nickshanagher

I was sent this photograph of a display at Caltex, an Australian c-store chain, by him!, the UK shopping insights company. What him! wanted to draw to people's attention was the idea of including a healthier option in food-to-go. What I think UK retailers will like is the way the meal occasion is presented - grouping products together to meet a shoppers need state. I know many retailers think they have this cracked but once you see it done really well - and many UK shopkeepers are doing it better than as shown here - you realise most people are just playing lip service to the concept. More importantly, the same applies to presenting food for later - quick meal solutions next to drinks and desserts.

"We're blessed with a wonderful business where we sell moments of pleasure at cents a time...billions of times every day," Muhtar Kent, who heads Coca-Cola, tells the Financial Times. I have cut the quote in half because the first half is what lots of local retailers are in the business of providing in the CTN market. CTN, which stands for confectionery tobacco newsagent, is a specific term that covers a loose style of retailing where people make frequent out-of-pocket purchases. In the modern convenience store, CTN is a major category alongside top-up shopping, food to go and a food for later offering (fresh and chilled). Mr Kent is clear that selling moments of pleasure for cents at a time is a recession proof business - provided you have enough scale. Most local shop owners recognise that they are in the pennies business, needing to build sales volumes. A second theme is his commitment to investment in the future of the business. It is why Coke has supported the ...