IN-STORE PROJECT
SIGNATURE ACTION DAN BROWN
600% SIGNATURE GROWTH AND RISING! MUSSELBURGH RETAILER DAN BROWN, REIGNING SCOTTISH LOCAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR, HAS
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GROWN HIS SALES OF SIGNATURE ACTION BY MORE THAN 600% IN THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS, AND SALES ARE STILL RISING.
here’s nothing quite so satisfying as seeing your efforts rewarded in the till, and that’s something Musselburgh Nisa retailer Dan Brown has found over the last couple of the months as part of an in-store project with The Week In Retail and Scandinavian Tobacco Group UK (STG). The project centred around the increasingly popular Signature Dual leaf-wrapped cigarillos, recently renamed and rebranded as Signature Action [see panel]. After more than two months of effort focusing on the product, Dan and his team have succeeded in growing sales by 600% – and sales are still rising. “It’s been a pretty successful initiative, I have to admit,” says Dan, the youngest-ever President of the Scottish Grocers’ Federation. “First and foremost, I have to say thank you to my team who have been incredibly helpful and supportive in our drive to focus on Signature Dual, or Signature Action as it’s now called. I remember being pleasantly surprised that we had seen 500% growth in the first month of the project, so to see that figure keep growing to 600% is fantastic. And we’re still seeing that growth continue.” Dan points out that, yes, the growth was from a relatively small base, but a
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600% increase in sales is pretty remarkable for any product in any category let alone a category facing so many practical instore challenges. The store has gone from selling around one outer a week to selling at least six a week, which is impressive growth. The success proves once more that a little focus and attention dedicated to the product and the wider cigars category will deliver for retailers. “I’m actually surprised that we’ve had such big success because, at the end of the day, the legislation around the category means we don’t have a lot of tools at our disposal to drive sales, but it just goes to show what can be achieved, even with so many challenges,” says Dan. The secret to Dan’s success? “There’s no doubt that making Signature Action the cheapest product on the gantry was a major factor,” says Dan. “We had to make a very small tweak to the pricing, and we trained staff to upsell at the till point. Whenever anyone mentioned price, we were able to suggest Signature Action as the lowest-priced product we stock. “We also gave the staff a briefing on the product itself so that they could talk knowledgeably, should customers want any more information – and many did.
