Merchandising breeds success

How to turn heads with bagged sweets

EVERYONE wants to be like a kid in a sweetshop once in a while and the image of wide-eyed customers ogling a display is no bad thing for confectionery retailers.

However, creating the kind of display that turns heads takes serious consideration and continued work.
Winner of Scottish Grocer’s Confectionery Retailer of the Year Award for 2016, Mohammed Asif of Spar, Market Square in Forfar, has just such a display, standing at the entrance to his shop, drawing the gaze of customers passing on the street outside.

Merchandising hits the mark: Mohammed Asif of Spar, Market Square in Forfar

He said that when it comes to bagged confectionery presentation is paramount. With 15% of his store’s floor space given over to confectionery, keeping everything organised and looking good is a major part of his staff’s work.

“Merchandising and display are very important, bagged confectionery is a big category for impulse sales and display of prices is vital.”

Mohammed carries Spar offers in bagged confectionery and the store has its own manager’s specials. Price point, he says, is another crucial element of bagged confectionery sales. He has a £1 Spar stand and has many £1 bags on his confectionery fixture. He said any £1 items have a big uplift and, particularly for the big night in, his customers will pick bagged confectionery from his £1 stand. However, he warns against having too many price-marked packs.

He said: “We do some, but we don’t want to confuse our customers by having marked packs at one price and another price through a Spar offer.”

• When it comes to setting up a confectionery display, Jon Eatly, customer excellence director at Wrigley, suggested retailers merchandise by format and sub category, e.g. single serving fruit confectionery, share bag fruit confectionery, single serving chocolate confectionery, etc.
“Use eye-catching POS materials to draw attention to your confectionery display encouraging customers to buy on impulse,” he said.