With brands bringing out new festive products and more customers in store at this time of year, Christmas can be a stressful time for retailers so start preparing for the festive season early to stay ahead of the game.
by Émer O’Toole
Christmas is a vitally important season for retailers. Sales from Halloween to New Year mark the busiest retail period of the year so retailers must be prepared for the increased product demand and alter their store accordingly.
Confectionery is a bestselling category at Christmas and was worth £697m in 2014. Mondeléz International holds a 36.9% share of confectionery. Bestselling brands have launched a range of festive-themed self-eat products that will generate additional consumer interest. These include Cadbury Dairy Milk Snowman, Freddo Popping Candy, winter-themed Kinder Surprise, Maltesers Merryteaser and Galaxy Gift for You. In addition to your main fixture, dual-site these items near the till as impulse consumers look for inexpensive treats as they try to budget at this time of the year.
Kids’ confectionery does particularly well at Christmas as shoppers look for stocking fillers and gifts. According to research by Mondeléz International, Christmas isn’t at the top of consumers’ minds when visiting convenience stores. Therefore, it is important to trigger the Christmas mind-set with great product displays and high visibility. In-store theatre is your friend. Here displays trigger impulse purchases of confectionery (the most impulsive category in the store).
And be prepared early. At this stage, with weeks to go before the big, single-serve products and Christmas sharing products should be on shelves and top up gifts should be out a month before the big day. Use manufacturer’s POS and build displays in store that make an impact to display your full seasonal range. Also remember to utilise the impulsive counter space for self-eat treats. Help shoppers manage their Christmas spending by giving them a choice of self-eat treats and stocking fillers with products under £1.
Sharing is a big market during the Christmas season. Sharing bags dominate 55% of the total confectionery market. One of Perfetti Van Melle’s bestsellers is the Chupa Chups ‘Best of Bag’ which includes a mix of 10 popular favourites. Sales of these bags have increased by over 20% year on year.
Terry’s chocolate Orange Minis and Toffee Crunch were added to the Mondeléz Christmas range in recent years. Kinder Chocolate Happy, a sharing bag of 12 individually foil wrapped Kinder Chocolates in seasonal shapes, will also join the seasonal line-up this Christmas.
And sharing isn’t just in confectionery. Premier Foods will drive sales of the sharing market this festive season by refreshing and expanding its seasonal cake lines for Christmas on both the Cadbury and Mr Kipling brands. The ambient packaged cakes category is now worth £968.1m and is growing at a rate of +2% year on year. Cadbury festive cakes range is set to capitalise on the family sharing market. This includes a new festive cake selection of 10 individual cakes with one to leave out on Christmas Eve, Christmas Cracker Festive Cake Bars, Flake Cakes, Mini Yule Log and Mr Kipling Elf Slices. Don’t forget savoury bakery products. Aryzta’s Christmas savoury offering includes a gourmet sausage roll, festive sausage roll and a puff pastry slice.
Aoife Kenny, Head of Retail UK at Aryzta Food Solutions, says shoppers are on the lookout for festive treats over Christmas: “Christmas is a major opportunity to drive in-store bakery sales as shoppers want to indulge themselves and are actively looking for sweet and savoury treats which they can eat on the go. Offering freshly-baked Christmas treats will increase shopper appeal.”
Christmas is a time where many consumers will be spending the night at home entertaining or stocking up for impromptu visits from friends and family, therefore, it is key to get your biscuit offering right. Lanark based Border biscuits has introduced a larger 400g variety pack that includes six different flavours, including Divinely Chocolatey Cookies, Belgian chocolate biscuits, Butterscotch Crunch, Milk Chocolate Viennese, Chocolate Chip Shortbread Rings and Milk Chocolatey Oat Crummmbles. Border Biscuits is continuing to perform well in the premium biscuit market and recently entered the top 20 Scottish brands for the first time, jumping seven places to get there, and is currently the third fastest growing sweet biscuit brand in the top 20. Burton’s biscuit company has introduced its 2015 range of Cadbury Christmas Biscuits that include NPD Cadbury Delights, Cadbury Milk Fingers Twin pack and a Dairy Milk cracker, a novelty Christmas cracker style carton containing Dairy Milk biscuits.
David Costello, Head of Customer Category Management at Burton’s Biscuit Company, says that Christmas is a “peak sales period” for Cadbury biscuits, with £95m spent on Seasonal Sweet biscuits in 2014. “We would urge retailers to stock up on these much-loved beacon brands that shoppers will be looking for this year, to capitalise on a major profit-boosting opportunity.”
In the run up to Christmas many shoppers will be purchasing treats for parties, presents and stocking fillers so it is crucial to get your gift offering right. Situate all gift products, such as boxes of chocolates and biscuits beside each other along with wrapping paper and gift bags to ensure customers have everything they need.
With festive sales of crisps, nuts and snacks representing a staggering £600m each December, retailers should tap into this category as well as sweet treats. Consumers look to buy well-known brands they trust at this time of year so 40% of all KP Nuts sales occur at Christmas. This festive season, KP has introduced Salt and Vinegar Reindeer Bites to its range. Two of KPs most popular products- Pom Bear Snowmen and Hula Hoops Stars- will also undergo a festive makeover. Cheese Footballs are also back by consumer demand this Christmas. Additionally, the brand is introducing Christmas editions of its popular KP Nuts Caddy range across three flavours: Jumbo Salted Peanuts, Honey Roast peanuts and Dry Roasted peanuts. KP Nut caddies are a popular sharing solution whilst maintaining great value with an rrp of £4.29.
It is worth creating a dedicated Christmas display in your store. The location and way in which a product is displayed is an important element when merchandising products in c-stores effectively. Best selling products should be displayed clearly at eye level. Separate stands at the front of the shop, clearly displaying brands and their new Christmas products will catch the eye of the consumer. Supermarkets have the advantage of being able to offer a wide range of different products. However, this can leave shoppers overwhelmed by the choice on offer. If convenience stores want to compete, it is important for them to stock a range of confectionery items at different price points over Christmas, particularly increasing their offering of gift boxes and products that can be given as token gifts or stocking fillers. Convenience stores are in the unique position of being able to make individual products stand out on shelves. Most brands will have gifting options during the festive season. Elizabeth Shaw has redesigned its gifting range this year with new packaging for its Flutes, Famous Names and new Bites. Mondeléz International’s gifting options include Toblerone, Cadbury selection boxes, Dairy Milk Oreo gift bauble, Roses, Heroes and Cadbury Milk Tray. Ferrero is always popular at Christmas time with its Ferrero Grand Rocher.
Decorations are the first thing people see in a shop sop Christmas lights around the window, festive products decorated around the store and products available to buy are all important factors. Stocking festive Christmas-themed products, along with samples, will also encourage consumers to buy. This is particularly relevant to NPDs. Shoppers need to know what they’re buying is a quality product and the only way they will know is by tasting it. This can also encourage repeat purchases or multi-buy purchases- if a consumer likes the product enough themselves they will be more likely to give it as a gift.
Independent retailers need to use in store theatre, samples, Christmas-themed displays and NPD to compete with bigger retailers this Christmas. Above all, start early to stay ahead of the game.
