Partners for Growth, Unilever’s category management service for local retailers, is marking its 15th year of providing advice to the convenience sector with the launch of a new Personalised Fixture Advice Service.
The new service, which is available across nine key categories, uses national average sales data combined with insights from Unilever’s category experts and extensive shopper research. It also considers a store’s postcode to offer unbiased ranging and merchandising advice which reflects the affluence of that store’s customer base.
Categories covered include Spreads, Ice Cream, Pot Snacks, Table Sauces, Cooking Sauces, Laundry, Household, Toiletries and Tea.
To utilise the free service, a retailer simply needs to upload a “shelfie” of their current fixture. Unilever’s category teams will review the image and return a tailored planogram based upon the store’s affluence. Retailers will also receive a personalised five-point fixture action plan, which will include key advice as to what products to stock or delist, and how to improve category segmentation and merchandising to better reflect shopper needs and make the fixture easier to shop.
Partners for Growth’s Nick Widdowson said: “We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to deliver unbiased advice to more and more of our retail partners. Given the challenging time the sector is facing, I would urge all retailers to visit our website to see how they could benefit from the advice on offer.”
The Partners for Growth website also features general business advice on best practice, seasonal tips, interviews with experts and mentoring help from the Retailer Advisory Panel – seven award-winning retailers chosen for their extensive retail experience.
“Partners for Growth is the longest-standing category management advice scheme and that’s because it’s free, independent and fair. But, more than that, retailers trust it because it works,” added Widdowson.
