The clocks may not have changed yet, but the countdown to Christmas has already begun in Scotland’s convenience stores. Visibility is the key to success this festive season so retailers should ensure Christmas products are eye-catching in store.
by Émer O’Toole
With convenience retailers becoming more aware of seasonal events, and adjusting their store to fit in seasonal products, Christmas is now the biggest in a long season of event opportunities. It might only be October but retailers will have already put planning in place and ordered stock. So how can you make sure you maximise Christmas sales of all products?
Unsurprisingly, the confectionery sector does particularly well during the festive period. Tony Lorman, Retail Excellence Director at Mars Chocolate UK, says, “Christmas is the most important time of the year for the confectionery market.” The Christmas period gives retailers an appropriate opportunity to assess their current offering and consider how they can refresh their range of confectionery to meet ever-changing consumer trends.
Make sure you’re up to speed with this season’s new launches. The confectionery giants – Cadbury, Mars and Nestlé will have them. Mondeléz recommends using impulsive counter space for self-eat treats and helping shoppers to manage their Christmas spending by giving them a choice of products under £1.
Savouring the opportunity 
Festive sales of crisps, nuts and snacks bring in a staggering £600m each December, and KP Snacks will be hoping to push that even further with what has called an all-new all-star line-up.
Synonymous with the festive season and a traditional snacks staple, 40% of all KP Nuts sales occur at Christmas as consumers look to buy quality brands that they know and trust to share with friends and family.
The company recommends utilising Caddies in-store, as they represent incremental sales opportunities for retailers and the stackable format ensures they are an easy addition to any store shelf.
The KP Nuts Caddy range is returning across three flavours: Jumbo Salted Peanuts, Honey Roast peanuts and Dry Roasted peanuts at an rrp of £4.29. This year will see KP Nuts XL Coated Sweet Chilli with a twist of Lemon added to the range.
As well as the extensive nuts range, two KP Snacks favourites will undergo a festive makeover – perfect for families and sharing at Christmas gatherings. Pom-Bear Snowmen and Hula Hoops Stars will be available in packs of 120g and 210g at rrp of £2.19, while Cheese Footballs also make a seasonal comeback along with new Salt and Vinegar Reindeer Bites.
Matt Collins, Trading Controller Convenience, KP Snacks comments: “This Christmas we’re pleased to announce a range of all new snacks, as well as continuing our festive favourites that consumers know and love. Research shows that consumer spending is increasing year-on-year, so we know there is a huge opportunity for retailers to drive sales and profit at this vital time of year. The key to making the most of festive sales is planning early and stocking a strong range of quality, best-selling brands such as KP Nuts that act as signposts for the category.”
With a focus on indulgence at this time of year, 39% of adults admit that they upgrade to more expensive or premium products throughout the Christmas period. Even though consumers are continuing to keep an eye on their finances, there is a growing number of shoppers willing to spend a little bit more on the right products for the right occasion.
Seasonal gifting sales are in a long term growth – up 27% over the last five years, driving the total Christmas confectionery market. Boxed chocolates are the most given gift, accounting for one in three of all confectionery gifts. During the Christmas season they are bought by six million more households than throughout the rest of the year so make sure you stock a wide range. The number one driver of impulse purchasing is promotions – 43% of shoppers bought a promotional item on impulse.
Christmas crunch 
New products combined with old favourites will spearhead UB’s Christmas offering. New for this season, UB is launching McVitie’s Victoria Sapphire offers a selection of indulgent foiled biscuits presented in an attractive pack with a high quality mirrored-effect finish. The new 385g pack (RISP £6.50) offers a tempting collection of fully coated shortcake and cream biscuits in milk, white and dark chocolate, with an anticipated RSV of £1.6m.
Favourites such as McVitie’s Victoria, Family Circle will be back, along with the Jaffa Pole, which features a yard of Jaffa Cakes (600g at rrp £6).
On the savoury front, Jacob’s Christmas Crackers return this year with the 450g pack (rrp £4.29) of novelty Cream Crackers embossed with yuletide messages. A host of Jacob’s products will be available, providing strong shelf stand out with festive packaging.
Since 86% of all Christmas chocolate is purchased for gifting, it is vital that retailers market gift products well. To do this, look at bestsellers. Boxed chocolates are the most given confectionery gifts. Stock popular brands that consumers know and trust. Mars Celebrations is always popular at this time of year – 80% of adults in the UK saw a Celebrations advert in 2014’s festive season, which will push sales even more this year. In a similar vein, Quality Street will see a newly revamped packaging design this year with the introduction of a mini carton (rrp £1) for a stocking filler. Cadbury gift offerings include baubles filled with either Oreos (rrp £4.99) or Snow Bites (rrp £4.99), Mini Hollow Santas (rrp £2.99) and the Marvellous Creations gift box (rrp £3.99).
A new bigger version of the Ferrero Grand Rocher 240g pack (£8.99) will also be available this year to help retailers capitalise on the growing trend of premium gifting. The brand will launch a £3.6m campaign in the run up to Christmas.
Falling on Friday
Christmas falls on a Friday this year so the busiest time for retailers will be the weekend before and the beginning of the week as consumers stock up on last minute supplies. This is a key time to cash in on impulse sales. Christmas is an expensive time of year so it is important to stock products that are affordable. Consumers must be able to make impulse purchases without feeling guilty. Mondeléz research revealed that 34% of Christmas confectionery is bought on impulse. In order to maximise sales it’s important to have seasonal impulse products that appeal to a wide range of demographics. Shoppers who buy into both Adult and Kids ranges spend the most (on average £4.01), therefore making it important for retailers to stock for both audiences.
Nestlé Confectionery’s range grew by 4% in 2014 and is now worth £1.5m. The Smarties Little Choc Penguin (rrp 65p) which consists of a chocolate shell packed with mini Smarties, and the white chocolate Milkybar Polar Bear Cub (rrp 65p) are both back for 2015. Use festive stands and make sure they are visible to the impulse shopper. The total kids’ seasonal impulse category is now worth £10.7m and accounts for 73% of total seasonal impulse sales, so embrace festive products.
Burton’s Cadbury biscuits 
New biscuits have been launched by Burton’s in time for the festive season. This year’s Christmas line-up will include NPD Cadbury Delights (rrp £1.79), Cadbury Milk Fingers Twin Pack (rrp £3.78) and a Cadbury Dairy Milk Cracker (rrp £5), a novelty Christmas Cracker style carton with Dairy Milk biscuits inside.
Festive family favourites will return with new assortments, including the Cadbury Occasions Carton (rrp £4) which has seen an 85% sales increase YOY, and the Cadbury Christmas Jumper tin (rrp £7). Cadbury Mini Fingers and Mini Animals Novelty Tubes are back by popular demand. In 2014, £95m was spent on seasonal sweet biscuits.
Confectionery is the top category where shoppers buy on impulse in convenience stores (22% of impulse purchases are confectionery).
Christmas confectionery products also give retailers an excellent opportunity to drive impulse sales. According to him!, when shoppers are in ‘treat’ mode they’re much more open to influence. The till is a hot spot for impulse purchases – one in five impulses were noticed and picked up either at the counter or while queueing last year. Consider placing items near or on the way to the till so that shoppers can buy products they wouldn’t usually buy.
Impulse consumers will be more likely to try new products. New launches account for 20% of total Christmas sales. Besides the old favourites, adding some new products during the festive season can lead to huge benefits. Cadbury will launch new Heroes pouches (rrp £1.49) and newly designed Roses boxes which include a new Almond Caramel Bite. Toffee crunch will join the Terry’s Chocolate Orange Minis range while new Honeycomb Crunch joins the standard size range. Bassetts Jelly Babies will become Santa Babies for the festive season. With 34% of Christmas confectionery bought on impulse, put displays in place by the end of September, starting with self-eat, tubes and sharing novelties, building the range with advent in October, extending the range with the introduction of tree decorations, selection boxes and gifting novelties in November and then focusing on driving impulse and top-up gifting sales in December.
Busy season
According to Centre for Retail Research, retailers make more than half of their sales and profit in the three months in the run up to Christmas, so getting your offering right is essential at this time of year. Early season impulse shoppers spend the most per trip (£2.70 vs £2.61 for mid-season shoppers) and shop most frequently throughout the season so they should be your top priority. It has been revealed that 55% of seasonal shoppers who buy in the early season come back to purchase again.
Large pack formats and multipacks are in particularly high demand as shoppers prepare for family gatherings and parties. According to Nestlé, boxed chocolates are bought by 82% of households in the UK, which is more than any other confectionery sector. During the Christmas season they are bought by six million more households than throughout the rest of the year, demonstrating their importance to the season.
Kinder delights 
This Christmas will see the introduction of Kinder Chocolate Happy (rrp £2) as a sharing option. The product contains 12 individually foil-wrapped Kinder chocolates in seasonal shapes. A new 48 Kinder Surprise winter pack (rrp 86p) will also join the range. Retailers are urged to get behind the product with its attractive countertop unit from the game-changing brand, which is now worth almost £94m and Kinder Surprise representing £52.5m of this alone.
Sharing Boxed Chocolates performed especially well in 2014, growing in value by 9%, and it is the largest segment within boxed chocolates. This segment is relevant from September right up to December, driven by growth of family night in occasions linked to the rise of TV programmes like X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing. Within Sharing Boxed Chocolates, Everyday Sharing chocolates are benefiting from particularly strong long-term growth, up 15%. This area of the category is good at recruiting younger, more frequent shoppers.
In-store theatre such as product demonstrations and events help independent retailers to stand out against competition in the form of online retailers and supermarkets. Put up a Christmas tree and play Christmas music in store.
