him! presents …'Retail Spotlight’ a focused report on one of the most talked about retailers at the moment – we talk to shoppers at Poundland.
him! have spoken to 22,000 shoppers at convenience stores throughout the UK, to provide our clients with valuable shopper insights.
32% of UK consumers say they expect to use Discounters more in the next 12-months. Luckily, we’re speaking to 2,500 shoppers at the discounters right now asking them about:
Symbol store sales are in double digit growth and him! is the only company to run a syndicated programme in order to gain feedback from symbol retailers of all the main symbol groups.
On Wednesday 16th May, Convenience Store, in partnership with him!, will be bringing to you:
Have you booked your place at the convenience event of the year?
In the run up to the UK tobacco display ban, we have conducted the first part of a unique and comprehensive shopper study to help understand the potential impact it will have on smokers and their purchasing habits.
In prep for the launch of CTP 2012, we take a step back to ask the nation how they view the sector.
Personalisation is the new buzz-word in the Food-to-Go world. Whether you are a small independant or a massive multi-national retailer, personalising your service and your offer is now not just a "nice to have" - it is expected by your customers.
The seminar is happening on the 16th May at Prospero House, London SE1
Results from him's "Future of Convenience" study are hot off the press. What does this have to do with Discounters and value retailers, I hear you cry?
With all of the to-ing and fro-ing that happens in the pub industry these days (XX Pub co buying 12 pubs of YY pub co etc...), there are often occasions where pubs have to shut down for a few weeks for a snazzy refurbishment.
Only one in four pharmacy shoppers noticed a promotion where one was available- and then 6% went on to buy- if 100% noticed promotions in store, would we be seeing a 24% impulse purchase rate?
Well, 2011's Supermarket Shopper Tracking Programme tells us that just 32% of shoppers "in store, here today" actually bought on promotion.
The IGD have recently stated that 40% of UK shoppers have visited a discount store (albeit food or non-food) in the last month and that ¼ of shoppers are planning to use discounters more in the months ahead.
Last month him! spoke to 949 pub tenants from 13 pubcos and the key headlines from the study have been highlighted in this week’s edition of The Publican’s Morning Advertiser.
Unilever and GSK have recently become the latest manufacturers to trial the use of Near Field Communications (NFC) in order to distribute promotional content and utilise the increased use of smartphones.
This year’s joint conference and wholesale unveiling will be held at the Hotel Russell, London on the 12th July.
Last week, one of the him! team headed up to Newcastle to visit the first two retailers to join the new Loco symbol fascia – a second Nisa brand.
On any day, two-thirds of wholesale retailer customers who sell cigarettes are in the depot to purchase them. A huge proportion of customers who will be impacted by the restrictions placed on access to the tobacco room in cash & carries.
From the Convenience Tracking Programme, we know the categories most commonly purchased with cigarettes in c-stores are newspapers, confectionery, milk, soft drinks and alcohol. Are retailers stocking the core lines in each of these? What is availability like for each of these 5 categories?
There’s a lot of talk regarding the upcoming changes in supermarkets with regards to the display of tobacco… or rather the lack of it.
The Grocer, last week, reported that small stores are reporting an increase in tobacco sales after many supermarket outlets covered their gantries in advance of the display ban.
This year him! will be conducting syndicated category focus studies to compliment the broader insights clients already receive from the Convenience Tracking Programme.
I’ll drink to that
A student may not appear to be the most valuable of pub-customers. Let’s face it, they aren’t… on their own.
No news is… bad news for c-store penetrations
Students in c-stores are twice as likely to have a smartphone over the average shopper - providing them with instant access to the news via mobile search engines or apps.
…Food for thought in the supermarkets
‘Food-To-Go’ is the biggest mission for students at the supermarkets with 40% on this mission – driven by lunch in particular and as with the c-sector, the impulse lines are crucial here, however, pre-packed sandwiches are purchased by ¼ of these shoppers meaning a meal deal, rather than a snack deal would be more relevant to them.
c.30% of students are on a ‘Food-To-Go’ mission in their c-store, equal to the proportion on a ‘Top-Up’ mission.
Ordering from your delivered wholesaler - There’s an app for that too.
Foodservice wholesaler 3663 have launched their ordering application on iPhone and iPad devices.
Till-free grocery shop? There’s an app for that.
Do you recall a few weeks back we highlighted how PayPal were working in conjunction with a POS software company in the States to enable retail payments via mobile phones?
Much is made about the internet and how online pharmacies may take away business from physical stores, but were you aware that 19% of pharmacy shoppers that we interviewed as part of our 2011 Pharmacy Shopper Tracking Programme don't have access to the internet?
Only 1% of convenience shoppers at any time are in their store on a ‘gifting’ mission. In the lead up to Easter or Valentine’s Day this doubles… to 2%!
We asked retailers during our on-site interviews for Cash and Carry Retailer 2011, what they planned to do MORE of in 2012. What did they tell us?
Tesco have not had the greatest time recently. Not only have they released profit warnings but they have now slipped to their lowest market share in 7 years.
We are also pleased to announce that both The Cooperative Group and Martin McColls have recently subscribed to the Convenience Tracking Programme. Both retailers join over 80 other convenience retailers, suppliers and manufacturers in this long established and esteemed tracking programme.
M&S, Waitrose & Sainsbury’s are buzz brands
Amazon is the top ranked brand for 2011, according to the YouGov BrandIndex , heading up the overall Buzz list. It overtook both M&S and BBC from last year and is the only brand out of the three to have made an improvement year on year. The BrandIndex Buzz Ranking Top 10 includes five retailers (Amazon, M&S, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose), a TV network (BBC) and two technology leaders (Google and Apple).
Another picture from one of the him! teams' local pub- a magazine rack with more than just a few out of date newspapers- GQ and Vogue were both on offer- showing that this publican really does know how to keep his customers in his pub.
We asked retailers during our on-site interviews for Cash and Carry Retailer 2012, what they planned to do MORE of in 2012. What did they tell us?
Well, LOTS of things actually, but you might be most interested to know that we have two new retailer samples included in this years programme- both Little Waitrose and M Local will be available as benchmarks this year- alongside 25 other retailers.
Well unless you have been living in a hole for the last couple of weeks, you will be aware that Tesco have released profit warnings.
According to 2011's him! Food to Go Shopper Tracking programme, which day of the week sees the highest number of items bought?
Why should you learn about the Hot Food Shopper- even if that is not your category?
Ok, so we know that Price/Value for Money and Availability are the top 3 importances to Supermarket shoppers who were interviewed as part of him!'s Supermarket Shopper Tracking Programme- and not necessarily in that order- but what else do Supermarkets need to get right to keep their shoppers happy?
43% of variety discounter shoppers regularly buy products from a variety store instead of picking them up on a main grocery shop.
Shoppers want more…
Which categories did shoppers tell us in 2011 they would like to see a bigger range of in C-stores?
Cash, card… or PayPal?
In the US, PayPal are a partnering with POS software company AJB to make mobile phone payments via PayPal available in large retailers such as Kohl’s & BestBuy.
Tesco will close 12 of their Fresh & Easy stores in the US “due to weak local economies”.
“Wave it in the air like you just don’t care”
A third of cardholders paid remotely for food in the last quarter of 2011, according to research conducted by Visa.
Poundland are trialling selling frozen food in 22 stores of its stores.
A publican in Wokingham hosts an event for local Twitter users called a “Tweetup”.
In times such as these when economic challenges are looming the last thing you would expect is a push on premium. However, a London sommelier has, after a 5-year campaign, recently convinced ministers to scrap laws that barred bars and restaurants from selling wine “by the sip”.
No doubt you will now be aware of the most recent acquisition within the convenience channel. On Tuesday morning, The Co-Operative Group confirmed the purchase of David Sands Ltd, subject to approval from The OFT.
Jonathan James, independent retailer, Chairman of the ACS and one of the newest member of the him! consultancy team shares some of his thoughts on his role in the ACS and local retailing in this short video clip.
The trade press are really highlighting the issue of the upcoming changes that will be seen in supermarkets with regards to the display of tobacco… or rather the lack of display.
Making the most of Christmas… and other events
Did you know that alongside speaking to SHOPPERS, we also speak to staff and managers?
A very warm welcome – not just because of the fireplace
I’m sure many pubs were visited by us over the New Year. However, one freehouse impressed us with some innovative ideas. Not only their ideas, but also their hospitality.
Understanding the regional preferences can be a really useful way to drive sales harder, by offering a range that better meets local needs.
One of our colleagues enjoyed a few days over the New Year walking in South Wales - the Wye Valley to be precise.
We trust you had a great Christmas and New Year and did your part to ensure the beers, wines & spirits manufacturers stayed in business.
Whilst store visiting in Manchester, we sampled a coffee from the new self-serve touch screen Costa Coffee machine in The Coop. The machine lets you choose your preferred size, milk and any extras all via a touch screen (look...no buttons!).
Has anyone else almost fallen over the big 'price drop' trollies Tesco have put inside the entrance to their stores recently?
Understanding own label…..
A special report from Symphony IRI published this week stated that ‘Shoppers in Europe buy nearly as many private label products as they do national brands and in some countries they are viewed as equal to, or better than, many nationally branded products.’
The IGD reported this week that the grocery market will be worth £184bn within 5 years and that discounters, convenience and online will be the key drivers of this growth.
We learnt that tenants, on average rated the “clarity of their contractual agreement” with their pub co’s at a low 5.9 out of 10.
Kantar have revealed that Tesco have seen their market share fall vs this time last year. One reason for this could be that Tesco now have a higher number of products available throughout their stores at a lower cost.
NamNews this week reported “an end to paper till receipts within 5 years”.
Recent research shows that majority of retailers read trade press at least once a month. So the captive audience is there, and they are open to advice and support.
Merry Christmas Sales
Christmas is a huge untapped opportunity in convenience. It does not necessarily require a huge amount of time or effort to create an offer – with a few simple tweaks to the existing range and merchandising retailers can provide a credible offer ready for customers’ festivities.
Pharmacists are looking for support and more information about the various categories which they offer in store.
Everyone deserves a treat…..
Within our Convenience Tracking Programme, the number of shoppers on a “treat” mission has increased steadily from 7% in 2007 to 9% in 2011.
ALDI’s latest Christmas TV adverts send a quality and value message across a range of products appealing to different ages and socio economic groups.
Who’s round is it?
There is a pub close our offices in Farringdon/Clerkenwell that specialises in Craft beer. That's all. Just beer.
Breakfast is becoming an important meal occasion to get right. Well, they do say that it’s the most important meal of the day!
If you thought shoppers in supermarkets under 25,000 sq ft were on the same mission as shoppers in larger supermarket formats, then think again.
Were you aware that DISCOUNTER shoppers are VERY open to influence as to what to buy when in store?
Great to see so many of you at the FWD Awards last night- a great night celebrating the best in the Wholesale industry - we hope that there aren't too many sore heads this morning.
This week, we were discussing how pubs communicate to customers to let them know what’s going on, prompted by the fact that a staggering 54% of pub-goers are unaware of entertainment and future events at their local pub.
FTG is currently all about the youngsters
Subway’s much advertised £3 meal deal is proving very popular with teens at this store if this photo is anything to go by.And according to our Food to Go Tracking programme data, this is hardly surprising.
According to this week's Grocer, within the next 5 years, for the first time EVER, there will be more over 60's on the planet than under 5's. That's a LOT more tales that begin with "in my day...".
We are often surprised to learn that clients don’t always realise that they can cut the data in him!'s Cash and Carry Retailer programme by fascia AND wholesale group.
Last year's Tenant Track told us, amongst other things, that Greene King's tenants rated their pub co the highest for promotions from head office.
15% of pharmacists told us they haven't received enough training to do their job well.
Our study tell us that 24% of FOOD-TO-GO is eaten at work...but that's not the primary place - guess where is?
We were surprised to see "cheese" at the top of the most shoplifted items list in an article in The Guardian at the weekend. Closely followed by meat, confectionery, luxury cooked meat and then alcohol.
In 2010, 1-in-4 supermarket shoppers told us that the range of products within their supermarket didn't meet their needs.
him!'s Cash and Carry Caterer programme 2011 tells us that wholesalers are certainly doing something right when it comes to own label. 38% of caterers walked into depot intending to buy own label products, and 42% actually did.
We keep hearing about the growth of the discounters, but for those discounter customers that we interviewed as part of 2011's Discounter Tracking programme, who AREN'T buying all of their weekly shop at a discounter - what would encourage them to?
One of the team at him! visited their local pub two weeks ago for Sunday lunch, and reported back to us that they only found out after they had finished their meal and were leaving that the pub offered desserts.
Globalisation creates commoditisation, which in turn creates the counter trend of personalisation as people react against standard issue products.
Tesco have opened its first pharmacy outlet in Ireland and plans to roll out a total of 15 outlets in the next couple of years. Tesco already have 340 pharmacy outlets within the UK.
...is the 2011 Supermarket Tracking Programme insight – interviews from c.4,800 supermarket shoppers across the UK are currently being digested and interpreted by the team at him! In 2010...
him!'s Cash and Carry Tracking programmes tell us some of the differences in retailer and caterer behaviour since the recession. It seems that retailers specifically are living a more "hand to mouth" existence - with 15% of retailers visiting their Cash and Carry every day in 2011- an increase from 13% in 2010.
....51% of all occasions in the Ontrade are now food led according to information from Wednesdays MA250 event.
With thoughts turning increasingly to Christmas, and the supermarkets already gearing up for the festive season (see article above) is the convenience industry exploiting the event as well as it could be?
In 2010 Morrisons rewarded all shoppers who spent £40 or more on 6 separate shopping trips to their stores, between November and December with a FREE £25 voucher to redeem before New Year’s Eve. This offer is back for 2011!
According to 6,000 shoppers in him! 's Food-To-Go tracking programme, 2011, the key drivers of outlet choice for out of home eating (on the high street) are:
Huge congratulations to Tommy Ling at Day Lewis who won “Young Pharmacist of the Year” last week at the Pharmacy Business Awards, which him! attended.
him! recently visited the new in-store bakery at the High Street Kensington M&S. Although the bakery itself isn’t new, it has been re-vamped with a new look, new types of bread and now includes fresh dough baked in store.
New research from the BBPA shows that pubs are selling 488,000 fewer pints of beer per day compared to this time last year.
Meal deals have been a huge success for high street retailers in the last few years. At one store, they are the primary reason for LUNCH shoppers to visit.
Did you know that alongside speaking to 24,000 shoppers as part of CTP every year, we also speak to hundreds of Staff and Managers in the stores?
him!'s Cash and Carry Tracking programmes have been telling us for years that the role of "online" has been becoming increasingly important.
We are looking for a research director – an influential role within the senior management team to manage and direct the future of our projects and embrace new and evolving research methodologies
Waitrose is to roll out self-service checkouts at its stores across the UK, following a trial of self-service solutions across a number of its stores.
Starbucks will today introduce a new range of bread-free lunch options in its UK outlets as part of strategy to become more than just a coffee house.
We spotted this sign outside a pub in Warwick – using a bit of humour which will attract attention from passersby and also creates different reasons for people to visit the pub!
Mark has been with Camelot since April 1997, operator of the UK National Lottery, one of the world's most successful lotteries. By putting players first, it has achieved an unparalleled track record in innovation and long-term, responsible growth. Mark has supported the business in running the most cost-effective lottery in Europe, and in operating one of the largest retail networks in the world.
Despite 1-in-5 symbol retailers rating their current symbol group as an impressive 10 out of 10 with regards to satisfactory levels of advice and support received, a further 1-in-4 give ratings under 7 out of 10.
This month him! welcomed over 50 industry execs to learn about the 2011 CTP award winning convenience retailer, Midlands Co-operative.
Great to see some of you at the ‘Pharmacy Show’ this week where Natalie Button from him! shared some of the key findings from our Pharmacy Tracking Programme.
Burger King has shifted its focus toward the needs of mums and families by adding strawberry smoothies, Asian chicken salads and healthier breakfast options.
him! spotted some impressive digital shelf barkers in M&S Simply Food this week.
We’re delighted to announce that Jonathan James, the award winning independent convenience retailer, is joining him! as associate consultant with immediate effect.
The key areas tenants tell us they would like additional support from the industry include;
Booker’s new focus areas to grow customer engagement include;
Having worked with Coca Cola Enterprises on-trade team for a number of years, him! are delighted to see their new ‘Pub Mentor’ scheme launched in the recent Publican’s Morning Advertiser.
New M Kitchen range at Morrisons
Morrisons is due to launch a new ‘M Kitchen’ convenience range next week aiming to offer “restaurant standard recipes” that shoppers can make easily in their own home.
Greggs opens new coffee concept
The increasing focus on coffee continues as Greggs opens its first concept coffee shop in Newcastle. Around 50 new products have been created for the ‘Greggs Moment’ concept with no sausage rolls or pasties in sight.
Who wants kids?
Families, with kids, are a valuable customer group for pubs to attract. They are more than twice as likely to order food and have a higher overall spend per person. Are UK pubs doing enough to attract families?
Wholesale channel is looking good
Great to see so many of you at the IGD’s Grocery & Foodservice Wholesaling Conference last week where Tom Fender, director at him!, shared insights on the key buying behaviours in both retail and catering wholesale segments. The news was VERY positive;
Fighting for the top up shopper
Top up shoppers visit c-stores more frequently, have bigger baskets and spend on average 22% MORE than the average c-shopper. No wonder retailers are doing all they can to understand this valuable shopper in order to attract more of them to their stores.
Training & education is the no.1 reason why some pharmacy groups and manufacturers are considered better than others by pharmacists.
Recipe cards key at Sainsbury’s
Aswell as changing their strap-line from ‘try something new today’ to ‘live well for less’.
Is there anything other than price which will attract footfall in current times? Of course!
Big news in the on-trade this week when the MP heading the pubco investigation announced he can't think why the Government wouldn't support a statutory code governing the pubco/tenant relationship, and predicted legislation could be introduced within one year.
PepsiCo and Britvic have announced the launch of their first ever UK cross promotion; 'Jalapeno Fire' flavoured Doritos and Pepsi Max 'Citrus Freeze'.
According to feedback from 1,000 independent retailers, telesales staff can have a significant influence on what customers buy, on promotional uptake and on driving loyalty.
Crisps & snacks are the no.4 category which convenience retailers say will drive profits in the next 12 months.
Retailers are often looking for ways to cross promote categories but have difficulty located them together in store.
More than 1-in-2 shoppers at Aldi will buy fresh fruit or vegetables - a bigger proportion than any of its competitor convenience store or high street supermarket chains (only Morrisons comes close).
Visibility of a product whilst a customer is physically at the bar will have the biggest impact on driving impulse sales at pubs.
On-shelf availability remains the no.1 importance to convenience shoppers.
Many stores dissuade hordes of children from entering for fear of pilfering... but just look at the queues coming all the way outside of this Subway. Many kids have got cash and they are happy to spend it for choice, quality and quantity.
Own label has been a big focus area for retailers and shoppers alike in the last few years. A study, commissioned by Aldi, found that 91% of their own label products were seen as just as good as the big brands, with 27% even rated as significantly better than the brands.
Mars is launching price marked packs across its range of best-selling confectionery brands in a bid to communicate value both to retailers and consumers.
Now featured at One New Change, a new shopping centre in central London – similar to the Tesco trial in Malaysia - with many core grocery own label items and branded items also.
Whitbread is moving into overdrive to expand its Costa Express self-service network and claims just one square metre of trading space to locate a Costa Express machine can produce an extra £40,000 per annum of extra income.
him! just visited one of Asda’s new converted Netto stores in South Harrow and we were impressed by what we saw;
Despite the glorious sunshine down in Cornwall last week this particular pub garden was completely empty.
Sainsbury’s already has two GP surgeries in their stores, with 6 more to come.
Costcutter has started advertising on TV again - doubling their previous TV spend. Key messages shadow the key themes coming out of our recent convenience shopper research;
Less than 7% of customers buy something on impulse in food-to-go chains such as Greggs and Subway.
One of the key improvements in range which many shoppers want with regards to food-to-go is a healthier option.
Check out the focus this has been given at Caltex, an Australian c-store chain, where they are trialing ways to boost "healthy" and co-locate breakfast options.
High street baked goods shop Poundbakery is looking to take on the market leader Greggs by opening a further 50 stores. Poundbakery, which sells everything for £1, was launched with a single store last summer, and already has 35 branches (see below).
Around 70% of customers are visiting pubs with other people — proving that we are still sociable creatures and, sometimes, no matter how big the flat-screen television is at home, you just can’t beat the atmosphere of the local!
A new executive summary is now available to clients of our 2011 Food-to-go tracking programme, highlighting some of the main points to come out of the study including;
Asda too has fallen under the ‘small is better’ spell and will open more small supermarkets. After seeing strong sales in converted Netto stores, Asda plans to open 250 small supermarkets, up from its original target of 100.
44% of convenience shoppers are more likely to buy a product on impulse when it is price marked
This is just one of the key findings from him!’s NEW Price Mark Pack (PMP) study.
Even as overall grocery market growth slowed down due to higher price inflation, Aldi has seen further record growth of an astounding 24.4%!*
One size absolutely does not fit all when it comes to food-to-go...
Rumours are flying surrounding a possible Morrisons / Iceland deal. Whether true or not, our shopper research shows a strong shopper alignment already exists between the two retailers;
The success of the ‘Little Waitrose’ trial store has led to plans to open 20 new convenience stores within the M25 by the end of 2012. him! visited one of the newest stores in Wimbledon and was suitably impressed - read our commentary here.
We have proof that the on-trade is listening to its customers, and reacting to their needs... customer satisfaction ratings have improved year-on-year across 8 different criteria according to 2,700 pub customers interviewed as part of Ontrack 2011
Price isn’t THE most important thing to pub customers, but it plays a significant part in their decision process. Ensuring the ontrade has a positive price image is obviously key to attracting customers.
Top-up shopping contributes 46% of spend in the convenience channel. Top up shoppers are frequent visitors and high spenders – a very valuable shopper, which supermarkets are doing their best to capture. So which categories do retailers need to ensure they’re getting right to satisfy the top up shopper?
US supermarkets are taking the stress out of ‘back to school’ time by providing easy lunchbox solutions (see below.)
Collaboration is the key to success within the wholesale channel. him! research shows that suppliers are increasingly recognising the growing opportunity within the sector in terms of;
Poundland has launched a range for pensioners; the £1 ‘Handy Help’ range includes orthopaedic cushions, grab rails and walking sticks. The launch comes as our research reveals 43% of variety discount shoppers are aged 55 years and over.
A lot can change in a year and keeping up-to-date on what’s changing is critical to grow ontrade sales;
» Customers are spending less time in pubs – so you have less time to influence their spend
» They’re increasingly using pubs for food
» But are spending slightly less on drinks per visit
In-depot sampling is popular amongst both caterer and retail customers; 29% of caterers and 26% of retailers say it would encourage them to buy NPD (as high as 36% at one particular wholesaler).
Only 1-in-2 shoppers think convenience stores are making the most of events and the story is the same for pubs and bars with 4-in-5 customers thinking pubs should make more of events.
Ontrack clients can now access easy-to-use one pagers highlighting the key demographics and behaviour of customers across 6 different pub groups. Contact you account manager.
Shopping behaviour at supermarkets differs significantly by day-part;
Aldi and Lidl continue to achieve the fastest growth with a combined market share of 6.1%, Co-op currently sits just ahead in 6th place at 6.9% (Source: Kantar World Panel).
Satisfaction ratings from caterer customers have improved year-on-year across all criteria, in particular for ‘product availability’ and ‘quality of fresh’
him! visited Morrisons’ brand new c-store, ‘M Local’
in Ilkley last week, and we were pretty impressed!
In the US, pubs and bars make the most of the biggest event in the on-trade calendar, the Superbowl, in a number of ways;
Tesco have tapped into seasonal lifestyle needs by reminding shoppers they can get their online shopping delivered to their holiday address this summer (see below).
The Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD) annual conference and the him! wholesale unveiling and awards took place together on July 14 at Hotel Russell in Bloomsbury, Central London.
1-in-3 publicans would welcome advice from both suppliers and wholesalers to help grow their sales. What advice are they looking for? Menu and recipe advice as well as understanding the top selling brands are most in demand.
2-in-3 UK adults would like to see pubs make more of events.
Many pub companies are currently focussing on the upcoming royal wedding; Enterprise Inns for example has introduced a £250,000 programme of support to help it's pubs promote the Easter and royal wedding celebrations.