Driving Sales & Profits During Autumn Nights
Brown leaves, cold mornings and Strictly back on TV – it can only mean that autumn is officially here, bringing a change in consumer mindsets and needs.
With the change in the season comes the usual shift in shoppers opting for nights in rather than nights out. For convenience retailers, this means a transition from food-to-go, picnic and barbecue products to sharing formats of snacks, soft drinks and alcohol.
“Alcohol peaks during the winter. Snacking is already a big category, but it becomes bigger in the second half of the year,” explains Sid Sidhu, owner of St John’s Budgens in Kenilworth, Warwickshire.
“It’s almost a different type of snacking, and anything to do with entertaining is popular.”
Efficiently Merchandising for Nights In
The best way to merchandise your nights in ranges will be dependent on your store size.
Sudesh Patel, owner of Londis Coulsdon in London, for example, tailors his range with small but impactful tweaks in the PoS he uses.
“We’re a little community store. Customers come in and they know the range they can buy throughout the year, and we’ll stick to it. But there are some sellers we make more prominent through PoS,” he says.
Patel runs regular promotions on alcohol, crisps and sweets. “We’re supported by Londis promotions. They’re changed every four weeks, and it keeps things interesting and fresh for customers,” he says.
Sidhu’s strategy, however, is to create a route through his ‘night in’ products in the store. “It’s easy for customers to flow through the store and pick up what they need. The range is all situated close to each other and our larger formats are at the back of the store,” he says.
“Retailers have to create that customer journey – but do it in a way where they walk your store and offer tempting opportunities with other products.”
Cosy Nights In Start the Christmas Countdown
Your autumn big night in range creates the springboard for your Christmas success. Tap into these seasonal behaviours as soon as possible to communicate to shoppers that you’ll have what they need throughout the colder months.
“This season is all about indulgence,” Sidhu explains. “Consumers treat themselves more and they also trade up. It then falls flat in January when we see people switching to healthier mindsets.”
Many retailers will have already ordered their Christmas stock but are still deciding when to put them out on the shop floor. Impulse lines experience the best sales in September with sharing formats and tubs gaining traction from October and November onwards.
It’s not just the snacking category that gains traction. Fresh and frozen food are important, too, as shoppers want convenience this time of year.
“We sell more buffet packs of pork pies and sausage rolls – anything carb-heavy to meet that ‘cosy’ mission,” Sidhu adds.
He also offers a frozen meal deal for the autumn night in. This includes a pizza, chips and a dessert, like Ben & Jerry’s. Sidhu runs a similar fresh meal deal, too, which includes Franco Manca pizzas.
“Although shoppers will spend more, it’s all about driving that value message and adding to the basket value, which helps drive our spend overall,” he adds.
What Products Are Popular?
Here at Epicurium, we have plenty of snack and drink options to offer your customers something different this autumn:
- Propercorn: Founded in 2011, Propercorn offers a selection of popcorn, crisps and chips. It is made using hand-popped, butterfly corn giving it a light and crunchy texture. Each vegan product contains no palm oil and is under 136 calories. This year, it is driving association with staying in through a partnership with Netflix for its new Chilli & Caramel flavour.
- Itsu: Made with quality ingredients, Itsu’s range includes noodles, seaweed thins, rice cakes, and prawn crackers. The flavours of its prawn crackers include Peking Duck and Sweet Chilli.
- Dalston’s Craft Soda: Dalston’s uses real fruit and has no added sugars or artificial flavours. Its Craft Soda range flavours include Cherryade, Elderflower, Ginger Beer, Lemonade, Peach Soda, Rhubarb, Pineapple, Raspberry and Tropical.
- Nix & Kix: The brand’s Zingy Infused Sparkling Drinks are low calorie, vegan and have a wide range of flavours. Blood Orange & Tumeric, Cucumber & Mint, Mango & Ginger, Raspberry & Rhubarb and Watermelon & Hibiscus.
Looking After Mental Health
While the start of autumn brings many positives, for others, they’ll notice a decline in mental health, and as such, will be looking for something to make them feel good.
“In winter, spending is higher because shoppers are more comfortable spending more of their disposable income on enjoying themselves and trading up from us, but trading down from restaurants,” Sidhu says.
“The overall sentiment is trying to feel good when the weather is awful and there are small things we - and they - can do that make a big difference. Snacking is part of that.”
Some will want healthier alternatives, but the key is having the availability of the products they want for a night in when their mood might be lower.
Also, make sure to check in with your customers. In the autumn/winter, social schedules dwindle, so you might be their only contact for the day.
By being a reliable one-stop shop for your local community, you will drive loyal customers and keep tills ringing through to Christmas and beyond.
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