The retail big night in playbook is officially outdated. Maximising the occasion has traditionally meant using promotional bays and dump bins to site snacks, confectionery and bulk-buy large formats. But with 62% of UK consumers now explicitly preferring to stay in over going out, the occasion has shifted from a weekend event to a more everyday ritual. This need must now be catered for within the main fixture, rather than confined to a promotional bay.
Today’s shoppers are looking for affordable luxuries, premium flavours, and restaurant-quality options, without the hefty bill. For independent retailers, the opportunity is in creating an offer that works every day, not just for a weekend or hinged around a seasonal event. Retailers need to change their range and embed the right formats and premium nights in lines directly into everyday shelf space. Position trade ups as no brainers and those impulse sales will follow.
Here is how you can move big night in out of the promo bay and into your core planogram to secure higher, reliable margins year-round.
Trading up with premium indulgence
With consumers trading in a £50 bar tab for a £15 night in, price sensitivity on accompanying treats drops significantly. This is presenting a growing opportunity for retailers to introduce premium treats into their ranges and encourage that extra spend, especially as snacking remains a high-margin category.
Lines like Bang Bang Popcorn or Booja Booja Chocolate Wonders offer margins per unit of more than 30% and, with a higher RRP, they tap into those trade-up opportunities with their range of on-trend flavours. Rather than a separate promotional display, consider integrating them in one of two ways. Either position them alongside core range favourites in the main fixture with a label flash reading ‘Perfect for a night in’ or trial a free-standing display unit next to soft drinks or alcohol, if licensing restrictions allow.
If you’re testing the latter, make sure that your drinks range is similarly aimed at this trade-up shopper. With almost half (49%) of young adults now regularly reaching for alcohol-free or low-ABV drinks, according to Drinkaware, consider the upmarket drinks that still enable these shoppers to feel part of the moment.
We’re seeing younger consumers swapping to functional beverages – infused with adaptogens, magnesium, and botanicals to relax during night ins. To capture this non-drinker spend, make space for brands like Trip CBD, or Punchy sodas. While the multiples will be offering these drinks in four-packs of set flavours – you have the opportunity to run mix and match deals on bestselling choices from, for example, Trip’s six-strong range.
Introducing premium bakery
As consumers create full restaurant-style experiences at home, there is a growing demand for premium sweet treats that elevate the evening, as retailer Ian Handley, of Handley’s Go Local in Cheshire, has uncovered.
“Sticking solely to core brands misses a huge trick. We’ve expanded our fresh bakery and sweet treat offering to include artisan lines like cronuts, gourmet flapjacks, and Boston Cremes,” he says.
“Shoppers treating themselves to a night in aren’t looking for just cheap items, they want affordable indulgence. Adding these sweet lines gives them a reason to spend an extra £3 or more per basket.”
Handley adds that introducing these premium sweet treats keeps his range interesting and drives repeat visits.
“Moving the product throughout the day works really well. We restock ahead of the evening rush and merchandise them right alongside our premium crisps and snacks,” he says.
Crucially, retailers have an opportunity to expand their premium indulgence ranges by making their offering as inclusive as possible. Stocking a range of high-quality vegan and gluten-free bakery goods, like Epicurium Wholesale’s gluten-free Rhythm 108 range that covers Soft Filled Cookies, or Teffie’s Cinnamon Sultana and Chocolate Date Cookies ensures that no shopper feels excluded from the night-in occasion.
Rethinking formats
The line between impulse snacks and planned nights in is blurring. Small, single-serve formats, already under pressure from rising supply costs, are becoming increasingly overlooked by shoppers. They’re finding value in slightly larger packs for impulse treats and that’s only fuelling demand for the biggest packs they can find for anything to be enjoyed at home.
To capture this demand, retailers need to adapt both their format selection and their shelf layout to maximise cross-category impulse spend. In practice, this could mean reducing single-serve formats and trialling larger grab or sharing bags. Handley, for example, has seen this transformation already hit his store, especially as families settle into post-summer routines.
“Years ago, we’d sell 60p bags of crisps and it was the smallest format available on the market,” he says. “Now the smallest format we offer costs £1.35, and we focus on sharing bags. Sharing bags are now used for both nights in and as part of an everyday shop, so we thought, why not combine them?”
Merchandising beyond the ‘Dead Zone’
Where you place these nights in formats matters. Some convenience store owners rely on front-of-store promotional bays, but Vidur Pandya, of Kislingbury Mini Market in Northampton says this isn’t always the most effective route.
“We avoid promotional ends now for big night in as we found that we got higher sales by cross-selling directly in the aisles. Our customers now prefer to go straight to the main aisle knowing what
they want to buy and pick up impulse items along the way. Our promo bay has become a dead zone.”
In a world where attention spans are increasingly at a premium, a promotional bay can no longer be the place where your shoppers are expected to conduct a multi-category shop. It’s for quick messages – a new product or a stand-out offer – a more considered decision of big night in buying is best placed elsewhere.
By integrating all night in food products into one main aisle, you can create a flow around the store that encourages shoppers to build a complete basket for their time at home.
Retailers need to make this as effortless as possible. Combining core big night in staples with impulse displays throughout the store creates multiple sales opportunities, for example using clip strips or baskets of snacks near drinks.
Making the most of premium frozen
When budgets are tight, historically customers ‘trade down’ to cheaper, basic lines. But in the convenience sector, the big night in occasion is revealing the exact opposite trend: Shoppers are trading up.
Pandya recognised this shift early on and changed his frozen section to include both a ‘value emergency’ range, such as a pizza, dessert and drink – or chips, main and a dessert option – and a premium dining experience.
He introduced a new premium frozen meal brand that offers homemade recipes, clean ingredients and zero preservatives. It taps into the growing demographic of consumers seeking upscale, single-serve meals for £7.
“Trading up instead of down is a trend that is here to stay,” he says. “Our shoppers are staying in and premiumising what they buy to have a great experience at home. We’ve seen people come in specifically for our ready meals as a night in meal option.”
The key for independent retailers isn’t to eliminate entry-level products, but to construct a tiered core range within the fixture that meets shoppers at every price.
“We have options depending on budgets,” he says. “We have a frozen deal that’s £7 for two pizzas and an ice cream tub customers can take advantage of, and it’s in a separate freezer to our premium range. It gives shoppers a choice whether they want to treat themselves or go for a cheaper option.”
Stop leaving margin on the table. Build your premium big night in range with Epicurium today and turn your everyday shelves into a high-margin destination.
