Over 1,000 retailers attended the first Bestway Retail Showcase held at the Liverpool Exhibition Centre last Thursday.
It was the biggest-ever gathering of Bestway’s symbol customers from brands Costcutter, Bargain Booze and Best-one – alongside its Xtra Local retail club members – to showcase the Bestway Retail offer.
The day was described as “one of the most useful and inclusive events we’ve ever experienced” by one retailer, who continued “we’re going back energised with fresh ideas, learnings and a raft of valuable insights as to the future of dynamic retailing”.
More than 140 suppliers engaged with retailers, sharing market insights and product opportunities, and inviting retailers to feedback on NPD lines they are looking to bring to market. There were over 100 special Retail Showcase offers extended to attendees on the day, giving opportunities to make more margin and capitalise on sales opportunities.
Best-one, Bargain Booze, and Costcutter all brought their propositions alive in real-time mock stores. These gave snapshots of the future, sharing the latest merchandising techniques, and highlighting opportunities for retailers to sell more and open up greater margin potential. The event also presented an opportunity for retailers to see the newly launched Best-one store branding.
The exhibition space was divided into key zones for business hub, category zones, retail mock stores, alongside a Show ‘deals hub’ and marketing services, which included tool kits for retailers to take away across social media and marketing.
Bestway’s Managing Director, Dawood Pervez, presented to a packed auditorium, thanking retailers and supply partners for their “unswerving support” over the past year, reinforcing that Bestway’s aim is “frictionless retailing” – making it easier for retailers to do business through delivering service, products, category support and rebates in the way that meets retailer needs.
He also reiterated the “true value of local” as being enormously important to the way consumers see their local convenience stores. Pervez said: “Increasingly consumers are aware that it’s not just the price on the tin, but they have woken up to the fact that there is so much more to community stores. They are saving time, cost, energy and reducing emissions by shopping local, as well as reducing waste by not buying products they don’t actually want.
“90% of consumers shopping in local stores walk to the store, helping health and wellness and reducing obesity, and that’s before we consider the local business benefits of putting revenues back into the community”.
Bestway’s new Retail Director, Jamie Davison, emphasised that Bestway is an entrepreneurial wholesaler that wants to collaborate and partner with its retailers. He said: “We will never be a faceless, transactional, wholesaler – the very heart and soul of our business is about collaborative retailing, getting to know our customers and helping them grow their businesses through providing the right products, the right service, and the right environment for them to thrive.
“Just one example is in today’s increasingly digital environment – we are leading the way in time-saving retailer tech and making platforms available to help them optimise margins, and help their shoppers buy goods in the way they want to shop.”.
Other presentations included “10 Top Ways to Excite your Shopper”, from Lumina and “Big Issues Facing the Convenience Market” from Aidan Fortune, editor of C-Store, as well as “How to Grow Sales with Best in Class Off-License Proposition” by Diageo, AB Inbev, Accolade and “The Importance of NPD to Category Growth” from Mondelez, Ferrero.
There was also a market update in Vape, alongside trends and opportunities in this category from Imperial Tobacco / Juul, and a look at the Soft Drinks category with a presentation from CCEP, Red Bull and Danone on ‘Getting the Right Mix to Drive Sales and Footfall’.
Pervez concluded: “As our first Retail Showcase, the day far exceeded our expectations. To have over 1,000 retailers engaged alongside our supplier partners and industry guests, was enormously valuable.
“A key aim for us was to ‘share’ and help our retailers ‘learn and grow’ alongside deepening our own team’s understanding of current market needs. It gave us all the opportunity to engage and discuss current challenges and how we all work together to help our customers capitalise on market opportunities.
“There is no question that this aim was met and the combination of our brands, and partners shows that we are ‘stronger together, as one’ – which enables us all to move forward as a united force!
“I would also like to extend a sincere thank you to our supply partners who helped make the day such a success”.
