OUT THE BOX

NOW THAT’S A GOOD IDEA...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-FREEIN 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.

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.”