The Week In Retail Issue 28

RETAIL

THE WEEK IN

OPERATING MODELS

COMMISSION MISSION

BLAKEMORE’S LOUIS DRAKE ON COMMISSION OPERATORS NPD

RISK-FREE NPD TRIALS

UNITAS UNVEILS ‘BRAND BOX’ COVID HEROES

HERE’S TO YOU

GROCERYAID VIDEO CELEBRATES RETAILERS

MEDIA SCREENS HIKE SALES JAMES HALL ADDS STORES ONLINE TO TOP IN-STORE SALES

+

SLR REWARDS GOES VIRTUAL Commercial Partner:

Brought to you by:

Issue 28 Wednesday 28th October 2020

Symbol Partner:

L A U T VIR SLR REWARDS 2020 A VIRTUAL FESTIVAL OF EXCELLENCE With Coronavirus ruling out live events for the foreseeable future, this year’s SLR Rewards will for the very first time in their near 20-year history be going virtual!

On Friday 11th December at 6pm we will be bringing the entire Scottish local retailing industry together, as we do every year, but this time retailers will be able to join the party from the comfort of their own home, or store, via their PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet.

FRIDAY 11TH DECEMBER, 6PM

THE WEEK IN RETAIL

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

RETAILERS FEEDING CHILDREN: FOOD FOR THOUGHT As if the local retailing sector wasn’t doing enough already to help hold this fractured country together, we see them now having to step in and take responsibility for feeding vulnerable children.

It has been simply humbling to follow on Twitter as retailers like Raaj Chandarana, Avtar Sidhu and Susan Connolly work into the wee hours of the morning on a daily basis to help ensure that needy children in their local area get something to eat in half term.

Inspiring, inspirational and astonishing – but what’s even more astonishing is why it has come to this in the first place.

It’s hard to understand why anyone would vote against giving food to hungry children, regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum. And it’s a very sad day when local retailers – and

Premiership footballers like Marcus Rashford – have to step into the vacuum where the Government is meant to be.

I was tempted to go off on a rant about the state of the world but then someone sent me this short clip by the inimitable Jonathan Pie – and nobody does rants quite like Pie.

ANTONYBEGLEY ANTONYBEGLEY ANTONYBEGLEY

ANTONY BEGLEY, EDITOR

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 3

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CONTENTS

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK

6

14

20

THIS WEEK’S NEWS IN BRIEF

THE BIG INTERVIEW: LOUIS DRAKE

STORE PROFILE: THOMAS FOODMARKET

Camelot gear ups for a bumper Lotto draw and retailers promise “no child will go hungry”.

AF Blakemore’s Sales Director discusses the Spar wholesaler’s first store run by a ‘commission operator’.

The Nisa Local store in Norton is celebrating 70 years of trading under the stewardship of the Thomas family.

10 COVID-19 UPDATE

21 PICKS OF THE WEEK

29 TECH: MEDIA SCREENS

13 GROCERYAID

24 OUT THE BOX: UNITAS BRAND BOX

A NEW VIDEO CELEBRATES RETAILERS’ ROLE DURING THE PANDEMIC.

NEW ANALYSIS FINDS TRDP MEDIAMASTER

A NEW INITIATIVE LETS RETAILERS RANGE

SCREENS CAN INCREASE SALES OF

NPD WITHOUT RISK, USING FREE STOCK.

PROMOTED PRODUCTS BY UP TO 41%.

17 NEW STORES: SPAR TOTTINGTON

25 ONLINE RETAIL

31 BEFORE YOU GO...

JAMES HALL & CO OPENS ITS SECOND COMPANY-OWNED STORE IN A MONTH.

TWITTER.COM/SLRMAG

PARCELHERO PREDICTS ONLINE SALES WILL OUTSTRIP STORES THIS CHRISTMAS.

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SLRMAG

YOU KNOW YOU’VE MADE IT WHEN WIKIPEDIA QUOTES YOU AS A SOURCE.

WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK

WEDNESDAY XXX 2020 / ISSUE XX / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 5

NEWS DIGEST

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

WELSH DELIVERY SPIKE

NATIONAL LOTTERY

sharp spikes in home delivery

RETAILERS GEAR UP FOR £20M ‘MUST BE WON’ DRAW

orders since the country

RETAILERS ARE IN LINE FOR BUMPER FOOTFALL AND SALES AHEAD

entered its so-called ‘firebreak’

OF 7 NOVEMBER AS THE NEW PRIZE TIER MEANS £20M MUST BE

lockdown at the end of last

WON IN THE DRAW.

Welsh retailers are seeing

week. Convenience stores are reporting sharp rises in home delivery orders since the principality entered its ‘firebreak’ lockdown on Friday.

SUPERDRUG CONCEPT Superdrug will open a new 7,342sq ft concept store on Friday at the Silverburn Shopping Centre in Glasgow, the first of its kind in Scotland and featuring the largest ever

Camelot is predicting that National Lottery retailers are in line for a sales increase of up to 48% thanks to the upcoming Lotto £20m ‘Must Be Won’ draw that will take place on Saturday 7 November.

Lotto POS started landing in stores this week, and retailers are reminded to site this in the best possible location and as soon as possible.

The new, enhanced Lotto kicks in on the same night, meaning that players who match two main numbers in a Lotto ‘Must Be Won’ draw where no one matches all six main numbers to win the jackpot outright will also scoop a share of the jackpot – winning £5 in addition to their free Lucky Dip (previously the jackpot was only shared between cash prize winners).

Beauty Studio in the retailer’s history.

BOOTS 12 MIN TEST Boots is to offer shoppers a 12-minute Covid-19 swab test in the next few weeks at selected stores. The service will be aimed specifically at people who do not have symptoms although the tests cannot be used by customers as a pre-flight test before boarding an aeroplane, which requires results to be processed by a registered lab.

SLR REWARDS 2020 GOES VIRTUAL This year’s SLR Rewards will now be held in a virtual format on Friday 11 December at 6pm. The most rewarding night in retail was originally scheduled to be take place in June but the champagne was put on ice because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Antony Begley, SLR Publishing Director, said: “We are both delighted and excited to be launching the first ever SLR Rewards in virtual format.

Clearly, it’s not how we had envisaged the Rewards and we would have much preferred to bring the entire Scottish local retailing industry together for

6 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 28 / WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020

a great night as we’ve been doing for almost 20 years – but coronavirus has made that impossible. The safety and wellbeing of all our industry friends is paramount.

“But we are thoroughly looking forward to recognising and rewarding this absolutely amazing sector in a virtual environment. It’s been a long, tough year for us all so it will be a pleasure to end the year with a celebration of the entire Scottish local retailing sector. I look forward to virtually welcoming you all on 11 December.”

NEWS DIGEST

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

FOOD POVERTY

RETAILERS PROMISE ‘NO CHILD WILL GO HUNGRY’

CO-OP FUNDING The Co-op is urging community groups, foodbanks, volunteer centres and other grassroots

CONVENIENCE RETAILERS STEP IN TO FILL THE VOID LEFT AS THE

organisations to apply for

GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO EXTEND ITS SCHOOL MEALS VOUCHER

funding from a £1.5m pot made

SCHEME.

available by the retailer. Grants range from £2,000 to £10,000

Kind-hearted retailers across the country have pledged their support for Manchester Utd footballer Marcus Rashford’s free school meal campaign by providing free school meals for those in need throughout half-term.

The move actively tackles child poverty in the wake of the Government’s heavily criticised decision not to extend its school meals voucher scheme.

High Wycombe Londis retailer Raaj Chandarana is one of many retailers pledging to give a free lunch, including a sandwich, orange juice, a snack and a piece of fruit, to any child accompanied by an adult between 11am and 1pm.

and applications can be made online.

REAL TIME WAGES Holland & Barrett is allowing staff instant access to their earned wage whenever they need it through a

Raaj tweeted that “no child will go hungry” in his area, adding that there was “no purchase required, no judgement, no strings”. He said he intends to help “end the stigma surrounding needing help”.

This was retweeted by Rashford to his 3.7 million followers with the line “Raaj, you’re incredible thank you”.

partnership with tech company Wagestream. The scheme means workers can draw down their earnings in real time, rather than waiting until their standard pay day.

WELSH CLARIFICATION

BARCODE IS BACK

The Welsh government has

Barcode Festival, the event created by GroceryAid to bring people together across the industry for a summer party and celebration, will return on 8 July 2021 at Magazine London.

Headliners Bastille, Dizzee Rascal, Becky Hill and Scott Mills – who were all due to perform at this year’s cancelled event – have already been confirmed.

that retailers can sell during the

issued fresh guidance on what constitutes “essential” products

Previous Festivals all sold out and tickets are in high demand for 2021.

Visit www.barcodefestival.co.uk to find out more.

17-day lockdown period. The move follows a fierce backlash after retailers had to close off sections of their stores on Friday, causing enormous customer confusion.

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 7

THE UK’S BEST SELLING CRAFT BEER IS NOW CARBON NEGATIVE.

TOMORROW STARTS TODAY.

AT BREWDOG, WE BELIEVE THAT BY HAVING THE CONVICTION TO DO THINGS ON OUR TERMS, AND BY LIVING THE PUNK DIY ETHOS, WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD WITH CRAFT BEER… ONE GLASS AT A TIME. AND OUR WORLD NEEDS CHANGE NOW MORE THAN EVER. From working with the best experts in the world, to double offsetting all our emissions, and from waging a war on waste, to investing heavily to reduce our emissions to zero, we are putting everything on the line for what we believe in.

We are learning as we go and will continue to make mistakes. We promise to share the good and the bad from our journey to become the world’s most sustainable drinks business.

MAKING SURE THAT WE, AND FUTURE GENERATIONS HAVE A PLANET TO BREW BEER IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST FOCUS OF BREWDOG. FOREVER.

NEWS SPECIAL

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

financial hardship as a result

‘CANCELLED’ CHRISTMAS FEARS GROW

of coronavirus. The sum

ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY SAYS PEOPLE “MAY NOT BE ABLE TO

includes money to provide free

GET TOGETHER IN THE LARGER GROUPS THAT THEY NORMALLY

school meals over the school

WOULD”.

£30M SUPPORT PACKAGE A £30m package of funding is being made available to local authorities in Scotland to support people facing

holidays.

FOOTFALL DOWN 1.2% The latest figures from retail specialist Springboard show a 1.2% drop in footfall in the last week compared to the week before. This is a slight improvement on the 3.1% decline of the prior week.

Almost all the drop in footfall was down to the high street where footfall fell by 3%.

COCKTAILS AT HOME

Concerns that Christmas as we know it may be ‘cancelled’ this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have continued to grow as Environment Secretary George EustIce has warned that people “may not be able to get together in the larger groups that they normally would”.

The Minister stated that it was “too early to say” what restrictions would be in place over the festive period but with Covid cases growing daily, the likelihood of anything approaching a ‘normal’ Christmas appears to be receding fast. The total number of cases is now approaching 918,000.

Opposition parties have called for coronavirus rules to be the same across

all four UK nations this Christmas.

Eustice commented: “We want people to have a Christmas that is as close to normal as possible. There will undoubtedly be frustrations about the restrictions, but people also understand we have to control the spread of the virus.”

Waitrose has introduced interactive ‘Cocktails at Home’ Experience Boxes in partnership with John Lewis which provide shoppers with key ingredients and kit to make home cocktails, and also include access to an online masterclass with a Waitrose drinks specialist. The boxes are priced at £69.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE TO ENTER TIER 3 Nottinghamshire is to enter tier 3 from Friday and will include the entire county.

Nottingham, Rushcliffe, Gedling and Broxtowe were originally due to move into the top tier tomorrow, but Mansfield, Ashfield, Bassetlaw and Newark & Sherwood will also now be included.

City council leader David Mellen had earlier hit out at the delays and confusion, stating: “Nottingham people and businesses deserve clarity in difficult times. This is not good enough for our city.”

10 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 28 / WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020

NEWS SPECIAL

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

SRC WARNS FIVE-TIER FRAMEWORK ‘COULD BE A CATASTOPHE’

BRC’S CYBER RESILIENCE TOOLKIT

THE SCOTTISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM HAS WELCOMED THE CLARITY

F

OF SCOTLAND’S NEW FIVE-TIER FRAMEWORK BUT WARNS CLOSURES COULD BE A CATASTROPHE.

ollowing the unveiling by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of a five tier Covid-19 Scottish Strategic Framework to managing future coronavirus restrictions, the Scottish Retail Consortium has responded by welcoming the clarity but also warning of a potential ‘catastrophe’.

Level 4 includes the potential closure of so-called non-essential shops. It does permit non-essential retailers to operate click & collect services and also permits food-to-go retailers to offer takeaway.

David Lonsdale, Director of the SRC, said: “We believe any move to

close non-essential retailers will have only a minimal impact on reducing the spread of the virus whilst carrying very significant economic harms. Retail has demonstrated it can operate safely in the current environment and it is notable that there was no spike in infections following the lifting of lockdown on non-essential shops at the end of June.

Scottish retailers have invested tens of millions of pounds to make stores safe and secure for customers.”

Scottish stores lost £2.4bn of retail sales over the first seven months of the pandemic.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has partnered with the National Cyber Security Centre to develop a Cyber Resilience Toolkit for retailers.

Following successful trials, Tesco is rolling out a traffic light FlowControl system across 1,100 stores across the country. The system, from a company called record, is fully automated and provides highly accurate customer counting. The FlowControl traffic lights inform customers when it is safe to enter or when they need to wait because the store has reached its pre-set maximum safe capacity.

It is being installed on customer entrance and exit doors at all store formats including Express, Metro, Extra and Superstores to help the retailer comply with Covid-19 social distancing guidelines and ensure customers and staff feel safe.

TECH SOLUTIONS

TESCO ROLLS OUT TRAFFIC LIGHTS

Designed for non-cyber experts, it highlights the potential threats faced by retailers, key questions to consider when developing cyber resilience strategies, and guidance on the types of protections that should be implemented.

Helen Dickinson, BRC Chief Executive, said: “Retailers need to ensure their systems are watertight and up-todate.”

Access the kit free of charge from the BRC website.

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 11

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FEEDING THE NATION GROCERYAID

HERE’S TO YOU! GROCERY AND CONVENIENCE RETAIL KEY WORKERS HAVE MORE THAN RISEN TO THE CHALLENGE OF COLLECTIVELY FEEDING THE NATION SINCE MARCH.

T

he last seven or eight months have been traumatic for many people across the UK as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the nation. What has been taken for granted by shoppers for so long is no longer a given.

The response of grocery and convenience key workers, however, has been little short of heroic.

To recognise and celebrate the outstanding efforts of the food and drink retail sector, industry charity GroceryAid decided to ask colleagues from around

the country to film their lives during the Covid-19 crisis. From their homes, their cars and in their shops. Here are their stories.

GroceryAid President Charles Wilson (pictured) commented: “Everybody in the trade has done a fantastic job in keeping Britain fed. As you will see in the video, farmers, producers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers have all played a part. Thank you for a brilliant, brilliant job.

Take care everybody, stay safe and thank you.”

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 13

THE BIG INTERVIEW

LOUIS DRAKE SALES DIRECTOR, AF BLAKEMORE

ON A COMMISSION MISSION SPAR WHOLESALER AF BLAKEMORE RECENTLY UNVEILED THE FIRST STORE IN ITS ESTATE RUN BY A ‘COMMISSION OPERATOR’ UNDER A BRAND NEW MODEL – AND WHILE IT’S THE FIRST, IT CERTAINLY

T

WON’T BE THE LAST, SAYS SALES DIRECTOR LOUIS DRAKE.

BY ANTONY BEGLEY

he symbol group model has been the pre-eminent model for binding wholesalers and independent convenience retailers together for some time now, but there are signs that a new trend is emerging. A number of retail and wholesale groups, including the interlinked Co-op, Nisa and Costcutter triumvirate, have been trialling new franchise and commission operator models. The latest wholesaler to unveil a new direction is AF Blakemore, who recently launched a commission operator store model in Herefordshire.

The commission operator model isn’t new in itself. It’s commonplace in the forecourt sector with companies like MFG relying on it, but it’s not a model you come across much in traditional convenience retailing.

“It’s a very popular model in the forecourt sector,” says AF Blakemore Sales Director Louis Drake. “It’s something we had been looking it for some time but our new store in Leominster in Herefordshire is the first company-owned store to operate under the new model. It won’t be the last”.

In basic terms, the store is owned by AF Blakemore but is run by independent retailers. In the case of Spar Leominster, the site is now run by MIH Traders which is owned by Dasitha Gamage and Janaka Watowita.

“The store was formerly operated by Blakemore Retail, our company-owned store division,” explains Drake. “But now it’s being run by Dasitha and Janaka but with the full support of AF Blakemore. It opened on the 7th of September and the early indications are that it is very much performing to expectations and we have high hopes for it.”

14 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 28 / WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020

So what is the thinking behind the new model?

“Essentially, our commission operators will be self-employed entrepreneurial retailers who are seeking to operate their own businesses supported by a successful retail partner.

AF Blakemore will own the business, with the commission operators responsible for developing sales and profitability within their stores. In practice, that means we’re freeing the retailers up to focus on what really matters: growing the business.”

AF Blakemore currently services 966 Spar stores, including 277 company-owned stores, with Leominster the only store operating under the new model, but Drake says

THE BIG INTERVIEW

LOUIS DRAKE SALES DIRECTOR, AF BLAKEMORE

that more commission operator stores are already in the pipeline and will be announced in the very near future.

“The reality is that it’s getting harder and harder for independent entrepreneurs to get in convenience retail in the first place,” says Drake. “The capital required these days can be prohibitive for a lot of entrepreneurs, so this model offers a ready-made model to

SPAR LEOMINSTER

help these ambitious entrepreneurs onto the ladder. Even at a basic level, we can help secure Lottery, PayPoint and so on without retailers having to fork out thousands in bonds on day one.”

Drake is frank about how he expects these retailers to develop in future and fully expects to see retailers migrate into owning their own stores in the future. He comments: “The commission operator model is a great way to get into this exciting industry in the first place but we fully expect retailers to outgrow the model. If commission operators start to hit £40k or £50k sales a week, for example, we would expect them to migrate on to buying their own stores but we would

obviously hope to retain them as customers of AF Blakemore in the longer term. But this is our aim. We absolutely want our operators to be successful and make money and we will provide them with all the support and help they need to achieve that success. The commission operator model can be a stepping stone for ambitious entrepreneurs.”

Commission operators enjoy exactly the same terms as Spar symbol operators including on critical issues like pricing and credit terms.

“It’s a very flexible model,” adds Drake. “We allow the operators flexibility in the range they carry, for instance, and they enjoy a a lot of control over how they run their business – but we do expect good levels of compliance, as we do with all Spar retailers. Discipline is key in maintaining the high standards that shoppers expect when visit any Spar store and that’s vital across issues like promotions, pricing, efficient and consistent use of POS and so on, but that doesn’t mean commission operators don’t enjoy a good degree of autonomy in how they run their stores. We view it as the best of both worlds.”

As for Spar Leominster, Drake says the launch went without a hitch. “I’d say that our team did a fantastic job,” he says. “We’ve been talking to Dasitha and Janaka on a daily basis and I’d say we got 99% of it right from day one. There were obviously some very small unforeseen issues but mostly around little operational and data issues – and those have all been sorted out now, so it’s gone extremely smoothly.”

Drake is guarded on when more commission operator stores will be revealed but does suggest that “one or two more” will be announced in the very near future. “It’s a model we really believe in and we see it as having a big future, so I fully expect us to grow the number of stores operating under this model quite rapidly,” he concludes.

DESTINATION RETAIL AN SLR GUIDE TO BECOMING A ‘DESTINATION STORE’ WHY IT MATTERS... AND HOW TO DO IT. CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW TO READ IT NOW

DESTINATIO RETAIL N

AN SLR GUID E TO ‘DESTINATIO BECOMING A N STORE’ W HY IT MAT TE

READ NOW

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OCTOBER 202 HOME DELIVE RY

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/ FOOD-TO-G O / DIFFERENT LOCAL SOU IATED RANGE RCING / SUS / TAINABILITY / TECH

Destination

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06/10/2020

18:03:05

NEW STORES

JAMES HALL COMPANY-OWNED STORES

JAMES HALL OPENS SECOND STORE IN MONTH NORTH OF ENGLAND SPAR WHOLESALER JAMES HALL & CO HAS OPENED ITS SECOND COMPANYOWNED STORE IN A MONTH.

J

ames Hall & Co, Spar wholesaler for the north of England, has launched a brand new forecourt site near Bury in Lancashire. Spar Tottington is part of the wholesaler’s company-owned stores division, G&E Murgatroyd, and is the company’s second new store to open in the last four weeks.

Formerly a used car showroom, the large new store features a Graham Eyes butchery counter, Clayton Park Deli, Cheeky Coffee offering and a Tango Ice Blast machine.

Julie McAulay, Company Owned Stores Director at James Hall, said: “Spar Tottington offers local residents the very best in modern convenience shopping with an extensive

range of everyday essentials, delicious foodto-go and signposts and history boards celebrating the local landscape.

“A large butchery counter offers shoppers the opportunity to purchase local, high quality meat from an award-winning local butcher, Graham Eyes, with deals such as 3 for £10 and a weekly specials board.

“The Clayton Park Deli counter offers a selection of freshly baked baguettes, jacket potatoes, salads, sandwiches, and fresh cream cakes from Lancashire brand, Clayton Park Bakery, and samosas and curries from James Hall’s company-owned ethnic food brand, Fazilas.

“Shoppers can also enjoy Spar’s Cheeky Coffee, which forms part of the brand’s £3.50 meal deal, and there is a Super Slimming bay with a selection of low calorie products, large selection of wines, beers and spirits, fresh flowers and a health and beauty aisle.”

Alongside the store is a Shell fuel forecourt with six fuel pumps, and an air and water machine.

McAuley added: “Spar Tottington will play an important role in serving local people during and beyond the current crisis and to safeguard shoppers we have implemented social distancing measures throughout the store, including customer dividers and till screens, Spar-branded hand sanitisers and social distance markers.”

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 17

BOOST YOUR VALUE SALES AND STOCK UP ON PINT CANS! 60% of shoppers only buy pint can formats, with the pack size growing +£37 million last year.*

Convenience retailers saw their average annual sales increase by £383 when stocking the pint can format vs 500ml can.**

We’re optimising our portfolio to help you meet the growing demand in pint cans. From October, we’ll cease production of the 500ml can.

Stock up on our 568ml and 440ml cans today. ©2020 AB InBev UK Limited, all rights reserved.

*NEILSEN GB Total Impulse – Value (in £M) – 2019 ** Nielsen Scantrack |YTD 05.09.20 | Impulse channel

ALCOHOLIC SPARKLING WATER. YEAH, THAT’S A THING NOW.

Please drink responsibly. Over 18s only.

STORE PROFILE

NISA LOCAL THOMAS FOODMARKET, NORTON 70 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

SEVEN DECADES AND COUNTING

STOCKTON-ON-TEES RETAILER

DAVID THOMAS IS CELEBRATING THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS STORE WHICH WAS FIRST FOUNDED BY HIS GRANDFATHER IN 1950.

T

his year marks the 70th anniversary of Nisa retailer David Thomas’s store in Norton near Stockton-on-Tees, a remarkable milestone and a fantastic achievement by three generations of David’s family. Things have changed beyond recognition in those seven decades but David believes that the one thing that has never been changed has been the vital role of providing customer satisfaction.

The Nisa Local Thomas Foodmarket was founded in 1950 by Arthur Thomas, David’s grandfather, yet David says he sticks to exactly the same principles as those applied when the shop first opened.

“I don’t want our customers going anywhere else and so I do everything I can to make sure

they have no need to,” he says. “We are a family business and have been here for a long time by offering the personal touch and it’s something we take real pride in.”

David puts the long term success of the 2,500sq ft store down to regular investment to keep it up to date and ensuring he offers the best possible price for his customers. Like many retailers, David has seen sales climb significantly over the last seven or eight months.

Licensed is a key category for Thomas Foodmarket, with Covid impacting sales positively by more than 20% and it is this area that David focuses much of his attention.

He comments: “We recently re-fitted the spirits gantry behind the counter with back lit panels which has had a fantastic effect and spirit sales have absolutely soared – almost tripling. We add in bespoke, individual lines and our customers know they can come here, and I’ll get pretty much anything they want. It’s a service they have come to expect, and we are happy to provide.”

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 20

NPD AND MEDIA

PICKS OF THE WEEK TO GET YOUR PRODUCT LISTED PLEASE CONTACT RAITKEN@55NORTH.COM

WHISKEY GALORE

CHOCWORK ORANGE

PERFECT HARMONIST

Mangrove UK has added

Mars Wrigley UK has launched

Spar has redesigned and

Clonakilty Irish whiskey to its

an orange flavoured variant

renamed its own label premium

portfolio. The distillery started

of its Maltesers Bunny in

‘The Harmonist’ gin range,

operating in 2019 and its cask

preparation for Easter next

with a new Spar Rhubarb and

finish series is made up of

year. The new product comes

Ginger Gin bottle unveiled,

three expressions, all 43.6%

in the wake of growing demand

while the Spar Original London

ABV: Double Oak, Port Cask

for orange flavours and will be

Dry Gin will follow suit in the

and Single Grain Bordeaux.

available market-wide in 2021.

New Year.

RSP: £45.25

RSP: 61p

RSP: £20

DARK FINGERS

BIODEGRADABLE

LOADED FRIES

Mondelez International has

BOTTLES

Calbee is launching restaurant-

unveiled Cadbury Bournville

Bacardi has unveiled plans for

inspired ‘Loaded Fries’ under

Fingers in cases of 20 x 114g.

“the world’s most sustainable

its Seabrook brand in two

The launch is supported by

spirits bottle”, expected to be

flavours: Cheese & Bacon and

cinema, TV, in-store, social and

on shelves by 2023. The 100%

Chilli Heat. They are available

digital activity that Mondelez

plant-based biodegradable

in a 6x19g multipack, 130g

predictes will reach 94% of all

bottle will replace 80 million

sharing bag and an 80g £1

adults.

plastic bottles produced by

PMP.

RSP: £1.50

Bacardi every year.

RSP: £1

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 21

NOW THAT’S A GOOD IDEA...

OUT THE BOX UNITAS BRAND BOX

UNITAS UNVEILS ‘RISK-FREE’ NPD TRIAL FOR RETAILERS UNITAS WHOLESALE IS OFFERING FREE STOCK TO ITS RETAILERS TO LET THEM RANGE NPD RISK-FREE IN THEIR STORES THROUGH ITS NEW ‘BRAND BOX’ INITIATIVE.

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA? Free stock for retailers letting them list NPD in their stores with no commitment and no cost.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Unitas Wholesale is launching a new product trialling program through its ‘Brand Box’ initiative, part of its Plan for Profit scheme. Each Brand Box campaign will include products selected by Unitas Wholesale in partnership with its suppliers. The featured products will either be the latest NPD from supplier partners or will form part of the ‘Plan for Profit’ core range, products independent retailers are advised to stock in-store.

FREE, AS IN ZERO COST? Precisely. The first Brand Box campaign begins at the end of this month and will see 1,000 retailers trial products from leading brands including Maltesers, Pot Noodle, Red Bull and Sharp’s Doom Bar. Each campaign will be underpinned

by Picture Portal technology to enable participating brands to see how Brand Box has helped in getting its product merchandised on the shelves of independent retailers throughout the UK.

WHAT’S PICTURE PORTAL? A web-based app that lets ‘optimisation champions’ in Unitas member depots capture images of day-one execution and upload them.

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WHAT ARE UNITAS SAYING? John Kinney, Unitas Wholesale Sales & Marketing Director, believes the new initiative will help retailers maximise sales from new product launches and help suppliers reach the consumer in a timely and effective manner. He said: “We’ve developed a platform that reduces the risk for the independent retailer to support NPD at the earliest opportunity allowing them to compete locally, we have developed this initiative in partnership with our suppliers in such a way that provides an effective and efficient route to market. ”This is a great, cost-effective platform for faster onshelf presence. Retailers can trial NPD in-store without any financial outlay and if it’s a success, they will then buy direct from their wholesaler completing an efficient journey of distribution, trial and repeat purchase.”

Unitas MD Darren Goldney added: “We know that this initiative will benefit our members enormously as day-one execution helps capture sales and encourages our partners to offer us the best activity. Picture Portal execution is a great example of how technology can facilitate a group of individual members to come together demonstrating execution via a common platform and enables us to compete on a level playing field with national operators.”

ONLINE RETAIL

CHRISTMAS SALES SPENDING LANDMARK

ONLINE TO OVERTAKE STORE SPENDING FOR FIRST TIME BRITISH CONSUMERS ARE SET TO SPEND MORE ONLINE THAN THEY DO IN STORES THIS

O

CHRISTMAS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

nline sales are set to overtake spending in physical stores for the first time ever this Christmas as Brits brace for a Covid Christmas. That’s the prediction from delivery specialists ParcelHero, who expect Brits to spend £39.41bn online this Christmas as online spending outstrips High Street sales for the first time.

Christmas last year saw Britain’s shoppers spent over £78bn on Christmas presents and food but the company says that while shoppers are set to spend around the same amount again this year, this time a far bigger bigger portion of that will be online.

ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research David Jinks says: “Last Christmas, we spent £25.43bn online and £53.15bn in stores. This year, our research shows the situation will be reversed and we’ll spend more online than offline in the first truly digital Christmas.

“In September, sales online sales grew 53% YOY, according to the Office of National Statistics. This Christmas, we think they will inch up to 55%. That means online shopping will rise to a record-breaking £39.41bn.

“We don’t think it’s likely we’ll see a massively increased overall spend this Christmas, as people are concerned for their jobs because of the impact of Covid and Brexit, which looms just seven days after Christmas. So, assuming Brits spend roughly the same as last year, that means in-store shopping will correspondingly drop considerably to £39.17bn.

“YouGov says English shoppers, for instance, spent £381 on presents last Christmas and £159 on food and drink.

Over half of this budget will be spent online this year. We’ve already seen proof we’ll be buying many more presents online in 2020. Online department store sales rose 88% YOY in September as people pre-ordered new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles in time for Christmas delivery.

“With Amazon and Tesco promising free grocery deliveries for Christmas for shoppers in their membership schemes, we’re also expecting food deliveries to soar over the festive period. As even Marks & Spencer launches full-scale food deliveries thanks to its new Ocado tie-in, you could say it’s not just an online Christmas revolution, it’s an M&S online Christmas revolution this year.“

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 25

BOURTREEHILL IRVINE

www.uniteduk.com

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“Day-Today have undertaken a full critique of my store and they have delivered on every point.

The team at Day-Today have made a number of positive changes to the store layout so I’m now making the sales floor work much harder.

My sales have never been higher and my customers love what we’ve done with the store.”

Imran Ali”

CO-OWNER IMRAN ALI

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Helping you to make an extra 3% Gross Profit Ease of use

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Supplier Data links with all major Wholesalers

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Weekly health check reports to guide you to improve your sales and margin.

Access to background database with over 100,000 products

Benefits of MPos ✓ Built around a retailer, not a computer user ✓ Simple to use till, powerful admin tools ✓ Built from retailers perspective ✓ Reduces labour by downloading products, price changes, invoices and promotions

✓ Reduces labour by allowing one click order generation and one click invoice downloads - easily shave off 10 hours of work per store

✓ Increased control on stock; all stock deliveries downloaded and all stock adjustments emailed to the owner; NO stock is unaccounted for

✓ Emails store performance to the user with real actionable data once a week rather than stats heavy reports that overwhelm the user

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TECH

MEDIA SCREENS THE RETAIL DATA PARTNERSHIP

MEDIA SCREENS DRIVE SALES IN 500 STORES NEW ANALYSIS OF STORES USING TRDP MEDIAMASTER SCREENS HAS SHOWN THAT AVERAGE SALES

T

PERFORMANCE WAS OVER £117 HIGHER IN STORES WITH SCREENS.

he Retail Data Partnership (TRDP) has revealed the findings of new analysis of how its MediaMaster Screen service has been performing in more than 500 stores. The analysis shows that sales increased by as much as 41% on some promotions.

The services enables retailers to advertise promotions from wholesalers as well as running their own local content at the tillpoint.

The screens were first introduced in June 2019 and since then they have proven themselves to be a great driver for additional sales, according to TRDP. Samantha Coldbeck of Wharfdale Premier in Hull says: “The ads have captured customers’ imagination and given previous stagnant areas a new focus. Promotions are essential to our business, and MediaMaster is an invaluable ad platform. This solution will future-proof our business”.

In a study of ads placed over a 35-day period in 106 stores with 209 screens, average sales performance was £117.05 higher in stores who carried ads on the MediaMaster screens than in stores of the same fascia who didn’t carry the screens.

“This is good news for wholesalers, manufacturers

41%

INCREASE IN SALES ON SOME PROMOTIONS

and retailers,” says TRDP Managing Director Stephen Burnett. “It is clear that retailers embrace technology when it provides instant, measurable results. We love to see the Media Master screens going into stores because we know it’ll help retail partners build their businesses.”

The product that performed best in the study was Budweiser. Average sales for MediaMaster stores during the promotion period were £65.47 through the 35 day period, and stores without MediaMaster over the same period sold £38.49. Non-alcoholic products also performed well, with sales of Dairy Box seeing an average improvement of £12.28 through the promotion period.

TRDP handles all wholesaler promotion ads on behalf of retailers and can also create bespoke store-specific ads for no additional fee.

For more information, visit www.retaildata.co.uk.

WEDNESDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 28 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 29

SUPPORTING GROCERY COLLEAGUES The GroceryAid Covid-19 Fund is designed to help colleagues who need support now and throughout the full impact of the pandemic.

Grocery colleagues have access to:

“Amid the huge challenge of Covid-19 our trade has done a great job of keeping the nation fed. GroceryAid has raised a special Covid-19 fund to help our industry colleagues at this time of need. The 24/7 Helpline will deal with concerns and assist with financial stress caused by this terrible virus.”

- Charles Wilson, GroceryAid President

Mental Health Support Offering ‘in the moment’ emotional and practical support for colleagues dealing with shock, anxiety and stress through BACP trained counsellors, our Health and Wellbeing portal and Woebot, our AI Robot App. Bereavement Financial Assistance Providing financial assistance for the loss of a loved one through Covid-19. Available to colleagues who lose a partner or the immediate family of a colleague who has passed away as a result of Covid-19 whilst working in our industry.

Crisis Grants Non-repayable grants, designed to help with financial emergencies. This is available for colleagues experiencing unexpected financial difficulties due to Covid-19 with a year’s industry service.

GroceryAid Helpline: 08088 021 122 Visit: www.groceryaid.org.uk Follow us:

BEFORE YOU GO...

RETAIL RANDOMS WIKIPEDIA / VEGGIE BURGER BAN

WE CAN DIE HAPPY NOW There are some days in life that you will remember for the rest of your life. Your wedding day, for instance. Or the day your first child was born. But there’s also the day you first find yourself listed as a reliable source in that repository of utterly reliable information, Wikipedia.

Not once but twice has Scottish Local Retailer been listed as the source of information on a Wikipedia page dedicated to, of all things, the Kensitas Club cigarette brand. Not exactly how we had hoped to be remembered in future, but you take what you can get in these “unprecedented” times.

VEGGIE BURGER BAN HARD TO SWALLOW

The world may be collapsing around our ears, but the European Parliament has nonetheless found time to debate and vote against the so-called ‘veggie burger ban’. You know the one, the proposal that would have banned plant-based products from being called names typically associated with meat products.

Burgers, say, or sausages.

Interestingly, the European Parliament has however voted to ban the use of descriptive terms such as ‘yoghurt-style’ and ‘cheese alternative’, from being used on plant-based dairy products. Terms such as ‘almond milk’ and ‘vegan cheese’ are already banned on products in the EU, but the recent vote extends the regulations.

WEDNESDAY XXX 2020 / ISSUE XX / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 31

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