by Antony Begley
It’s been another hectic month of seasonal activity in Falkirk for us as we plough through Valentine’s Day and into Easter. We’ve also kicked off several new tech-based initiatives in-store and some NPD trials with a number of major suppliers.
A key development this month has been the completion of all of the preparation work that was required to facilitate our change of ePos system to Retail Data Partnership’s (RDP) ShopMate system. Transferring ePos suppliers is never an easy task at the best of times, but with the added integration issues around our Darius for Retail shopper engagement solution, it’s been a busy month trying to ensure the switchover is as pain-free as possible.
Importing our entire product file into the new system with the correct sales prices involved literally scanning every single product in the shop. A fun task, as you can imagine. If we didn’t do it, however, the new system would simply apply RSPs across every product which would wipe out all of our existing promotional pricing and all of our products that have been priced at below or above RSP for specific reasons.
The support we received from the helpdesk at RDP was exceptional however, so the process was smooth and the work completed within a few days. All the product files we require have also now been imported, including those of our two key suppliers: Filshill and Costcutter.
The RDP system should save us hours, if not days, of work every month as it automatically imports all promotions and all updated price files, including for news and magazines. Because of the integration issues we had through using more than one wholesaler, we could never do this before and had to manually import all promotional items every three weeks. A painstaking and time-consuming task that was prone to human error.
The new system will be live by the time this issue of SLR hits the streets so we’re looking forward to an efficient, time-saving system.
Rewards Club relaunch
As part of this process we will have to migrate all of our 150 or so Woodlands Local Rewards Club members onto the new system, complete with new key fobs. This again is another complex task but the Rewards Club is vitally important to the business so we are approaching it full of enthusiasm and energy.
We are intending to use the introduction of the new ePos system as an opportunity to do some heavyweight work around Rewards Club recruitment and have a programme of activity social media, in-store and leafletting to promote the Club. We can obviously also communicate with existing members through Darius for Retail itself.
Expect to see an up-weighted programme of activity through the Rewards Club over the next few months as we seek to deliver great value to members, and drive sales and footfall in the store. We have already agreed some high value activity for members with major brand like Coca-Cola and Wrigley which will roll out very soon.
Media screen move
Another important development in the pipeline is the introduction of a new media screen in the main window of the store provided by Hi Street Digital Media. The screen will advertise products and promotions from major brands in the store, as well as symbol-group specific activity. In trials the screens have been proven to significantly drive sales of promoted products, so we’re excited to see how that plays out in Woodlands.
We expect the screen to be installed by the time the next issue of SLR comes out – so watch this space.
NPD time
With customers always keen on new products, we’re also trialling some new lines from major manufacturers at the moment. We’ve just kicked off a three-month trial with Diageo on their new range of £1.50 price marked premix RTD cans.
The 6-strong range includes Gordon’s, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan’s lines and we’ve double faced all of the products in the chiller to give them a chance to perform. We already sell a decent volume of a smaller range of these lines, but that’s at over £2 a can. We are very hopeful that the new £1.50 PMPs will see sales given a major boost.
Again, we will report back on this trial over the next couple of months so here’s hoping we see some good uplifts.
As SLR went to press we were also conducting some in-store sampling work to let our customers trial some new lines that might excite them. First up we have new Drench in cans, which we expect to sell well. Drench sells solidly in the store so we won’t be surprised if the sampling sessions lead to some sales increases for the brand.
Once that’s done we will be sampling new Pepsi Max Ginger, a completely new and very interesting line. I can’t recall a ginger flavoured cola in the past so I am curious to see how our customers take to the product. We will be sampling it to let as many customers as possible try this new taste sensation.
Roof woes
Regular readers will not be surprised to hear that our roof problems continue. Despite two previous repairs to the roof, the leaks have once again returned. It’s a flat roof so we are always going to have problems but we really need to find a solution that works.
So far we’ve had quotes up to £7.5k for the repair. Not an investment we’re keen to make, but we must find a solution somehow.
