new mix of share-size Jelly Beans, price-marked at £1, and available exclusively on a specially discounted deal to Premier retailers until March 12th. The line is aimed at shoppers that like to try sweets packed full of fun flavours. The new mix features six new flavours ranging from Candyfloss to Popcorn and Marshmallow. WHO? Jelly Beans PM £1 is aimed at both adults and kids who want to try funky flavours. It is suitable for vegetarians as this product is entirely free of animalbased products. WHERE TO STOCK? Haribo Jelly Beans should be sited in the main hanging bags fixture to help drive sales and profits.

ROBINSONS FRUIT CREATIONS DELICIOUS PEACH & RASPBERRY 1L; ROBINSONS FRUIT CREATIONS ZESTY

HARIBO JELLY BEANS PM £1

ORANGE & MANGO 1L

Case size: 12 x 180g

Case size: 6 x 1l WSP: £6.49 RSP: £1.99 PMP

WSP: £7.29

POR: 34.77%

RSP: £1 PMP POR: 27.01% February 2019 TalkingShop

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M237042

BAKERS® ADULT BEEF & VEG 1kg PMP £2.49

M237274

BAKERS® ADULT CHICKEN & VEG 1kg PMP £2.49

01/03/2019 15:02:02

PricesDown

FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITIES TO SAVE ON COSTS AND BOOST YOUR PROFITS

Beer and tobacco deals spell improved margins Premier has launched two fantastic new initiatives that give retailers access to greatly reduced WSPs on a range of popular tobacco products and a new series of deals on 4-packs of price-marked big brand beers.

T

he benefits of Booker becoming part of a much bigger group has been core to Premier being able to deliver a wide array of valuable benefits to retailers to help drive down WSPs and grow footfall, sales and

cash profits. Premier retailers have already enjoyed improved pricing on seasonal Easter products, great promotions on special packs and channel-exclusive product launches as well as improved pricing on 26 Muller lines with over 40% POR and on Warburtons lines through both branch and Central Billing. The latest benefits for Premier retailers have recently been unveiled and include the launch of a new Premier Tobacco Club and a special pricing package on top-selling 4-pack pricemarked beers. The Premier Tobacco Club delivers greatly reduced WSPs and improved PORs on six of the biggest selling tobacco lines. These include Players Real Red and Players Crushball cigarettes as well as Gold Leaf and Riverstone RYO packs. By joining the Premier Tobacco Club, retailers can save as much as £1.51 per outer.

BOOKER TOBACCO CLUB

The Booker Tobacco Club offers Premier retailers access to significantly discounted RSPs on six popular tobacco lines: Product

Case size

WSP

Saving

RSP

POR

Players KS Real Red

10x20s

£67.43 £65.97

£1.45

£8.70

7% 9%

Players SK Real Red

10x20s

£67.43 £65.97

£1.45

£8.70

7% 9%

Players KS Crushball

10x20s

£68.15 £66.70

£1.45

£8.70

6% 8%

Gold Leaf RYO + Papers 5x50g

£68.03 £66.52

£1.51

£18.15

10% 12%

Gold Leaf RYO + Papers 5x30g

£41.25 £40.33

£0.92

£11.00

10% 12%

Riverstone RYO

£36.66 £35.75

£0.91

£11.00

20% 22%

5x30g

To qualify for these deals, Premier retailers imply need to commit to: l Maintaining stock of the 6 lines l Selling at or below RSP l Agreeing to and complying with Tobacco Club T&Cs

IMPROVED PRICING ON 4-PACK PMP BEERS

Also available with immediate effect is greatly improved pricing on selected 4-packs of price-marked beers: Product

Case size

Saving

POR

Fosters PM £4.50

6x4x440ml

£2.00

31.6%

Carling PM £4.75

6x4x500ml

£2.00

30.1%

Stella Artois PM£5.79 6x4x500ml

£4.00

36.1%

Carlsberg PM £4.69

£3.50

36.1%

6x4x500ml

*Pricing and packs are subject to change.*

Similarly, a new ‘7-day deal pricing’ package on a range of topselling 4-pack price-marked beers offers Premier retailers up to £4 off a case of big-selling brands like Fosters, Carling, Stella Artois and Carlsberg. For further information please contact your RDM.

February 2019 TalkingShop

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AVAILABLE NOW

DRINK PROPERLY - DRINK RESPONSIBLY

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PROPER NO. TWELVE IRISH WHISKEY, A BLEND, 40% ALC. BY VOL. ©ÉIRE BORN SPIRITS 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

01/03/2019 15:02:04 11/02/2019 13:29

BetterService IDEAS TO GIVE YOUR BUSINESS THE EDGE

IN THE SPIRIT: Northampton retailer Jimmy Patel is one of many Premier retailers to benefit from replacing his tobacco gantry with a bright, eye-catching spirits fixture.

Set your spirits free Replacing the tobacco gantry with an impactful spirits fixture is a great way of making more profitable use of the tillpoint area.

T

here are very few areas of a Premier store that every single shopper must visit but the tillpoint is one of them. No matter why a shopper comes to the store, they all have to visit the till to pay before leaving – which makes the tillpoint one of the most valuable parts of any store. Traditionally the tillpoint in the vast majority of stores has been dominated by the tobacco gantry but with the advent of the public display ban on tobacco products, it no longer makes sense to dedicate such a valuable, high footfall section of the store to a

product that can’t even be displayed to shoppers. One great solution to this challenge is to simply free up that space by move tobacco products to drawers under the counter and using that important space for a high value, high cash profit category like spirits. Moving tobacco under the counter is unlikely to affect tobacco sales but making spirits much more visible instore can really help drive up sales and profits. Talking Shop offers an easy 6-step plan to setting your spirits sales free. Read on...

RETAILER VIEW SAMANTHA COLDBECK Wharfedale Premier, Hull “We recently replaced the tobacco gantry with a bright new spirits fixture. We moved the cigarettes into drawers under the till and while it’s still early days, it already seems that tobacco sales haven’t been affected and spirits sales have grown, so the signs are good. “It just makes sense to me because the tobacco gantry no longer served a useful purpose and the tillpoint is a massively important part of the shop because all of our shoppers have to stand in front of it. It’s far better to tempt them into buying something else that can boost basket spend. Very few people buy cigarettes on impulse!”

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1 FREE UP VALUABLE SPACE! l The quickest and easiest way to grow your spirit sales is by moving tobacco into drawers under your counter and using the space to stock a bigger, more prominent range of high value spirits. l As tobacco products can not be visible to shoppers by law, moving them under the counter will have no negative impact on sales. l By freeing up several linear metres of high-traffic shelving for the spirits category, you can begin to grow your sales of both planned and impulse spirits sales.

PROFIT POTENTIAL: Tobacco sales typically remain unaffected while spirits sales grow.

2 LIGHT IT UP! l A great way of highlighting the fact that you have created a bold new spirits fixture behind the till is to backlight the fixture. l Backlighting is an inexpensive but hugely effective way of drawing your shoppers’ attention to the fixture. l Not only will backlighting draw your shoppers’ attention to the fact that the fixture has changed, it is also likely to encourage them to have a longer look at the fixture and pick up an item or two. l With spirits typically offering big cash profits, this can help make much better use of a vital area of the store to grow incremental spend and profits.

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3 THINK BIG! l With value as important as ever, it makes sense to ensure that your great prices stand out by using a larger font on your shelf edge labels for the spirits on the new fixture. l If you use the RDP Epos system, contact them direct and they will be able to help you download your shelf edge labels with a larger font. l If you use another Epos supplier, contact them and ask for their help.

February 2019

01/03/2019 15:02:08

RETAILER VIEW DENNIS WILLIAMS Premier Broadway Convenience Store, Edinburgh “We removed our tobacco gantry last year to free up space for spirits. The tobacco gantry was just a huge wasted opportunity as far as we were concerned so we put tobacco products in drawers and massively increased the space behind the till that we dedicate to spirits. “The move has been a huge success for us because spirits sales have increased and tobacco sales have just carried on as before. I also think it makes the shop look a bit nicer for our shoppers. The spirits fixture is nice and bright and colourful, which is much better than the closed-off tobacco gantry.”

MODERN MOVES: Wharfedale Premier in Hull has also replaced its tobacco gantry with a profitdriving spirits fixture.

4 PROMOTE YOUR PROMOTIONS! l With so many great promotions available from Premier as well as outstanding Every Day Low Prices on spirits, it’s important to communicate that value effectively to your shoppers. l Ensure you use your POS materials prominently to make sure your shoppers are aware of your fantastic promotions. l It’s also important to stay in stock during promotional periods so make sure you order enough in advance to ensure that your shoppers are never disappointed.

5 BE CREATIVE! l To really bring your spirits fixture to life, why not use the Premier Printshop website to create your own bespoke POS to highlight store-specific deals? l Additionally, you can use the Printshop to produce POS to bring any new products to life in-store. Shoppers love trying new lines so be sure to make them unmissable at the tillpoint.

6 GET SOCIAL! l One fantastic way to drive footfall, sales and profits from the spirits category is to make full use of social media. l Use your Facebook page to highlight your amazing promotions and new products or to drive sales around major upcoming sporting or cultural events. l Try running social media-based ‘like and share’ competitions offering new spirit products as prizes.

February 2019 TalkingShop

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SMOKERS ARE .*

YOUR SALES AND PROFITS.

HEETS IS THE SMOKE-FREE TOBACCO T H A T G I V E S Y O U 9 % ** P O R . S T O C K U P N O W AT Y O U R C A S H A N D C A R R Y . *This communication is for the information of tobacco traders only IQOS.COM **All on-shelf prices are selected by the retailer alone and margin may therefore be affected THIS PRODUCT IS NOT RISK-FREE. FOR ADULT USE ONLY

TS.indd 48 PHI0511_HEETS_Trade Ad_DPS_280x420mm_AW1.indd All Pages

01/03/2019 15:02:09

TO STOCK HEETS.

For use only with IQOS

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01/03/2019 15:02:09 20/02/2019 11:02

BetterService IDEAS TO GIVE YOUR BUSINESS THE EDGE

Time to cash in on vaping With 70% of vaping sales online or through vapeshops, there is huge scope for Premier retailers to grow their share.

D

espite only being around a decade old, the vaping market is already huge. Today, the category is estimated to be worth £728m in the UK, a figure that is expected to keep rising – but one figure that should interest Premier retailers more than most is the fact that a huge 70% of all vaping sales are accounted for by specialist vapeshops or online retailers. With their convenient locations, long opening hours and great customer service, independent Premier retailers are perfectly placed to grow their share of this fastgrowing market. The unique relationship enjoyed between Premier retailers and their loyal shoppers presents a huge opportunity. In many instances, shoppers trust and rely on advice

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TOP TIPS FOR GROWING VAPING SALES DEVICES Stock at least one ‘open system’ and one ‘closed system’ and keep up with the latest trends.

from their local retailer regarding what products to buy, and this presents a potential competitive advantage, especially when it comes to the vaping category. This relationship is particularly important when it comes to adult smokers looking to switch from tobacco to vaping. Unlike online retailers or vape stores, Premier retailers offer both tobacco and vaping products for sale and have access to a huge number of smokers who may be considering switching to vaping. While there are around 3.2m vapers in the UK, a very significant 40% of UK smokers still haven’t even tried vaping. This presents a massive opportunity for Premier retailers who stock a good range of relevant products and are able to offer advice and support to shoppers considering switching.

AVAILABILITY Ensure you’re fully stocked at all times. Regularly check stock levels to make sure you don’t run out. BE VISIBLE You can display and advertise vaping products in-store and on social media.

February 2019

01/03/2019 15:02:11

Mod Pod

Pods v mods

The two major vaping delivery methods are what are ‘closed systems’ and ‘open systems’. Closed systems involve hassle-free, click and go disposable ‘pods’ which are simply inserted into the main unit while open systems are based on bottles of e-liquid that vapers use to top up their handheld ‘mod’ units. The pod system is gaining market share with products such as myblu, Vype ePen and Logic Compact all making headway in this space. E-liquid-based systems remain popular however and it’s sales of e-liquids are driving much of the growth in the UK. Ensure you stock at least one closed and one open system to cater for most requirements.

Training is key

One of the most effective ways of growing vaping sales is to ensure that your staff are well trained in the category and familiar with the products available in your store. Making time to educate all staff on the category, including the benefits of switching, will help grow footfall, sales and profits. If you can establish a reputation for having a great range and being knowledgeable about the category, you are very likely to bring new vaping shoppers into your store.

Vaping: Fast Facts

l The UK vaping market is worth £728m [Ecigintelligence] l The are 3.2m vapers in the UK [ASH, 2018], spending an average of £38 per month on vape products [blu brand tracker] l Dualists represent 46% of vapers [Kantar, 2018] l Around 8% of adults vape in the UK [Kantar, 2018] l 40% of smokers have never tried vaping [Public Health England] l 70% of vaping sales come from online or vape shops [Ecigintelligence] l E-liquids are the driving force of sales

POS

Remember that vaping is not covered by the same legislation as tobacco so you are still free to advertise and display vaping products both in-store and via social media. Eye-catching gantries, on-door merchandising, countertop units, impactful back wall displays and posters around the store are all great ways to highlight key brands.

CBD OPTIONS EDGE LAUNCHES CBD RANGE One of the latest vaping trends is CBD – or Cannabidoil, to give it its full scientific name. CBD is a legal, non-psychoactive compound derived from the hemp plant and has been forecast to become a great opportunity for independent retailers. Vaping supplier Edge has launched a 10-strong range of price-marked CBD vaping liquids in five flavours and two strengths, all in 10ml bottles. Edge’s UK-made CBD range contains the same ingredients as its traditional range of vaping products except that the nicotine element has been replaced with high grade CBD. The liquids are available in 100mg and 300mg strengths. The flavours available are: l Blackcurrant l Forest Fruits l Heizen l Very Menthol l Strawberry & Lime

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BetterService IDEAS TO GIVE YOUR BUSINESS THE EDGE

Get more customers shopping more often The Local Loyalty solution from The Retail Data Partnership brings a full loyalty club service within the reach of independent retailers who use the ShopMate Epos system. COSTS

• ONE-OFF SET UP FEE OF £75 • DAILY FEE OF 75P • INCLUDES: CUSTOMER AND MERCHANT WEBSITE SET UP; COMPATIBLE SCANNER (IF REQUIRED); 200 PROMO TEXTS PER MONTH; STARTER BOX.

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REWARD SHOPPERS FOR LOYALTY With Local Loyalty, shoppers can collect points that can then be redeemed in your store. You can even offer exclusive loyalty promotions.

BRAND YOUR SCHEME TO SUIT YOUR STORE

W

Local Loyalty is a ‘white label’ solution which means that the loyalty cards and POS can be designed and customised to your specific store’s design and branding requirements.

ith more competition than ever, building and maintaining a loyal shopper base is what sits at the very heart of the relationship between a successful Premier store and its shoppers. One great way of getting more customers to shop more often in your store is through The Retail Data Partnership’s (TRDP) innovative Local Loyalty solution. The card and website-based loyalty

CASE STUDY:

COMBATTING SEASONAL SALES WITH ‘LOCAL LOYALTY’ PREMIER ARKWRIGHTS NEWS, FOOD & WINE, SWANAGE, DORSET Premier Arkwrights News, Food & Wine is located in Swanage, Dorset. Traditionally a very seasonal store, retailer Steve Wright enjoys booming trade during the summer time when the area is very popular with tourists. When the coastal town quietens down later in the year, however, trade typically slows down – which is why Steve chose to implement TRDP’s ‘Local Loyalty’ scheme to grow sales and drive loyalty yearround.

programme integrates seamlessly with TRDP’s ShopMate Epos system and enables retailers to reward their shoppers for their loyalty with points that are redeemable in-store. Additionally, the solution allows retailers to connect directly with shoppers by delivering timely, relevant offers via text message or web-based messaging. To illustrate the benefits of Local Loyalty, Talking Shop found out how a Premier store in Dorset has benefitted from using the scheme...

Steve said: “Local Loyalty has increased basket size significantly and I’ve seen customers come in more frequently with their loyalty card. I’ve really seen the benefits of it.” THE RESULTS In the first six months of of using Local Loyalty, Steve experienced the following benefits: l 18.9% increase in footfall l 14.1% increase in sales l 24.1% increase in profit TIME TO GET STARTED? The solution couldn’t be easier to implement for ShopMate users. To help you hit the ground running, TRDP will provide a starter box

COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR SHOPPERS Lo

cal Loyalty

& Wine

News, Foo d & Wine, lo popular w cated in Sw ith tourists. a When the Loyalty to coastal tow nag keep his S n quie hopMate E PoS System ringing containing your first 200 Loyalty In th Cards, posters, flyers and badges to help launch and promote the scheme. A quick till guide “Local Loand yalty has in an in-depth creased ba signifimanager’s cantly and guide sket size I've seen is also included ensure that more freqto customers uently with come in their lo everyone on the team understands really seen the ben yalty card. I've efits of it.” Local Loyalty and encourage Stevecan Wright, A rkwrights shoppers to sign up and start collecting loyalty points. Setting up Local Loyalty is easy. Just call TRDP on 01780 480 562 and the sales support team will be in touch to plan your Local Loyalty scheme and get you set up. If you have any queries, please email office@retaildata.co.uk

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18.9

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Case Study

The solution allows you to connect directly with your shoppers your online Arkwthrough rig htsmessage. portal or via text News, Foo d You can even reach out to shoppers with Facebook advertising through Local A rkwrights Loyalty.

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LaunchReview FEEDBACK ON THE LATEST BOOKER PRODUCTS

Retailers hit the heights with Hardys Bin 161

Exclusive Hardys range drives sales and profits Booker’s exclusive range of Hardys Bin 161 wines has been a star performer for Premier retailers ever since launch. Talking Shop finds out why it’s been such a standout success. Booker’s exclusive range of Hardys Bin 161 wines has established itself as a top performer within the wine category in Premier stores and it’s easy to see why. Hardys is renowned the world over as a great quality brand delivering reliably high standards. Booker’s exclusive Bin 161 range takes advantage of that heritage and shopper trust while also delivering fantastic value for shoppers. The Bin 161 range now includes six lines – three white, two red and a rose – and is already, with the addition of a Pinot Grigio variant, the UK’s

number three Australian brand after Yellow Tail in convenience. The wines come with peelable price mark stickers for retailer flexibility and the entire range has helped drive impulse sales and bring new shoppers into the category, particularly where retailers have chilled the white and rose variants to enable instant consumption. Not only do the wines deliver great value and fantastic quality for shoppers, they also deliver exceptional PORs of 22% for Premier retailers.

HARDYS BIN 161 BOOKER EXCLUSIVE RANGE l CHARDONNAY l SAUVIGNON BLANC l PINOT GRIGIO l ROSE l SHIRAZ l MERLOT CASE SIZE: 6 X 75CL WSP: £22.39 RSP: £5.75 PM POR: 22%

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shopper’s view… Diane Hook, Balloch I love a glass of wine with my dinner and I’d always choose a good quality wine but I don’t want to pay over the odds. I’m not a bargain basement wine buyer but value is definitely important these days, so the Hardys Bin 161 range is one of my favourites. Hardys is a fantastic brand that’s known for its quality so I know I’m getting a good bottle of wine when I pick one up in my local Premier. I reckon it’s one of the best buys on the market and with six different variants I can always find a bottle that fits whatever mood I’m in, or to match with whatever food I’m planning on having that evening.

IN SUMMARY

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Fantastic range of great quality wines from the UK’s number one selling brand, trusted and known around the world.

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The range is completely exclusive to Booker, offering Premier retailers a fantastic way to drive footfall to their stores.

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The six wines in the range feature six of the most popular variants available with red, white and rose options.

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Peelable £5.75 price marks give retailers flexibility when it comes to pricing and helps attract shoppers’ attention on-shelf.

RETAILER VIEW JIMMY PATEL Premier Jimmy’s, Northampton “Wine is a hugely important category these days but we find that shoppers are increasingly looking for something a little different, rather than the stuff they can find anywhere and everywhere. “The Hardys Bin 161 range gives Premier retailers a brilliant way of meeting that demand by offering a range of exclusive wines that are both brilliant quality and very competitively priced. “The full range has been very popular in the store and remains one of those ranges that shoppers actively seek out.”

RETAILER VIEW ANITA NYE Premier Eldred Drive Stores, Orpington “The more points of difference we have in the store the better because shoppers want to feel that they are getting something a bit special when they visit and the exclsuve Hardys Bin 161 range certainly gives them that. “Everybody knows the Hardys brand and knows that they are guaranteed a quality product so the range has always sold well for us. I think the price point helps too because it’s great value for such a well regarded brand. “We do well with the entire range.”

RETAILER VIEW SIMON DIXON Premier Lower Darwen, Blackburn “Today’s shoppers are getting more and more sophisticated and they want everything: great quality, great price and access to products they can’t find on every corner. The Hardys Bin 161 range delivers on all those fronts, which is why it’s consistently a great selling range. “It’s certainly not the cheapest bottle of wine in the shop but it really hits the mark for shoppers that want reliable quality but don’t want to have to spend a tenner getting it. The Bin 161 range gives the best of all worlds.”

RETAILER VIEW KETHAN ADARSH Premier Hinkler Road, Southampton “My approach to retail is simple: give shoppers what they want and they will keep coming back. That’s why ranges like Hardys Bin 161 work so well. They give my shoppers great value for money on wines that they know they can absolutely trust. Hardys wines are as reliable as they come, and at such a fantastic price point they drive big volumes of sales. “We chill the white and rose variants and that definitely helps keep rate of sale up and the fact that the range is exclusive to Booker helps drive footfall too.”

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OFFICIAL BEER SPONSORS OF THE ENGLAND MEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM AND THE NFL SELECTED AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN BRANDS IN 2018 *

TOP TEN

ATTRACTING YOUNGER SHOPPERS THAN ITS MAIN COMPETITORS** AND GROWING AT 19% ON VALUE† * The Grocer 12th December, 2018 **Compared to Fosters, Carlsberg and Carling. Based on percentage of shoppers aged under 45 years old. Source: Kantar Worldpanel. 52w/e ending 30th of Dec 2018. † Source: Nielsen ScanTrack data to 52w/e 29th December 2018 in total coverage GB.

TS.indd 58 BUD LIGHT PREMIER MAGAZINE BROCHURE_420X280mm_S7.indd All Pages AB006782

01/03/2019 15:02:33

BUD LIGHT ON PROMOTION IN

MEGA DEAL!

£4.99 PER CASE RRP £6.99 MAKE 14.3% POR! SKU CODE: M237605

DILLY DILLY! OFFER AVAILABLE FROM 06/03/19 TO 09/04/19

©2019 AB InBev UK Limited. All rights reserved. A light tasting premium beer: 30% lower ABV than most premium beers. Over 18s only. Subject to availability. Promoter: AB InBev UK Limited, Porter Tun House, 500 Capability Green, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU1 3LS

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Outstanding stain removal in 1 wash

Why Ariel Laundry Detergent? • Ariel shoppers spend more than an average shopper on laundry per trip* • Ariel laundry delivers outstanding cleaning in every form • Ariel 3in1 Pods are the UK’s best liquitab on tough stains** • Consumers love Ariel, over 50% consumers come back to buy it again***

Always keep away from children. Learn more: www.keepcapsfromkids.eu *Based on Kantar Shopper Data for the UK, spend per trip in £ on Ariel vs average laundry spend in Convenience, P52wk data w/e November 5th 2017. **vs the next best selling capsule. *** Based on Kantar Shopper Data for the UK, % Repeat Purchases P52wks, data w/e Nov 5th, 2017.

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01/03/2019 15:02:34 12/02/2019 15:52

Maximising Profits | GUEST COLUMN

Daventry retailer Davinder Parhar saw his profits increase by 5% almost overnight after joining Premier in September.

Instant 5%profit boost by joining Premier! After 15 years in independent retail, Daventry retailer Davinder Parhar boosted his profits by 5% instantly by joining Premier, attracted by the ‘market-leading’ wholesale pricing.

A

s every independent retailer will tell you, the most important goal in this entire industry can be summed in a single word: profit. There are lots of great things about being an independent retailer like the involvement with the community, the exciting nature of the job, the great people we work with and have as shoppers – but at the end of the day none of that is possible if the business isn’t sufficiently profitable. And that’s precisely why I joined Premier in September last year. I run Premier Middlemore Stores in Daventry and have been a retailer for 15 years and my family has been active in the industry for 30 years. In recent years however my profit margins had been getting slimmer and slimmer, which was hugely concerning for me and my family. In the middle of last year I started to take stock of where we were as a business and decided that we had to make some significant changes. One of the most important changes was that I decided we had to join another symbol group so I did my homework and very quickly established that Premier was the standout option. Probably the most important reason I joined Premier was because of the wholesale pricing. Compared to my previous wholesaler, the pricing is just night and day. So much so, in fact, that after I signed

on the dotted line in September I saw my profit margins increase by 5% almost overnight. I couldn’t believe it – and now I’m just kicking myself that I didn’t make the move sooner! But better late than never. That much improved pricing, combined with the far stronger range that Premier offers me, means that not only are my profits increasing substantially but I’m also able to offer my shoppers far better value for money every day, as well as a hugely improved promotional package. I run all of the Premier promotions and I also stock the full range of Booker own-brand products like Euro Shopper, Happy Shopper and Discover the Choice. My shoppers love the value and I love the increased sales volumes and profits. Everybody wins and that’s just how I like it. My shoppers have noticed the difference and they know they’ll always get great products at great prices every time they visit the store. Since joining Premier it feels like I’ve kick-started my business again and taken it to the next level. Yes, times are undoubtedly challenging these days but with Premier behind me I’ve never felt in a better place to meet those challenges head-on and keep delivering those all-important profits. February 2019 TalkingShop

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A RE YOU S TO CKING THE UK ’ S BE S T-SE LLING FRUIT CIDER BRAND?

STOCK UP NOW IRI, Total Market – Single bottle fruit cider category, Value Sales, MAT IRI 12.08.18. Cider case size: 15x500ml. Now available in Booker & Makro. While stocks last.

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Tackling Childhood Obesity | ACS Viewpoint

James Lowman The government’s plans to tackle obesity will undoubtedly affect the independent retail sector.

MAJOR CHALLENGE: new legislation could prevent retailers from running promotions on certain ‘unhealthy’ foods and could limit where these products can be sited in-store.

As the government ramps up its plans to halve childhood obesity, ACS considers the many practical challenges that this may bring for retailers, not least in terms of store layout.

Y

ou’ll hear a lot this year about the how the government plans to reduce obesity, after announcing last year that they want to halve the childhood obesity by 2030. To reach this target the government are likely to take regulatory intervention – so what are policy makers currently planning and what does this mean for us? Scotland is leading the charge with extensive proposals to restrict promotion of less healthy foods like confectionery, crisps and added sugar soft drinks. This means that they not only want to ban multibuy promotions, but in-store advertising, upselling, and where you can place these products in your store. We are particularly concerned about how the sector will be impacted by their plans to restrict where retailers can place products in their store. The issue being, if we can’t put certain products in certain parts of our stores, it may leave us with little to no option on where we can put them. This is potentially a big issue for our sector, especially if these restrictions relate to a broad range of ‘unhealthy’ items. It is because of this that

we will be arguing that if there is a need for regulation, that it is proportionate and considers the impact on small shops and the customers who rely on them. The idea for regulation at a retail level isn’t just confined to Scotland. We know that they are also on the agenda in both Westminster and in Wales. Chapter 2 of the Childhood Obesity Strategy for England which was published last year included plans to consult on restricting multi-buy promotions as well as restricting siting of certain products in-store – and we are still awaiting the Welsh obesity strategy which is likely to include similar measures. Policymakers need to ensure that they work to strike the right balance here between making changes that influence behaviour, but equally, not impose unreasonable costs and practical implications on both retailers and consumers. In terms of tackling obesity, we have emphasised to government officials that any new measures must be evidence based and it is important that the introduction of regulations do not unfairly target smaller retailers. We will continue working with

policymakers in Westminster, Wales and indeed city mayors and other influencers in this area. Amid the speculation about regulations, we shouldn’t forget about the good work that is already being done by retailers to encourage customers to make healthier choices. Our sector has already made some positive steps in terms of encouraging healthy eating which is particularly important as convenience stores have a unique reach into the communities they serve. We have worked closely with the Food Foundation’s Peas Please initiative, promoting best practice in the sale of fruit and vegetables. ACS also worked with Peas Please on the production of a Veg Toolkit to help retailers sell more healthy products in stores. The retailer toolkit is available at www. foodfoundation.org.uk/retailer-toolkit/ We will continue to work with members on how they can raise the profile of healthy foods in stores.

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14753 _GMILLS Nature Valley shop FP Ad .pdf

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NO. 1 Regular Cereal Bar*

Growing at 21% YoY*

POR 34.6%

NO ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURS, NO COLOURS, NO PRESERVATIVES. *Source AC Nielsen, Total Coverage, Regular Cereal Bars, Latest 52 weeks to 27th October 2018.

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YOURSHOUT GOT A QUESTION? Want to post a question or raise an issue with the Premier Team? Get in touch by email at talking shop@55north.com or call 0141 222 5380.

YourShout WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? RETAILERS PUT THEIR QUESTIONS TO PREMIER

Easter to be a cracker?

Missed opportunity? I’ve been hearing from more and more Premier retailers that they are choosing to replace the tobacco gantry in their store with other categories, often spirits. Is this something Premier sees as the way forward? FARAZ IQBAL, PREMIER LINKTOWN LOCAL, KIRKCALDY

MARTYN PARKINSON, BRAND DIRECTOR – PREMIER SAID: There are certainly lots of Premier retailers who are now choosing to go down that route and it’s plain to see the attraction. The tillpoint is the only area of your store that every single shopper has to visit while they are in your store, so it makes sense to try to use that vital

space to grow your sales and profits. The feedback I’ve been getting from retailers is that tobacco sales tend not to fall while sales of spirits definitely benefit from being sited in such a prominent, high footfall area. There’s also the added benefit that a bright, colourful backlit spirits fixture is a lot more appealing to your shoppers than a closed tobacco gantry.

Is food to go still critical? Food to go appears to have been among the most important categories of the last few years and shows no signs of slowing down. Do you still see it as core to a modern Premier store? And what can we do to keep raising our game in the category? KATY O’KEEFE, PREMIER PELYNT STORE, CORNWALL

Like all Premier retailers, I’m pleased to see that Easter Sunday is very late this year which presumably offers us a lot more time to make the best of what seems to be an increasingly important seasonal opportunity. Do you have any tips for making the most of it? MATTHEW ARBOURNE, PREMIER ARBOURNE’S, NEATH MARTYN PARKINSON, BRAND DIRECTOR – PREMIER SAID: Easter Sunday isn’t until April 21st this year so the season is a very long one. They real keys to unlocking big sales are simple: stock up early on Easter lines, stay in stock all the way through to Easter Sunday, take advantage of Premier’s fantastic array of Easter deals and a make Easter unmissable in your store. Create a dedicated Easter fixture and ensure your staff get in the spirit and have some fun.

MARTYN PARKINSON, BRAND DIRECTOR – PREMIER SAID: Food to go and coffee is arguably more important than ever. Indeed, the latest reasearch from HIM suggests that the market will continue to grow by £0.5bn in the next few years. What’s important is to deliver the quality and range that modern shoppers expect of their Premier store. Contact your RDM for advice on how we can help.

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04/03/2019 10:21:50

*M233215 Nescafé Original £2.49 PMP *M233218 Nescafé Original Decaff £2.49 PMP

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SPICE THINGS UP BEST SERVED WITH

ICE & COLA

WITH NEW BACARDÍ SPICED The perfect complement to the BACARDÍ Carta range

COMING SOON #DOWHATMOVESYOU LIVE PASSIONATELY. ENJOY RESPONSIBLY © 2019. BACARDÍ AND THE BAT DEVICE ARE TRADEMARKS OF BACARDI & COMPANY LIMITED.

The total rum category is growing 5.5% year-on-year Spiced & Flavoured is the largest sub-segment of the rum category and growing at 14.5% year-on-year*

Source: CGA MAT to 11.08.18, Nielsen MAT to 16.10.18

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