The power of effective merchandising has been proven in a project involving Rustlers, the UK’s No. 1 micro-snacking brand*1, and Bestway’s Team Valley depot in Gateshead.
room with Alison Wright, Kepak Convenience Foods’ Regional Account Manager.
The project involved the depot team working closely with Rustlers in remerchandising the chilled provisions room.
Prior to the project, Rustlers was merchandised on two shelves, amongst chilled sandwiches. The re-merchandising led to Rustlers being displayed on four full shelves, adjacent to chilled sandwiches, with POS on all shelves in the provisions room, standees outside and in the depot reception.
Steps were also taken to ensure the full Rustlers range was listed and that replenishment stock levels were correct. Sales of Rustlers increased dramatically. The products with the biggest sales uplift were the Rustlers Quarter Pounder and the Rustlers Chicken Sandwich, with an average increase of more than 200%.
Sales increases across other Rustlers products was also strong, leading to an average sales uplift of 40% across 8 SKUs. “The figures speak for themselves. The project was a real success and we’re looking forward to ensuring that cash and carry depots can implement our easy-tofollow advice and use Rustlers to drive chilled sales,” said Angela Daulby, UK Group Sales Director, Kepak Convenience Foods.
Rob Reid, General Manager at the Team Valley depot, which is five minutes’ drive from Newcastle city centre, was delighted with the results.
“Chilled and food to go is a growing market and we’re committed to bringing in the right range at the right time, to reflect market trends,” he said.
He also highlighted the role that POS played in delivering the major sales increase.
“POS is really important. You can have the best product and the best display but if you don’t communicate directly to the customer, it’s a wasted opportunity.”
Rob also highlighted the role that market-leading brands such as Rustlers can play in attracting customers to the chilled area.
“In cash and carries there’s a need to encourage customers to visit chilled departments. By siting a brand like Rustlers in a prime location, and retailers knowing that the brand is in stock, you will drive sales of other chilled lines.
“In today’s environment, if we stand still we will fail. If you look at the retailers who’ve been able to invest in chilled, they are the ones who are reaping the benefits.”
Angela agreed: “Chilled is a massive opportunity in convenience and brands such as Rustlers have a key role to play in attracting retailers to cash and carries. This remerchandising partnership has shown how much scope there is for cash and carries to increase sales of the UK’s No. 1 microsnack* 1.”
Rob added: “Now that we’ve increased sales, it should be easy to maintain as we’re now ordering to customer demands rather than having lower stock levels and trying to guesstimate what may or may not sell. It’s a win, win situation.”
*1 IRI Total Market 52 w/e November 11th 2017
RUSTLERS
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