GET THE PRODUCTS AND FORMATS RIGHT

THE key to capturing on the go and passing trade sales of mints and gums is knowing your customers and using your EPoS to tell you what’s selling, and to help get the offer right for your shoppers. Coldbeck’s store is in the Hull Docks area, with a mix of residential properties and businesses.

“There’s a prison nearby as well, so we get a lot of the visitors coming in,” she says. “For us, mints and gum are crucial to on-the-go sales. Our biggest mints brand is Trebor, and we sell Soft Mints and Fruit. In gum we sell a lot of Wrigley’s Extra Blue, but not so much Extra Green.

“We offer the full range of gum pack formats, but sell more single packs than bottles or tubs. It’s worth stocking multipacks for big buyers. If people see them, they’ll buy them. You need to give these products high visibility.”

Sohal adds: “We’re on an estate, and our mints and gum sales are quite gendered. People buy them with cigarettes or beer. Men come in for the beer

Focus On Flavours

“FLAVOURS are very important in mints and gum,” says Coldbeck. “You need to get the range right – 80% of our sales are mint, across both.

“In mints, our biggest selling ‘other flavours’ are fruit and soft fruits. In gum, the big ‘other flavours’ are lemon and blackcurrant mixed.”

Mars Wrigley has also noticed a shift towards fruit gum, which has doubled year on year, and can help stores attract new customers to the category.

According to the supplier, 50% of fruit gum is from new shoppers, while 32% of fruit gum shoppers are exclusive to the category.

“More than half our sales in both mints and gum are mint. We sell a lot of smaller packs of flavoured Mentos because people like to have a variety,” says Sohal. “The bestselling flavours are orange and the mixed ones.” cave, and buy gums and things like Mentos. Women with families buy them as part of their general shop. A lot of teens and kids who buy mints and gum are also into sweets, especially American sweets and Fanta and Tango Ice Blast. Our biggest selling mints are Soft Mints and Extra Strong Mints.

Mintel’s report says two thirds of gum users would like a wider range of flavours, but in Patel’s store, he says some of the new gum flavours Mars Wrigley launched recently haven’t taken off. He does, however, have huge success with mint flavours and tubs of spearmint and bubble gum.

The different formats are ideal to catering for on-thego consumers and for sharing missions.

Mars Wrigley says retailers should stock single formats by the till area for those buying on-the-go and to boost impulse buys, while gum bottles are more popular for desks at home or in their cars for convenience.

“In gum, our biggest sellers are Extra Green standard packs and tubs, and tubs of bubble gum, bought by kids in the mornings on the way to school.

Airwaves is a big brand generally, but it’s a slow seller here.”

Patel says: “We’re an independent village convenience store. For men, the big buys are Mentos and Airwaves chewing gum. Women tend to buy soft mints, mints and chewing gum. Kids buy Hubba Bubba and fruit mints.

“There’s a junior school nearby and the children come in with their parents and grandparents, and buy Wrigley’s chewing gum, and US chewing gums we get from Parfetts. We have a lot of elderly people and have herbal mints for them.”

top TIPS

Visibility

Place popular lines just below eye level to take advantage of incremental sales. Moving chewing gum from below to above the counter is proven to drive a 20% increase in sales.

New products

Retailers should champion new products in store in order to raise sales and capitalise on early consumer demand. A secondary siting by the till can boost both awareness and sales alongside displaying PoS materials that highlight new products.

Secondary siting

Effective secondary sitings alongside core till point merchandising can boost impulse sales with all shoppers as more than half of all gum purchases are unplanned.

Use PoS

Retailers can increase awareness of new campaigns or new products by making use of PoS in store. Consumers will be intrigued by what catches their eye.

Make The Most Of Merchandising

“WITH a large majority of consumers only buying mints and gum when it’s visible in store, and with PoS displays accounting for a large percentage of sales, it is vital to have effective, eye-catching till fixtures that are easy to shop,” says Hannah Lee, senior brand manager, Extra, at Mars Wrigley.

The supplier also recommends dual siting to further boost impulse sales.

Sohal brand blocks her mints and gum ranges, dedicating seven shelves to them so her customers have a wide range to choose from. She then uses Booker planograms, but also uses other areas in the industry for advice.

Coldbeck, however, uses two satellite units for her gum. “We also put mints with confectionery in a separate aisle, as people come in specifically for mints and we encourage them to cross-purchase,” she says.

“We take our own merchandising advice, and our EPoS tells us what’s selling. We read trade press and see what’s new, and if Booker sells it, we’ll try it.”

Planograms and supplier websites are key sources of information on how best to merchandise mints and gums. Some retailers are now moving away from the till area entirely to avoid it cluttering up and moving the category towards the confectionery sections –especially if they are affected by HFSS legislation.