Best laid plans
Best-one sales in Scotland continues to grow by 9% with big investment plans set to roll out over the next three years.
With sales through Best-one growing at 9% year on year in Scotland, the group has ambitious plans for the next three years as it looks to roll out more fascias and bring the Best-one brand to more shoppers.
However Paul Adams the symbol’s Head of Business Development insists that this will be a measured approach saying “We have ambitious targets and want to grow the estate but not at any cost – it’s about creating a retail brand that shoppers can relate to and engage with that also delivers for members. Symbol groups should be creating an identity for stores – not making them look all the same – and at Best-one we treat every store differently as one size does not fit all. We now have a range of differing formats for convenience, forecourts – as well as our new Best-one Value formats. At Best-one the erection of a fascia is just the start of the process and that’s why we invest heavily in dedicated BDEs to help individual members grow their business. Our investment in sales and business development personnel means that we have greater face to face communication and engagement with members helping them to develop in the longer term”
Each Best-one member now receive two calls per month; one sales and one business development in addition to a range of promotional material to help drive footfall and sales in store. The group is focussing its efforts on chilled & fresh and food to go as these categories are key destination categories. Over the past year its chilled distribution centre has introduced a central pick service which gives members access to a wide range of chilled, fresh and frozen products with much improved shelf-life and availability. “We invest heavily in the chilled and fresh category with current sales up 68% versus the corresponding period in 2015” says Adams. “Moreover as far as members are concerned, availability is running at 98.1% with well seven out of ten members receiving 100% of their requirements. We are also de-risking the category by ensuring that eighty per cent of all chilled and frozen products are available as singles to Best-one retailers meaning members can offer the breadth of range required of a modern convenience store but without the added expense of having to invest in depth of range.”
Best-one members receive the most competitive wholesale pricing and rich monthly consumer promotions to engage shoppers. The group has recently reduced the number of promotional Must Feature promotions but has added 5 WOW deals on TV advertised products per month with guaranteed stock allocation for members. Added to this is the most generous rebate scheme in the sector, My Rewards, which gives members the opportunity to earn up to 5% cashback on their purchases with the average payout per qualifying retailer being over £7,000 per year.
Adams concludes “With the initiatives that we have put in place, we are confident that Best-one offers Scottish retailers the best possible symbol solution based on fact-based decision-making, all backed up by unparalleled support, making it the obvious choice for retailers who wish to grow their business.”
Retailers interested in developing their stores with Best-one, should call 020 8453 8353 or visit best-one.co.uk for more information.
