Life is sweet
We're very impulsive creatures, especially when it comes to filling a growling stomach. If something small and chocolatey is within reach when we're hungry, we're certain to grab it.
This, in essence, is what spurs confectionery merchandising - a multi-billion pound business where the impulse purchase has been studied in great detail and at phenomenal expense.
Gardner Merchant, the UK's largest contract caterer, has also looked thoroughly at how to maximise impulse sales of sweets and other snack products. In 1988 the company completed a six-month research project looking at merchandising techniques.
"We looked at high street principles and saw what applied to our business," says Joan Milner, national merchandising manager. The report's findings apply to any canteen operation. "I always tell people I have the easiest job in the world because it's all based on common sense," she says.
The best way of maximising sales, they found, was to restrict the range. "Only stock top-sellers," Milner advises. "What I recommend is to stock a core range of about eight top-sellers depending on the size of the establishment. They should also rotate about another four and they will then have a dozen products on display."
In a very small unit, serving less than 200 meals a day, she would bring that down to about ten items, seven of the top ten and three rotating. Rotations, she stresses, should always be in line with media advertising.
A key concept is to display facing to demand. This means that if you sell 10 Kit Kats for every one Bounty, display 10 Kit Kats and one Bounty on the stand. This saves restocking and the customer can always find what they want.
Most important is the idea of a hot spot - an area where things will sell best. "Generally speaking, hot spots are in the mainstream flow, where everybody goes as they walk through, where they stop or pass slowly and where the products are highly visible," Milner says. This is usually directly before a niche purchase area (before you reach the coffee machine at break time) or a niche service (such as the cash desk).
Products should be displayed so customers can read the logo easily. Products must also be within easy reach and must be displayed just below eye level, especially as we tend to look down slightly.
By faithfully following these principles, Gardner Merchant increased sales of snacks by 6.78% and Milner is expecting this year's increase to be around 10%.
"Last year's result was marvellous, considering it was a recessionary period, that there were fewer people at work and people were much more conscious of what they were spending," she says.
In common with all the major manufacturers and supermarkets, Gardner Merchant uses a computer aid known as a "space management system" to help its sales.
This allocates space on the basis of sales and the physical size of the product. A unit is built on a computer screen and products are put in the correct sales ratio. From this information, the software produces a "planogram".
This system is so effective that it is being adopted more widely in other shops such as garage forecourts.
