The trading period covering Halloween, World Cup 2022, and Christmas is a one-off opportunity for food manufacturers and retailers to test approaches to the new high fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) store layout rules, with a new toolkit released by CHEP UK & Ireland claiming it can help the industry to adapt.
Store layouts have been subject to restrictions since 1 October, including HFSS-impacted products no longer being displayed at prominent store locations. CHEP’s ‘Store of the Future’ toolkit results from six months of conversation with industry leaders who have provided feedback in response to a virtual supermarket representing a possibility of what a store may look like post-October. Roundtables in partnership with POPAI, the trade association dedicated to enhancing the shopper experience, were attended by the likes of Coca-Cola, Britvic and Dufry.
Five tools underpinned by 15 recommendations provide manufacturers and retailers with ideas about how they can transform and adapt store layouts to maximise promotional space and opportunities. The tools are: Use modular for stock displays; Win the in-fixture battle; Go packaging-free; Get creative with digital displays; and Rethink products and locations.
CHEP UK&I Store Solutions Category Manager, Sean Field, said: “We’ve visited over 150 stores in the past sixteen weeks to explore how CHEP can support the industry to transform to the new store layout requirements. Most FMCG manufacturers and retailers accept that more can be achieved beyond recent initial trials. The industry toolkit fills a gap and puts forward recommendations to support the evolution process in stores – whether on gondola ends or in the aisles, or HFSS compliant or non-compliant products.
“The forthcoming compression of big-ticket events, including World Cup 2022, is an opportunity to gather data on approaches and shape the long-term future of store layouts. More importantly, this data may guide how the toolkit recommendations can be applied successfully.
“So, when considering how to win the in-fixture battle, the next three months of customer behaviour may help to define the blend of toolkit recommendations that manufacturers and retailers use. For instance, the extent to which AI-based digital displays should engage shoppers in balance with eye-catching pre-filled displays that could be switched around the store according to the time of day.”
Retail and brand industry influencers present at the CHEP roundtable, supported by POPAI, included Bryan Roberts, Analyst at Retail Cities, who said: “Many of the recommendations in the toolkit reflect the trends and patterns I’ve seen on the continent. Differentiation and putting clear blue water between the competition is the name of the game. Aisles are more adventurous. Displays are more creative with touches like straw and wooden crates for natural produce. Europe shows that profitability does not have to be boring.
“The toolkit goes a step further and combines ideas around the use of data, adopting of sustainable practices, and the efficient deployment of pallets to offer a road map on how the FMCG sector can make Europe’s success happen here.”
The industry toolkit is available via the CHEP UK&I website.
