Sugro has spoken for a number of years about the difficulties that corporate merchandising presents to our retail partners.  In many instances it is non reflective of the true consumer market and, consequently, could flatten sales in a store where a high standard of merchandise already exists.

It is also recognised that many retailers lack faith in the market information presented to them by suppliers and, in many instances, this lack of confidence creates inaction so that much of the range in many stores is still either influenced by corporate merchandising or promotional purchases,

During 2010 we introduced some category educational work called “Acting on Impulse”. 

Contributions to these leaflets (inserted with our promotions) were by invite only and we cross- referenced any information with impartial national category data to ensure the information we were reflecting was as open, impartial and realistic as possible.  This information was issued on a quarterly basis and commenced at the half year with confectionery and in the final quarter we issued soft drinks.

The success of producing this information and its warm reception from our customers has driven us to extend access to it. From the beginning of March we will be adding a specific section to our website allowing independent retailers access to the information on a 24/7 basis.

On the Sugro website retailers will click on a button which, under the Sugro retailer section, invites them to grow their sales and profits with Sugro. 

This will prompt them to enter an e-mail address and will automatically provide immediate access to the four categories of confectionery; soft drinks; crisps & snacks; cigarettes and tobacco.  If a retailer clicks on cigarettes and tobacco, age verification will be required but for the purposes of this presentation, we will show you how one of the sections is made up.

By clicking on confectionery the first page will demonstrate to the retailer the scale of the marketplace and the information regarding the top one hundred lines, as well as Sugro’s top tips.  They then move to the next page where five simple steps to grow their sales are available.

• By clicking on step (1) it shows them the top fifty products which account for 35% of impulse sales. 

• Step (2) is merchandising and we have a merchandise range available for them to download, along with the various tips on the importance of clean merchandising.  This range has been put together by Sugro under its Sweet Break initiative and, again, is not corporate biased. 

• Step (3) is on promotions and how they can take advantage of shopper impulsiveness and also shows some of the retail promotions and shelf talkers we have operated successfully through the 1,300 stores of Sweet Break.
  

• The next step is news and new products, providing details of what is coming up in terms of new product launches and marketing campaigns, ensuring that they are fully up to date and are able to be proactive rather than reactive. 

• The final step is location and display equipment. Many retailers are unaware of how much display equipment is available for the independent sector and, in many instances it is free of charge, and would make a major difference to the make up of their stores and the visuality and merchandising of product ranges.  This section will show them what is available and also give them the opportunity to request access to this equipment.

We are actively looking for trade press partners around the principle of education; it is very important that independent retailers are made aware that all of this information across all of these categories will be available in March.  We will also be more than happy to provide additional sections for trade magazines to include updated news information and also to highlight any areas where crime initiatives; legislative changes and educational work are being covered in your publications. 

It is, therefore, a great opportunity for you to consider how you can best get involved in what I believe will be one of the most exciting opportunities for independent retailers, educationally, for many years.