Recognising the best of 2015. Vote now.
Running a store successfully in any location is a challenge and, in era of increased competition and soaring customer expectations, retailers increasingly look to their suppliers, wholesalers and peers for guidance and support to help them grow.
This year for the first time we are giving you, the RN readership, the opportunity to recognise some of the best of this work in our Retailer Choice Awards. Eight RN contributors have used their industry knowledge to create shortlists for eight awards.
It’s now up to you to pick your winners. The nominees with the greatest number of votes will be recognised in two weeks’ time in our 18 December issue.
1. Supplier initiative of the year
From online platforms to in-store testings, suppliers continue to invest in support for independent retailers to boost sales of entire categories. Which programme, above all the others, deserves this award?
The Sun - Deliver My Sun
Increasingly, retailers are seeing providing a great HND service as a way to protect newstrade profits and, this year, News UK has put itself at the heart of this trend with its Deliver My Sun campaign. With a website that drives customers interested in HND to their local newsagent and advertising on the newspaper’s front page and on television, this is a major campaign to grow retailers’ newstrade sales. The company says that each new customer is worth £165 per year and that retention levels for HND are 90%. A major initiative like this provides a much-needed good news story for a category in decline.
Post Office
With 17 million people visiting a branch each week, it’s no surprise that adding Post Office services into a store can raise its sales by 15%. As part of the Post Office’s modernisation programme it has been paying existing branches £10,000 to convert to a new Post Office Local format with that rising to £45,000 for a main branch. This year its launch of the ‘Run a Post Office’ website has helped make it easier for independent retailers interested
in going the group to do so. The site gives advice on the application process, information on the fees that retailers receive plus details and case studies from post offices in your area.
Cereal Partners UK - Cereal Success
In April this year Cereal Partners UK launched its trade focused website offering case studies of retailers who have grown their sales, planograms, brand news and much more. The site was developed in consultation with 40 retailers to ensure the advice and information is as relevant as possible. One of the stand-out features on the site is the option to ‘Book a Relay’ where the Cereal Partners team will come to a retailer’s store and re-lay their cereals fixture. Over 100 stores have taken up the offer since it launched. Finally, the brand-by-brand profiles on the site give bitesize chunks of category information.
Imperial Tobaco - Partners for Success
There’s no doubt that 2016 is going to be another challenging year for tobacco retailers with not only plain packaging legislation coming into force but also the sprawling (and as yet unconfirmed) implications of the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive transforming the formats and range they can stock. Partnering for Success is Imperial Tobacco’s response to what it says is a “highly regulatory environment”, comprising of printed and online START (Support, Training, Availability, Range and Trust) guides which will keep retailers up to date through the next 12 months and beyond.
Taylors of Harrogate Brew View
This was the year Taylors of Harrogate took advantage of its investment in the Brew View site, and became a category leader for the support it offers. Its advice is based on comparing total market data, convenience sales data and the EPoS numbers from retailers’ stores. In addition, the company will then reorganise retailers’ fixtures and monitor their sales to ensure the changes have had the desired effect. An online profit calculator also offers a nifty way for retailers to check their margins, while the “Who Is My Shopper” section provides easy-to-read facts and figures on shoppers in convenience stores.
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Tom GK
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Deliver My Sun - The Sun
Run a post office - Post Office
Cereal Success - Cereal Partners UK
Partners for Success - Imperial Tobacco
Brew View - Taylors of Harrogate
2. Newstrade star performer
From colouring books to Star Wars titles there’s been a wealth of innovation in the newstrade this year? Which one has stood out with readers?
Disney Frozen Magazine (Egmont Publishing)
Although not the “official” magazine for Frozen characters, Egmont Publishing’s Disney Frozen quickly achieved leadership in the primary girls sector of the buoyant children’s magazine market, reporting average monthly sales of over 90,000 copies for its first ABC audit. The title, which features stories based on Frozen characters, along with puzzles, stickers, colouring pages and competitions, has increased its cover price this month to £4.99. Such has been the title’s success that, despite this price increase, Egmont has decided to make it a three-weekly, rather than four-weekly, magazine from January 2016.
Relax with Art (Bromleigh House)
Relax with Art was a major diversification for puzzle magazine specialist Bromleigh House, but the title has been highly successful in helping to turn the adult colouring book craze into a significant earner for retailers. Launched as a £2.99 monthly less than a year ago, Relax with Art now has a suite of brand extensions, with a calendar, a diary and a yearbook on sale during the run-up to Christmas and New Year. Last month, award-winning newsagent Kate Clark of Sean’s News, Upton-upon-Severn, told RN that the title had become so popular that she is selling up to 40 copies per month.
Magiki Puppies (De Agostini)
Publisher De Agostini has developed the partworks category well beyond its original knowledge-building concept, with activity titles – such as the current Build the Millennium Falcon – and collectables. Magiki Puppies, a short-run £2.50 series of 12 featuring small puppy dog models that changed colour or glowed in the dark when handled, proved popular with children and adults alike. Not only has the brand been successful in its own right - Magiki Puppies has helped boost sales of other titles too. Earlier this year, Magiki Puppies’ cover mount helped primary girls title Sparkle World achieve a 70% sell through.
Private Eye (Private Eye)
Never a big spender on newstrade promotions, Private Eye nevertheless bucked the trend of falling magazine sales with a 5.7% year-on-year increase, taking its newsstand sales to over 90,000 copies a fortnight during the first half of 2015. Scandals sell papers, and when there’s plenty of them about, as there is now, Private Eye is usually on the case, digging up extra details and reporting on every rumour. Besides, its humorous covers lighten up the shelves and have long provided committed and creative retailers with a reason to decorate their store windows when a cover has been particularly strong.
i newspaper (The Independent)
The i, which has recently celebrated it fifth birthday, is a daily paper for people who want more comment with the news that the Metro offers, and less than the main quality dailies provide. At 40p – double the launch price – and average daily newsstand sales off 191,000 (down from 209,000 last year) the I is not a big money spinner for retailers, but in a market that’s in long-term decline, every newspaper sale is worth- while. – a point its sales force is currently making in a drive to promote sales through independent retailers. Praise also came recently from the NFRN’s Brian Murphy telling RN it’s “found a hole and it works”.
As chosen by
Neville Rhodes
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Disney Frozen
Relax with Art
Magiki Puppies
Private Eye
The i
3. Symbol group innovation of the year
We say it every year, but the symbol group market is now more competitive than ever before. What has been the innovation that has helped one group raise its game in 2015?
One Stop's £5 frozen meal deal
Offering excellent value for money against a sea of discount stores and aggressive supermarket price-cutting is becoming increasingly more difficult for symbol and franchise stores. But One Stop was able to flex its buying power to give its retailers an eye-catching ‘four for £5’ frozen meal deal, which included a main dish, side dish, dessert and a 1.25l drink. This was coupled with ongoing eve- ning and lunch meal deals to offer even greater value to shoppers. One Stop retailers told RN the promotion has helped them grow customer loyalty and boost repeat purchases as a result.
Bargain Booze 24 refit recruitment drive
With growing interest in its Bargain Booze franchise model, Conviviality Retail attempted to win over new candidates with a bold promise – join the group and take advantage of complete, 24-hour store refit to either a Bargain Booze or Bargain Booze Select Convenience Store. The campaign has helped generate more than 300 retailer leads to date for the company, with the first set of new recruits having their stores converted early in November. Off the back of this success, Conviviality has since launched a second recruitment drive to gain more retailer members over the Christmas period.
Budgens' 'test bed' stores
Looking to attract new shoppers to its business, Budgens decided to introduce a new supermarket concept to its store in Broadstone, Dorset. The ‘lab’ store focused on offering a wider range of fresh produce, artisan bread and bakery lines and a wealth of locally-sourced goods to shoppers, leading to sales growing 25% a month after launch. The positive results prompted Budgens to launch smaller convenience concept stores in Byfleet, Surrey and Crouch End, London. Positive results at these stores has now convinced the group to roll out the scheme nationally in the near future.
Booker’s multimedia Mega Deals campaign
With Booker’s Mega Deals averaging £3.5m in retail sales during each promotion in 2014, according to head of Premier Martin Swadling, the company sought to grow this further with a year-long TV campaign. The move saw Mega Deals promoted on ITV and satellite channels throughout the course of this year with ads featuring genuine Premier retailers and their stores to highlight their importance to local communities. Coupled with the campaign’s coverage in the national press, Premier retailers told RN that the investment has led to greater footfall in their stores.
Bestway’s Abbey Road Apple Pay system
The launch of Apple Pay was seen as a revolution in the way customers can pay for various goods with just the touch of digital device. Wholesaler Bestway was one of the first to recognise the benefits this technology could bring to retailers, leading the company to introduce Apple Pay in its Abbey Road depot. The company said the move has led to shorter queuing times and greater flexibility for store owners, meaning they are spending less time in depot and more time in their businesses. The service is also unique for having no ceiling on how much customers can spend, unlike other Apple Pay systems.
As chosen by
Steven Lambert
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One Stop's meal deal
Bargain Booze 24h
Budgens' 'test bed' stores
Booker's Mega Deals campaign
Bestway's Apple Pay system
4. Marketing campaign of the year
From in-store PoS to multimedia advertising, which campaign has done the best job in convincing shoppers to buy a product in retailers' stores this year?
Preparation is key (pre- display ban) – JTI
In March, JTI took out a full page advertisement in RN to tell readers about the experiences of Scottish retailer Sunny Kumar who was preparing early for the tobacco display ban. The firm used the advert to present Sunny’s top tips for maintaining sales in a dark market while putting forward its gantry offer and reasons for early preparation. At a time when first- hand experiences were rare, this was an invaluable insight. The company also ran a ‘Text to win £250 worth of B&H Dual’ offer to readers and employed interesting and colourful designs to promote its new limited edition packaging for its Camel brand.
Grab A Grand – Boost Drinks
In its drive to be the best-selling energy drinks provider exclusively targeting the independent sector, Boost Drinks reaffirmed its mission this year with some extensive and effective advertising investment. As with other competitive categories, the company demonstrated its commitment to strong audience engagement by running a competition for retailers to create a Boost Drinks display, take a picture, and be in with the chance of winning one of 20 prizes of £1,000 cash. One winner, Bay Bashir of Belle Vue Convenience in Middlesbrough, appeared with his prize certificate in RN’s 16 October issue.
Deliver My Sun – News UK
In a drive to increase and secure more regular sales through HND, publisher News UK set its sights on helping independent retailers to establish new orders with its Deliver My Sun campaign, advertised in a series of covers and full page adverts in RN. The offer of 12 weeks free delivery of The Sun clearly appealed to our readers. By mid- November 6,000 of them had set up new seven-day HND orders with 28,200 orders made. News UK’s Greg Deacon told RN that the response to the scheme, which has been extended, showed there was a future in home delivery and with it a sustainable revenue stream for stores.
Win seats on the Cadbury Jet – Mondelez
The confectionery giant invested heavily in the independent sector with its commitment clearly demonstrated in the volume of spend with RN. The supplier shouted loud and proud through RN’s pages about its unique ‘text to win flights’ competition while providing great advice for retailers to encourage more sales. Some of the firm’s other campaigns included a 25p pricemark promotion of favourites such as Fudge, Chomp and Dairy Milk Freddo, and its Play with Oreo advertising, which helped provide great category advice for dis- playing the ‘World’s No.1 Biscuit’.
Starburst (Teenage Cancer Trust) – Wrigley
Supporting charities is a great way for an independent retailer to boost their reputation and edge that little closer towards the heart of their community. Wrigley showed that suppliers could do the same this year with its campaign to make a donation with every pack of Starburst sold to the Teenage Cancer Trust. As part of a huge marketing campaign involving digital and TV, the company invested in RN’s exclusively independent reach. It also promoted its ‘win an Xbox’ deal every day with Skittles, and engaged retailers with a ‘Merchandising with the Masters’ project.
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