The Week In Retail Issue 20

RETAIL

THE WEEK IN

CORONAVIRUS

GLASGOW MINILOCKDOWN

SPIKE SEES RULES TIGHTENED RETAILER INTERVIEW

WAT C H T

TWO MINUTE TOUR OF ANAND CHEEMA’S NEW STORE H

EV

IDEO

WAITROSE TRIALS DELIVEROO AMAZON FRESH UNVEILED TESCO PARTNERS LOOP

+

POT NOODLE GOES POTLESS Commercial Partner:

Brought to you by:

Issue 20 Wednesday 2nd September 2020

R o f Y ENERg F F U T S L A E E R H T ENERGY IS GROWING 6 X FASTER THAN SOFT DRINKS

FLAVOURS NOW ACCOUNT FOR 30% OF MAINSTREAM ENERGY PRODUCTS*

NEARLY 1 IN 2 SOFT DRINKS SOLD IS AN ENERGY DRINK*

FLAVOURED ENERGY IS GROWING FASTER THAN ORIGINAL ENERGY*

MERCHANDISE CHILLED, NEXT TO OTHER SLIM CAN ENERGY PRODUCTS! *1: IRI MARKETPLACE, VALUE SALES, MAT TO 19/04/2020, TOTAL SCOTLAND. *2: IRI MARKETPLACE, PPL & AVERAGE MARGINS, MAT TO 19/04/2020, SCOTLAND CONVENIENCE *3: IRI MARKETPLACE, VALUE ESALES, DRINK NOW, MAT TO 19/04/2020, SCOTLAND SYMBOLS & INDEPENDENTS. *4: IRI MARKETPLACE, VALUE SALES, MAINSTREAM DRINK NOW ENERGY EXCL. ORIGINAL, MAT TO 19/04/2020, TOTAL COVERAGE

THE WEEK IN RETAIL

EDITOR’S COMMENT SHARE YOUR NEWS AND VIEWS WITH ME AT ABEGLEY@55NORTH.COM

THE SOUND OF A SECOND WAVE GROWS LOUDER It’s not a subject too many people want to contemplate, but there are increasingly disturbing signs that a dreaded second wave of coronavirus may be on the horizon. Being a Glasgow resident myself, it was sobering to see a BBC news update pop up on my phone as I went to bed last night announcing that Nicola Sturgeon was enforcing what could be termed a mini lockdown for the city’s 800,000 residents following a recent spike in positive tests.

Cue a frenzied hour of phone calls trying to establish what that meant for childcare provisions, holidays, haircuts, work trips and all manner of other things that we had only recently started to take for granted.

The latest local lockdown follows the highly publicised shambles in Aberdeen as well as similar local lockdowns in major cities in England and is a very stark reminder that coronavirus is far from over.

It’s clearly tempting for everyone, after six months of being cooped up, to go out and live

a bit again – but letting our guard down at this stage seems like an act of folly of monstrous proportions. We have to see this thing through to the end, to the day when coronavirus is eliminated from this island. Yes, the wider economy is in tatters and the UK has more public debt than it has ever had in its entire history but to fail to see the job through completely would only risk a second wave that could be more catastrophic than the first.

Interestingly, to me at any rate, if you do a little research into all of the great pandemics that we have reasonably reliable data on, most of them follow the same alarming pattern: phase one spikes then is eventually brought to a plateau, but phase two – and there is almost always a phase two – sees an even bigger peak in cases than in phase one.

A second major wave of coronavirus hardly bears contemplating and we all have a role in helping our communities ensure that we see this job through to the end.

ANTONYBEGLEY ANTONYBEGLEY ANTONYBEGLEY

ANTONY BEGLEY, EDITOR

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 3

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CONTENTS

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK

6

12 THIS WEEK’S NEWS IN BRIEF

The plastic bag charge is coming to local retailers in England and Waitrose trials half-hour delivery.

26 HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN… ANAND CHEEMA?

A FRESH CHALLENGE FROM AMAZON

Anand Cheema, son of SGF boss Pete, has just opened his first store.

Antony Begley assesses the threat Amazon poses to retailers in the wake of its first Fresh store opening.

8 COVID-19 UPDATE

20 RESEARCH: LOCAL SOURCING

25 PICKS OF THE WEEK

11 NEWS SPECIAL: RETAIL VIOLENCE

ALMOST HALF OF UK SHOPPERS ACTIVELY

29 MEDIA CAMPAIGNS: INNOCENT SMOOTHIES

LOOK FOR LOCALLY SOURCED PRODUCTS.

USDAW PETITIONS PARLIAMENT ABOUT THE PROTECTION OF SHOPWORKERS.

19 OUT THE BOX: LOOP E-COMMERCE PILOT

23 RESEARCH: HEALTHY LIVING

A CLEVER SERIES OF BILLBOARDS REMINDS CONSUMERS WHAT THEY’VE

THE LONGER TERM TREND TOWARDS

FORGOTTEN ABOUT DURING LOCKDOWN.

A ZERO WASTE WEBSITE OFFERS BRANDED

HEALTHIER EATING AND DRINKING

31 BEFORE YOU GO...

GOODS IN REUSABLE CONTAINERS.

REMAINS, DESPITE THE PANDEMIC.

TWITTER.COM/SLRMAG

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SLRMAG

POT NOODLE LOSES THE POT.

WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 5

NEWS DIGEST

THIS WEEK’S NEWS FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/

PR APPOINTS MCCURRACH Pernod Ricard UK has named Glasgow-based marketing agency McCurrach as its new field sales partner in

SUSTAINABILITY

PLASTIC BAG CHARGE COMING TO LOCAL RETAILERS IN ENGLAND

grocery and convenience. In

THE UK GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE PLASTIC BAG

convenience, it will create a

CHARGE WILL BE DOUBLED AND EXTENDED TO ALL RETAILERS IN

new permanent team, which

ENGLAND FROM NEXT YEAR.

will cover 1,800 stores.The company will also become a full category partner for McCurrach’s MyStore+ app.

SPAR OPS BOSS Spar UK has named Lee Johnson as Operations and Strategy Director with responsibility for finance, governance, IT, supply chain and strategic planning. He joins from Coty where he was VP

The plastic bag charge will be doubled to 10p and extended to all retailers in England from April next year, the UK Government has announced. The scheme previously only applied to businesses with over 250 employees.

The move is expected to dramatically decrease the number of plastic bags in circulation and help level the playing field between small and large retailers, while also giving independent retailers the chance to donate the proceeds to local charities.

Since the initial charge was first introduced to larger retailers in 2015, there has been a 95% cut in plastic sales in supermarkets.

for global FP&A and strategic planning, with previous roles at Lego, Microsoft, SC Johnson

LAST WEEK OF EOHO DRIVES 6% INCREASE

and Sara Lee.

JACKING IT UP Tesco has begun to make its Jack’s range of value food items available to its One Stop outlets for the first time.

Around 50 Jack’s products will be added into One Stop stores and are available from this week to retailers operating franchised and companyowned stores.

The final week of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme helped boost retail footfall by 6%, according to analysis by retail analysts Springboard. Bank Holiday Monday marked the final day of the scheme, apparently spurring consumers across the country to

6 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 20 / WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020

make the most of the discounted prices available. Springboard said the August Bank Holiday weekend was a “remarkable success” as retail destinations saw only 11% less footfall compared to last year.

Shopping centres saw footfall increase by 9.1%, high streets reported a jump of 4.8% and retail parks grew by 5%. While footfall has remained 26.1% down in comparison to last year, this increase has been a welcome improvement on the previous week’s figure of 30.7% down.

NEWS DIGEST

THIS WEEK’S NEWS FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/

DRONE LIFT OFF

HOME DELIVERY

WAITROSE TRIALS HALF-HOUR DELIVERY WITH DELIVEROO

Amazon has received formal approval from the Federal Aviation Administration in the US to operate its fleet of Prime Air delivery drones. This

WAITROSE HAS SIGNED A DEAL WITH DELIVEROO TO RUN A 12-

allows Amazon to “safely and

WEEK TRIAL OFFERING SHOPPERS HOME DELIVERY IN AS LITTLE

efficiently deliver packages to

AS HALF AN HOUR.

customers” alongside Amazon UPS and Google-owner

Waitrose launched a new 12-week trial with Deliveroo yesterday in a small group of stores as it ended its Ocado partnership after 18 years. Meanwhile Ocado moved to start delivering for M&S, also from yesterday.

Customers will be able to use the Deliveroo app to choose from more than 500 Waitrose products with delivery in as little as 30 minutes.

Shoppers can order from one hour after the shop opens to one hour before it closes, and can also track the progress of their order and where the delivery driver is on the app.

There is a minimum spend of £10, with delivery charges between £2.50

and £4.99, or free for Deliveroo Plus members.

The move has prompted speculation that Waitrose may be planning a deeper relationship with Amazon, who bought 16% of Deliveroo earlier this year.

also have FAA approval.

G&T SHOCKER New data from Boë Gin suggests tonic is no longer the mixer of choice. A survey of 2,000 UK gin drinkers found that over half (53%) of those aged 18-34 now prefer a gin and lemonade, with just a quarter (26%) opting for tonic as a mixer, driven largely by the growth of flavoured gins.

BP’S LIVING WAGE

MENTHOL BAN AWARENESS ‘REMAINS LOW’ Consumer awareness of May’s menthol ban remains strikingly low with almost half of all consumers still unaware of the legislation, according to new research by vaping brand blu.

Just 54% of 2,000 consumers interviewed were aware of the ban and of those that were aware of it, around

Alphabet’s Wing Business who

The Living Wage Foundation has formally accredited forecourt operator BP as a

a third said they learnt about it two to three months before it came into place – although 18% did not learn of it until after the ban was introduced.

A significant 79% thought the ban would not lead to any changes in their own smoking behaviour or purchasing activity.

UK Living Wage employer. BP employs around 6,600 staff in its UK convenience store network and everyone now receives a minimum hourly wage of £9.30, with staff in London paid at least £10.75 per hour.

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 7

NEWS SPECIAL

COVID-19 UPDATE FOR ALL THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/

FOODSERVICE DELIVERY UP Despite the failure of a predicted boom in foodservice

GLASGOW WAKES TO MINI-LOCKDOWN

home delivery to materialise

SCOTLAND’S FIRST MINISTER NICOLA STURGEON LAST NIGHT

during lockdown, the latest

ANNOUNCED NEW RESTRICTIONS FOR GLASGOW’S 800,000

data from Lumina Intelligence

RESIDENTS AFTER A SPIKE IN COVID-19 CASES.

suggests growth did finally start to appear towards the end of June. Among the total UK adult population, pre-coronavirus foodservice delivery accounted for one meal per month. Post lockdown, this has risen to three meals per month.

PRET SHEDS STAFF Troubled sandwich chain Pret A Manger is to make about one-third of its workforce redundant as demand from commuters and office workers fails to return to pre-pandemic levels. Around 3,000 jobs, mainly at its stores, will be lost.

Ninety support centre roles will also be cut.

TIKTOK BID Asda owner Walmart is teaming up with Microsoft to try to acquire the US operations of the TikTok video sharing app.

The deal is expected to be between $25bn and $30bn if an agreement can be reached with TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance.

Residents of Scotland’s biggest city awoke this morning to learn that Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had introduced a new minilockdown for Glasgow following a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Sturgeon last night announced 66 new positive tests and unveiled fresh restrictions on visiting other households that will apply to all 800,000 residents of the city as well as

in neighbouring West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire.

The 66 new positive tests were recorded in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area yesterday.

Exceptions to the new rules include emergency circumstances or those providing care to a vulnerable person for extended households which were originally established during the national lockdown.

COVID-19 HOTSPOT TRACKER UPDATE The latest British Retail Consortium Covid Hotspot Tracker for England has revealed that total new cases fell by 16% week-on-week for the period (weeks commencing 10 and 17 August). All but five regions reported a fall with London the outlier, reporting a 26% increase.

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NEWS SPECIAL

COVID-19 UPDATE FOR ALL THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/

MILLIONS OF PUPILS RETURN TO SCHOOL

STARBUCKS’ BLOCKCHAIN PROVENANCE SOLUTION

M

SCHOOLS ACROSS ENGLAND AND WALES SEE MILLIONS OF PUPILS RETURN AFTER THE SHUTDOWN CAUSED BY CORONAVIRUS.

figures show that one in 10 pupils is absent in Scotland.

With movement restrictions in place it will be some time before local retailers start seeing the benefit of the return in the form of increased footfall.

REVALUATION DISPOSAL APPEALS DEADLINE PUSHED BACK The Scottish Government is pushing back the statutory deadline for disposing outstanding 2017 revaluation appeals by 12 months to 31 December 2021 as a consequence of the interruption caused by Covid-19 and the ongoing issues of progressing appeal discussions.

Steven Dalton, Partner in property consultancy Montagu Evans’ Scottish rating team, said: “The move allows the Assessors to fully consider the 50,000+ appeals lodged by ratepayers earlier this year to reflect the impact to their businesses and rating assessments of Covid-19.

“Extending the 2017 appeal disposal deadline will certainly assist, but it is debatable whether this is enough and prevent the 2022 revaluation from going ahead as planned.”

TECH SOLUTIONS

illions of pupils in England and Wales are returning to school this week after the six-month shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Schools have already started reopening although there will be a mix of starting dates, with some schools having training days as staff prepare for a host of new safety measures. That have been introduced.

Schools have already opened for the new academic year in Scotland and Northern Ireland, although official

Starbucks is now allowing shoppers in the US to trace the provenance of its coffee using Microsoft’s blockchain solution by using a code on the bags to find out exactly where their beans came from, where they were roasted and even get brewing tips from baristas. A reverse code is being given to coffee farmers so that they can track their produce.

The move is part of a responsible sourcing programme and allows the company to “transparently share that information with everyone”.

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 9

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Access to background database with over 100,000 products

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✓ Based in Scotland with excellent support and training program

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So How much Could our System make for you?

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Tel: 0800 242 5360 email sales@mhousesolutions.com

NEWS SPECIAL

SHOPWORKER PROTECTION PETITION USDAW

SHOPWORKERS ABUSE PETITION HITS 50K IN A WEEK OVER 50,000 PEOPLE SIGNED A PARLIAMENTARY PETITION SEEKING TO PROTECT RETAIL STAFF FOR ABUSE IN ITS

A FIRST WEEK.

parliamentary petition that seeks to protect retail staff from violence, threats and abuse has amassed more than 50,000 signatures in a week. Launched by shop workers’ trade union Usdaw, it became the fastest growing petition on the parliamentary website when it passed 10,000 signatures in one day, which means the Government now has to respond.

Under parliamentary regulations, any petition securing 10,000 signatures must be responded to by the Government while any petition signed by more than 100,000 people must be considered for debate in Parliament.

The petition now has nearly 58,000 signatures and Usdaw continues to campaign for the 100,000 signatures that should trigger a parliamentary debate.

The petition is backed by the UK’s largest convenience store retailer Co-op Food, along with trade bodies the British Retail Consortium and the Association of Convenience Stores.

Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary, said: “We are delighted that the petition has already passed the halfway point of triggering a parliamentary debate. With incidents of abuse doubling during the Covid-19 crisis, they are saying loud and clear that enough is enough, abuse should never be just a part of the job.

CLICK HERE TO

SIGN THE PETITION NOW!

“I urge the Government to respond positively to the petition, listen to the voices of shop workers and employers and commit to legislating for stiffer penalties for those who assault workers. They have talked about zero-tolerance, but that means very little if it is not backed up by strong actions.

“The measures the Government have already agreed are worth trying and we hope that they can make a real difference.

However, they would be much more likely to succeed if backed up with new legislation; a simple standalone offence that is widely recognised and understood by the public, police, CPS, the judiciary and most importantly criminals.

“Retail staff have a crucial role in our communities and that role must be valued and respected, they deserve the protection of the law.”

“The petition now has nearly 58,000 signatures and Usdaw continues to campaign for the 100,000 signatures that should trigger a parliamentary debate.”

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 11

RETAILER PROFILE

ANAND CHEEMA SPAR MAGGIE WOODS’ LOAN, FALKIRK

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN...

ANAND CHEEMA ANAND CHEEMA, SON OF SGF CEO PETE CHEEMA, OPENED HIS FIRST STORE LAST WEEK – AND IT’S A STORE HIS FATHER USED TO OWN. WE FIND OUT HOW HIS FIRST WEEK AS A RETAILER HAS BEEN.

12 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 20 / WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020

RETAILER PROFILE

ANAND CHEEMA SPAR MAGGIE WOODS’ LOAN, FALKIRK

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN ANAND? I couldn’t even begin to describe it! It’s been an exciting time getting ready for the opening but the last week has just been a blur. There’s so much to take on board so quickly but I’m absolutely loving it. I probably underestimated how difficult it would be to pull everything together quickly with the pandemic hanging over us. We’ve had a lot of problems just getting equipment to the store because of coronavirus-related issues, but we’re just about there now.

YOUR DAD USED TO OWN THIS STORE? Yes, it’s a bit weird isn’t it? I’ve just taken on my first store aged 23, which was the same age my dad started out in business, and I’m starting out in a store that my dad used to own. He sold it in 2009.

It’s all pure coincidence but I’m taking it as a good sign.

DID YOU SET OUT TO BUY THIS STORE? Not at all. We put in offers on eight or nine stores before this one was offered to us so it’s not like I had my heart on set on buying my dad’s old store.

The fact that he knows the store and knows the area is a bonus though, and he supported me brilliantly all the way through the process.

WAS IT EASY TO GET THE DEAL DONE? Yes and no. We were offered the lease initially but that’s not what we wanted. The store hadn’t been doing well as a McColl’s and it also needed a lot of work done, so we would only commit to that if we owned the business and the property. It was a complicated structure because the head lease, the sub lease and the building were all owned by different parties so it took a bit of work to get us all

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 13

RETAILER PROFILE

ANAND CHEEMA SPAR MAGGIE WOODS’ LOAN, FALKIRK

on the same page, but we actually managed to get it all done remarkably quickly. I think we did the whole thing from start to finish in a month.

AND YOU’VE BOUGHT THE PUB THAT SITS BEHIND THE STORE? It was a pub that closed because of coronavirus and the one major problem we had with the store was a lack of storage space. It’s quite a big store at 2,900sq ft so it needs a lot of stock. The existing storage space is far too small, especially because we have introduced a lot of new elements like F’Real, Tango Ice Blast, food-to-go and so on which tend to require a lot of storage space for the replenishment stock. The plan is to knock through to the pub to give us all the space we need.

alongside my mum and dad in stores. Mum took care of the shop floor and dad did the back office work, so I got to see both sides of running a store.

Having said that, dad was insistent that I went to university; he never wanted me to become a retailer because he wanted me to have my weekends to myself!

WHAT DID YOU STUDY? I did a degree in Accountancy and Finance and I graduated in 2018. I joined CJ Lang that August then moved to Envipco in June 2019. I was there until just over a week ago! They were brilliant with me when I was leaving, and they wished me all the best and really understood why I was going to become a retailer for the first time.

HAD YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A RETAILER?

WHAT WAS YOUR STRATEGY FOR THE NEW STORE?

I was always interested in it, certainly. From a very young age, maybe about 12, I was working

We had a full GIS survey done so we had a really good understanding of the demographics

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RETAILER PROFILE

ANAND CHEEMA SPAR MAGGIE WOODS’ LOAN, FALKIRK

of the local area, on top of dad’s experience of the locality and the store itself. Over 45% of the catchment area is 45 or older and 35% are under 25, so we’ve tailored our offer accordingly. Foodto-go was always going to be at the heart of the store’s offer, and I’m delighted at how we’ve managed to incorporate it into the layout. We have a food-to-go island right in the middle of the store, which really sets the tone. It puts food-to-go at the heart of the business, quite literally. We were also focused on ensuring it is a high margin store, so we have lots of premium offerings, especially within the island. We have F’Real, Costa, Tropical Ice slush, Tango Ice Blast and Rollover as well as a couple of ‘firsts’. We have a bespoke Millions Megamix unit, the first time this machine has ever been implemented in this format, and we also have the first Fwip machine in a Spar store in Scotland. These help drive footfall and sales and also deliver solid margins.

YOU DIDN’T SKIMP ON THE HOT FOOD EITHER? No, dad insisted on getting the best equipment we could find. We got a £16,000 Manitowoc fully automatic six-shelf oven. We also installed a Merrychef oven, the same one that you find in Subways. Everything is pre-programmed to ensure we get consistent results and it makes it easier for staff.

WAS FINDING STAFF A PROBLEM? No, we retained most of the McColl’s team but we did recruit a brand new team specifically for the hot food. They’re being trained now as it’s a hugely complicated training course, but we want them to be able to execute everything perfectly because delivering perfectly cooked product will be the key to driving repeat sales. We are also producing our own range of sandwiches, baguettes and so

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 15

RETAILER PROFILE

ANAND CHEEMA SPAR MAGGIE WOODS’ LOAN, FALKIRK

on, all hand made fresh in-store. We get most of our ingredients for the food-to-go from Lomond Wholesale, but we have sourced packaged meat and bakery products from Stuart’s.

ARE YOU FOCUSING ON REGIONAL AND SCOTTISH PRODUCTS? Definitely. We’ve tried to bring in as many Scottish lines as we can. We are the first store to stock canned craft beers from Cold Town Brewery in Edinburgh and we’re bringing in Scottish wines from Cairn O’Mhor, for instance. We also have some whiskies from the local Rosebank Distillery.

We’ve even used a Scottish company for our epos as we’ve gone with MPos from MHouse Solutions in Motherwell.

AND SOME VERY EXPENSIVE WHISKIES TOO? We’re trying to create as many USPS in store as possible, so we’ve included a very special highend spirits cabinet with a range of rare and older whiskies. We’ve done some deals directly with distillers to ensure we have a unique range. We even have a nice wee Glenfiddich 30yo that comes complete with its own branded suitcase. Yours for just £535?

WE’LL PASS ON THAT ONE. IS THERE A MARKET FOR THOSE TYPES OF PRODUCTS? We believe so. There are a couple of whisky clubs in the area and the members have to get their whiskies from somewhere. There’s nowhere else in Falkirk offering a rare range and customers certainly won’t find anything unusual in Tesco or Asda. We’re not expecting to sell a lot of them but they yield a great margin and they create a talking point.

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HOW WAS THE REFIT? It was a challenge. We replaced everything. And I mean everything. Floors, ceilings, the lot. The only bit of the store untouched was the little manager’s office at the back. Everything else got refitted, including the storage spaces and we added in a new food prep area where we can make the sandwiches and baguettes and so on, and where we can prep all the hot food too. But it’s worked well and it looks good as soon as you walk through the door. The food-to-go island dominates straight away and we chose to have fresh produce right at the front door as well, to drive home the message of what the store’s all about. We’ve also tried to incorporate some new ideas like the video rails.

TELL US ABOUT THEM. The video rails add theatre and help drive sales.

We got them from SES-imagotag through David Morgan. They’re basically full HD video screens that enhance the shopper experience. They all run in the cloud so we can change the video artwork whenever we like in real time from anywhere. At the moment we have Tennent’s, Cold Town Beer, Magners and Golden Casket featuring on them and they’ve had a lot of attention from customers.

YOU’VE GONE BIG ON BRANDS TOO? Yes, we feel there is definitely a place for own-label and we stock a lot of the Spar own-label range but we’ve tried to major on brands, both existing established ones and challenger brands. We want the customer experience to be special and brands help us achieve that.

ARE YOU MANAGING TO GET ANY SLEEP? Not really. I’ve been here at opening – 6am – and stayed until closing – 10pm – every day so far and

RETAILER PROFILE

ANAND CHEEMA SPAR MAGGIE WOODS’ LOAN, FALKIRK

ANAND CHOOSES MPOS In keeping with his commitment to using Scottish products, services and suppliers, Anand has chosen MPos from Motherwell-based business MHouse Solutions as his Epos partner for the store.

MHouse Solutions Managing Director Faisal Sattar told The Week In Retail: “We are proud members of the Scottish Grocers’ Federation and when we first started talking to Anand and Pete about the new store they told me that they were keen to go with a Scottish company.

“We currently work with over 700 stores in Scotland and are seeing really strong growth at the moment, so it’s great to be chosen as partner for this high profile new store and it’s a pleasure to be working with Anand and his team.”

The installation work was completed in just a couple of hours but Sattar and his team spent a total of three days in the store to fully train Anand and his colleagues. it’s exhausting but I just want to make sure we get everything right. I also want to make sure that the high standards we have set are maintained and want our team and our customers to know that the store will always be pristine for them, every time they are in the store. This is going to be a long and challenging journey, but I’ve been planning for it all my adult life and I’m lucky that I’ve got my dad alongside me with his experience. I’m running on adrenalin, but it’s just unbelievable to see my lifelong dream come true before my eyes. I just hope I can be as successful in my career as my dad has been in his. I want to make him proud.

“We trained Anand on the basics of the system but we also walked him through all of the other functionality in areas such as business development, waste management, SEL and POS production and so on,” says Sattar.

“The whole process went extremely well and the system has been performing perfectly and we are confident MPos will help Anand run a profitable, efficient, futureproofed business.”

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Brought to you

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Issue 19 Wednesday 26 August 2020

RVIEW

RISTMAS Commercial Partne

r:

NOW THAT’S A GOOD IDEA…

OUT THE BOX LOOP E-COMMERCE PROGRAMME

LOOP LAUNCHES ZEROWASTE E-COMMERCE PILOT WITH TESCO ZERO-WASTE SHOPPING PLATFORM LOOP HAS LAUNCHED A PILOT E-COMMERCE PROGRAMME WITH TESCO WHICH SEES SHOPPERS PAY A DEPOSIT FEE ON CUSTOMISED PACKAGING WHICH IS REFUNDED UPON RETURN OF THE PACKAGING.

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA? A zero-waste e-commerce solution that allows shoppers to order a wide range of products and ensure that the packaging is fully recycled after use.

HOW DOES IT WORK? It has been launched as a pilot with Tesco by Loop, a zerowaste shopping platform, and lets shoppers conveniently order everything from juices, sauces and shampoo to washing detergent and moisturiser (branded and own label) in customised, durable, refillable packaging. Customers pay a deposit fee on each piece of packaging which is then fully refunded upon return of the packaging.

WHAT DO SHOPPERS DO? Shoppers order via www.loopstore.co.uk and receive their products in a reusable tote bag. After use, consumers place the empty containers back into their tote and have a variety of return options: go online to schedule a pickup (which can be combined with their next delivery) or drop off the tote at one of 2,500 DPD collection points across the UK.

WHAT HAPPENS THEN? Loop sorts and professionally cleans the packaging and tote bag so each container may be safely refilled by the manufacturer. Cleaned and refilled containers are simultaneously replenished as needed to the consumer, creating a convenient and safe zero waste shopping system.

WHICH BRANDS ARE INVOLVED? A lot, including Heinz Ketchup, Coca-Cola, Danone, Nivea, M&Ms and Tropicana.

HOW DO CONSUMERS GET INVOLVED? They simply sign up on the Loop website and can start shopping immediately.

WHY TESCO? The supermarket giant is Loop’s first retail partner and has got on board as part of its 4R strategy – Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – to understand how a shopping service using reusable packaging can work in the UK. Both companies will work together with a view of making products in reusable packaging available at Tesco stores as early as 2021.

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 19

FEATURE / BUSINESS BUILDING / NEWS / ADVERTISMENT

LOCAL SOURCING WEETABIX SURVEY

HALF OF SHOPPERS ‘ACTIVELY SEEKING‘ LOCAL PRODUCTS A NEW SURVEY HAS FOUND THAT ALMOST HALF OF UK SHOPPERS ARE NOW ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR LOCALLY SOURCED PRODUCTS WHEN THEY VISIT A STORE.

A

new survey commissioned by Weetabix has revealed that almost one- third of UK consumers admit the Covid-19 pandemic has made them realise how important locally sourced products are to the country’s economy.

20 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 20 / WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020

The survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 48% were actively looking for locally sourced items in stores.

Furthermore, a third say that they have been more supportive of local British businesses during lockdown than ever before.

FEATURE / BUSINESS BUILDING / NEWS / ADVERTISMENT

LOCAL SOURCING WEETABIX SURVEY

The survey uncovered several different reasons driving this shift in behaviour. These included: Q More than a third do so to be more ethical Q Over two-thirds hope to support local producers Q Almost half do so to get what they perceive as healthier, fresher produce Q 51% believe that by ‘buying local’ they are helping the economy Q 45% hope to reduce their ‘food miles’.

Weetabix has unveiled a striking crop circle in the British countryside during this year’s harvest to raise awareness of the value of locally produced food to the UK economy. Produced over 36 hours, the crop circle highlights Weetabix’s commitment to working exclusively with local farmers to source all its wheat in Weetabix Original biscuits from within 50 miles of its mills in rural Northamptonshire.

In fact, more than a third of consumers polled say they check the food miles of items when shopping by looking up the country of origin, believing the benefits of buying goods with fewer food miles to be include a lower carbon footprint (64%), helping preserve UK farms (54%) and less pollution (57%).

Commenting on the findings, Francesca Theokli, Marketing Director at Weetabix, said: “Our study showed that more than two-thirds believe companies are not transparent enough about where their food is grown and produced.

“So we wanted to highlight our ongoing commitment to locally sourcing the highest quality wheat from a 50 mile radius of our home in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire.”

OTHER FINDINGS...

Q The items people are most likely to buy which have been grown and produced in the UK were found to include butter (49%), eggs (71%) and strawberries (55%) Q At the other end of the scale, products like teabags (22%), bananas (13%) and chocolate (19%) are believed to be difficult to purchase ‘locally’ Q A further 31% feel there are limited options of local products in stores and, as a result, 45% of those surveyed would like to see the big brands sourcing local ingredients to lead the way Q Almost a third said the distance something has travelled would make them decide against buying a product – with a quarter refusing to buy an item which has travelled up to 1,000 miles Q More than two-thirds believe companies are not currently transparent enough about where their food is grown and produced Q Half of those polled believe food miles and locally sourced goods should be highlighted more to educate consumers, with 83% admitting that they are likely to be more supportive of brands which use locally sourced ingredients if they are aware of them.

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 21

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RESEARCH

HEALTHIER, SUSTAINABLE DIETS IGD

APPETITE FOR HEALTHIER DIETS STILL STRONG UNDER COVID-19 NEW RESEARCH PUBLISHED YESTERDAY BY IGD SUGGESTS THAT THE LONGER TERM TREND

T

TOWARDS HEALTHIER EATING AND DRINKING REMAINS, DESPITE THE CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC.

here is still a significant appetite for change among UK consumers to shift towards healthy and sustainable diets as they continue to grapple with the impact of Covid-19, according to new research released yesterday by IGD. IGD’s new consumer research draws on data from more than 1,000 UK consumers collected in July to explore the impact of the pandemic on attitudes to healthy and sustainable diets.

With the advent of Covid-19, there has been a significant shift in the value placed on personal health for parents, with 35% of parents valuing their own health as the primary motivator to eat healthily and sustainably in 2020 compared to 24% in 2019. In turn, the importance that parents place on their family’s health has fallen to 31% in 2020 from 39% in 2019, potentially reflecting the lesser impact of Covid-19 on children’s health compared to adults.

Some 38% of consumers perceive healthy and sustainable eating to be more expensive, meaning perceived cost continues to be the biggest barrier to change. Other barriers include people liking the taste of their current food (24%), being creatures of habit (23%) and a lack of familiarity (17%).

Hannah Pearse, Head of Nutrition and Scientific Affairs at IGD, said: “There remains a huge opportunity to start shifting people’s behaviour towards healthier and more sustainable diets and never has there been a stronger impetus for change.”

The updated full consumer research report is available to download at www.igd.com.

HIGHLIGHTS Q Over half of consumers (57%) are already changing their diets or are considering making changes to be healthier and more sustainable, down from 66% in 2019 Q There has been a shift in how healthy consumers perceive their diets to be, with people feeling their diets are less healthy during lockdown than in 2019 Q Health is now an even bigger motivator for consumers to improve their diet in the wake of Covid-19, with nearly two-thirds (63%) of people citing health as their primary driver, up from 58% in 2019 Q Perceived higher cost remains the main barrier to healthy and sustainable diets, with 38% of consumers thinking it is more expensive.

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 23

REENCIT GWHOLEFOODSY

Suppliers to the trade in vegan, vegetarian, Organic and Fairtrade food & drink. Specialists in zero waste, local artisan products, healthy snacks, and chilled food, with over 5000 retail and catering lines.

Greencity is Scotland’s premier ethical wholesaler, our success built on developing local and ethical supply chains for a loyal customer base.

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NPD AND MEDIA

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POWERING UP

MENTOS ME & YOU

GOING TO TOWN

Pernod Ricard UK reintroduced

Mentos has launched ‘Me &

Chicago Town has added three

Powers Irish Whiskey’s Gold

You,’ an on-pack promo where

new flavours to its hot Pizza To

Label expression to the UK on

shoppers snap a selfie of

Go self-serve range: Chicken &

Monday. Powers Gold Label

themselves with their favourite

Bacon, Manhattan Meaty, and

Distiller’s Cut features a new

Mentos product to have a

Saucy Vegan. All feature rising

brand identity and higher ABV

chance of winning a prize. The

dough and stuffed crusts. The

of 43.2% and is supported by

campaign will be supported

new lines follow the launch of

digital and in-store activity.

with a £1m media spend until

the company’s Pizza To Go

RSP: £30

the end of January next year.

solution for convenience.

MINDFUL MEDIA

T LIGHT

WERTHER’S BACK

Real food snack bar brand

Tennent’s has launched its low

Werther’s Original is back on

Lärabar became the official

calorie, low alcohol beer into

TV screens this month as part

sponsor of Mind Body Spirit’s

the off-trade in c-stores across

of its £3m 2020 campaign. The

‘Your Wellbeing Podcast’

Scotland after launching in the

ad runs from next Monday until

yesterday. The partnership

on-trade earlier this year. The

8 Nov and hopes to repeat

includes social media posts

product is available in bottles

the success of the last TV

on the podcast’s channels and

in 12x300ml and 6x4x300ml

campaign, which generated

30-second Lärabar branded

cases. There are 60 calories

an uplift in sales of 26% on

idents during each podcast.

per 300ml bottle (3.5% ABV).

average.

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 25

OPINION

AMAZON GLOBAL VIEW

WHAT’S AMAZON UP TO NOW? HARDLY A WEEK GOES BY WITHOUT AMAZON UNVEILING ANOTHER POTENTIALLY GAME-CHANGING CONCEPT AND THIS WEEK IS NO DIFFERENT WITH THE OPENING OF ITS FIRST AMAZON FRESH STORE.

BY ANTONY BEGLEY

A

t one point in time, Amazon was really only a threat to the major retailers, who quickly became aware of its all too obvious encroachment into grocery.

There’s hardly a week goes by without a new concept or initiative being unfurled, usually with a minimum of fuss.

One of the things that is so threatening about Amazon is its clear willingness to tackle big, complex and very expensive challenges, many of which are set to fail. Boss Jeff Bezos has said as much – but with the deepest pockets on the planet, Bezos is willing to risk as many enormous-scale failures as is required to unearth the gems that have grown the business into the behemoth it is today.

That apparently swashbuckling approach is something that very few companies are prepared to compete with and it’s

26 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 20 / WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020

something that causes massive consternation in boardrooms everywhere, including among fellow global giants like Microsoft and Apple.

The other key belief that sits at the heart of everything Amazon does is that the customer comes first. Every business says it, most businesses mean it, but Amazon delivers on it. Nothing matters more than the customer – and that includes the Amazon bottom line. That partially explains the company’s seemingly gung-ho approach to embracing multibillion dollar failures.

Being an entirely data-driven company, however, Amazon makes every decision based on numbers. Algorithms, if you like. And while many believe that the ‘computer says’ model necessarily results in a loss of human empathy and missed opportunity, it’s hard to argue that the model isn’t working.

OPINION

AMAZON GLOBAL VIEW

The presentation by Jeff Bezos to investors during coronavirus was a perfect example of how the company approaches business. The Amazon CEO boldly warned investors earlier this year that the company was heading towards a possible loss in Q2 as he had decided to spend $4bn – all of the company’s expected second quarter operating profit. How many CEOs would get away with that plan? The company was then projecting a loss of $1.5bn for the quarter. Let that sink in.

But what happens? Despite the $4bn spend, Amazon later announced that it had instead doubled its net profit yearon-year to an astonishing $5.2bn. For the quarter. Yes, for three months. (The $4bn was spent on what Bezos called “incremental Covid-19 related costs in the quarter to help keep employees safe and deliver products to customers”.

In other words, the profit would have been over $9bn for the quarter without those expenses.)

Big profits can then power more investment and recent weeks have seen plenty of new developments from Amazon, the latest its first ever Amazon Fresh grocery store. Thankfully, from a UK point of view, the store is in the affluent Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, but it would surprise no-one to see the concept make its way to the UK at some point.

According to Amazon, the store is “designed from the ground up to offer a seamless grocery shopping experience, whether customers are shopping instore or online” and the company

AND WHILE WE’RE ON THE SUBJECT...

Here’s another of Amazon’s off-the-wall projects: a drone mothership to take delivery to a stratospheric level.

has “taken our decades of operations experience to deliver consistently low prices for all, and free same-day delivery for Prime members“.

Amazon Fresh features a wide assortment of national brands and highquality produce, meat, and seafood as well as a range of prepared foods made fresh in store every day. The store also features Amazon Dash Cart which lets customers skip the checkout line, and makes use of new Alexa features to help customers manage their shopping lists and better navigate the aisles.

The store offers same-day delivery and pickup direct from the store or customers can pick up their orders by visiting the service counter or by pulling up to a dedicated pick-up

parking spot. Amazon Fresh also offers Amazon.com package pick-up and free package-less product returns.

Interestingly, the store is focused on delivering “consistently low prices for all”, in stark contrast to its Whole Foods Market cousin. Customers can also earn 5% back at Amazon Fresh when they use their Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card or Amazon Prime Store Card at checkout.

It looks, essentially, like a hybrid of a more value-focused Whole Foods Market and an Amazon Go store and sends an intimidating message to retailers of all sizes. And with massive profits swelling the coffers, Amazon’s rate of progress is only likely to accelerate.

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 27

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MEDIA

TOO GOOD NOT TO INCLUDE INNOCENT BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN

INNOCENT REMINDERS INNOCENT SMOOTHIES HAS REVEALED A SERIES OF BILLBOARDS REMINDING UK CONSUMERS ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS THEY MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT DURING LOCKDOWN... AND THEY’RE JUST TOO GOOD NOT TO USE.

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 29

To order or to open an account, contact John Lucas: 07760 431230

john.lucas@bobbysfoods.co.uk

BEFORE YOU GO...

RETAIL RANDOMS POT NOODLE / JET

POT NOODLE LOSES THE POT...

POT NOODLE HAS LAUNCHED NEW POT-FREE RANGE, CUNNINGLY ENTITLED ‘LOST THE POT NOODLES’.

TO HELP PROMOTE THE LAUNCH THEY’VE SOMEHOW PERSUADED EASTENDERS ACTOR CLIFF PARISI TO TRY YOGA. GO FIGURE.

HAVE PIANO, WILL TRAVEL WHEN YOU HAVEN’T DONE A TV AD IN 20 YEARS, YOU’D BETTER MAKE SURE THAT WHEN YOU DO IT’S SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT SPECIAL. STEP FORWARD JET WHO REVEALED THIS VERSION OF THE CLASSIC ROAD MOVIE ON MONDAY. NOT MANY ROAD MOVIES FEATURE A GUY DRIVING A PIANO, MIND YOU...

WEDNESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 20 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 31

R o f Y ENERg F F U T S L A E E R H T th the i w k n i r d y g r e n e e n i u e r f b f a n r i f o high c e t s a t e l b a b i r indesc

FROM THE UK'S NO.1 FLAVOURED * CARBONATE BRAND