Variety discounters
High street variety shops (such as Poundland and Wilkinson) are here to stay: expansion and double digit growth are creating a need for these high street variety shops to expand their supplier base, creating new opportunities in the sector.
Though focused on a core range of categories, these retailers are targeting new categories including fresh, chilled and food-to-go.
Variety shops have made huge improvements in their offering with the development of new stores, new formats, broader product ranges, better point of sale and signage as well as investing in technology and equipment in a bid to deliver better customer service and improve ease of shop.
Do suppliers and other retailers really understand the type of customers who use these stores and what these shoppers want?
What we do:
In March 2011 him! interviewed Poundland & Wilkinson shoppers face-to-face at stores to gain valuable “shopper” insights. Shoppers are interviewed on entry and exit to and from each store to contrast what should have happened with what did happen and more importantly understand why?
Focus areas typically include:
- Demographic profiles will be captured for all respondents including; age, gender, social group of chief income earner, current work status, current living arrangements, etc.
- Shopper loyalty - How long have you been shopping at this chain?
- Visit frequency - How often do you visit this shop?
- Shopper mission - What type of shopping trip you are on here today? For which purposes would you use this store for in a typical week?
- Shopper importances - What are the 3 most important things that this store MUST deliver against for shoppers to be satisfied here today?
- Purchases & spend - How many items do they plan to buy/ have they bought here today? How much do they intend to spend/ have they spent in TOTAL here today on shop items? If they had bought the same items which they bought here today at a main supermarket chain like Tesco, Asda or Sainsbury’s, how much do they think it have cost in total?
- Shopping habits - How did you get to this store here today? Do you always buy the same products from this store or does it depend on what catches your eye when in store? What percentage of your household weekly grocery is bought at this store?
- Range - Which products would they like to see a wider range of in this store, in order for them to want to buy more of your household groceries here? Would they like to see a wider variety of pack size in this store for any of the following products?
- Communication - Have they received / seen any communication from this retailer in the last 3 months? Which communication they have seen/received from this retailer in the last 3 months has influenced them to visit this store?
- Products - Which products would they like to see a wider range of in this store, in order for them to want to buy more of your household groceries here? Would they like to see a wider variety of pack size in this store for any of the following products?
- Competition - Which other chains have they shopped at in the last month? Why did they choose to shop at this store here today, over others in the area?
- And many more...ask for a full question list
Why join the Variety Shop Tracking Programme:
This invaluable insight will help shape your category plans, commercial decisions and future strategies and, because this is a syndicated study, insight is available at a fraction of the price compared to funding your
own research.
For more information on him!’s Variety Shop Tracking Programme please contact Katy.Moses@him.uk.com 07912 717 567 or visit www.him.uk.com