nickshanagher

Abstract: Thoughts on how to influence independent convenience retailers, a disparate audience that is becoming increasingly important for FMCG manufacturers. Combined they are as significant in size as a major multiple, but a tailored approach is needed to reach them as individuals.   Independent convenience stores have a 13% share of the UK grocery market, says the Institute of Grocery Distribution. Sales will rise from £22.2 billion today to £29.4 billion in 2019 at a much faster rate than the grocery market as a whole.   The growth story is driven by changes in how UK shoppers behave and also by the better store standards achieved by most independent retailers. The challenge for FMCG marketers is how to effectively be a part of this growth story. There is so much variability in the way that these shopkeepers operate. They are promiscuous buyers prone to chasing the best price available and from a wide range of suppliers. Even the many distributors, who...

There is a story in the Times today under the headline "Lidl fools the foodies with fake farmers' market test" showing that the "average person could not tell the difference between artisanal fare sold at markets and the products available on its shelves". The company set up a farmers' market in the east end of London and filmed shoppers who bought the products and then were surprised to be told that they were sourced from Lidl. For example, they bought mangoes at 75p and aubergines at 45p. The Times goes on to compare this with the prices at "the fashionable Borough Market" where they cost £1.99 and 70p each. The results will be provided to us all to see in a £20 million advertising campaign next month. This "news item" from the Times is of course not really news. It is part of the media story that portrays Lidl and Aldi as plucky little underdogs rescuing the UK consumer so that, in the words of its UK managing director Ronny G...