Refresh Your Store with a Range Review

A range review can help refresh your store, removing lines that aren’t working as hard as they could be. Reviewing your range also helps you declutter lines that are meeting similar customer needs.

How often you do it, according to retailers, is entirely case-dependent. However, the key when doing a range review is using your EPoS data to identify trends and opportunities.

“All our range reviews are data-driven,” explains Nishi Patel, owner of Londis Bexley Park in Dartford, Kent. “Use your EPoS and combine this with your intuition about your target market and local area. You can then decide whether to increase or decrease a line’s prominence in your store or delist.”

Patel recommends doubling the number of facings you give a line before making the final decision to delist, just to be sure. “We’re a convenience store and shoppers come to us because they want convenience. Having fewer lines achieves this.”

Getting started with your range review

Consider what kind of range review you’re carrying out. Is it a small one for a singular category? Or are you due for a store-wide range review?

“How often we do range reviews depends on the category,” Patel says. “With vaping products, it’s weekly, but other categories are less frequent. For example, we recently carried out a range review on our crisps and now only stock the £1.25 price-marked pack formats.”

The retailer’s reasoning is based on the long-term trend of shoppers looking for better value. “Most customers bypass the smaller bags, so it made little sense keeping them in,” Patel adds.

Vidyur Pandya, owner of Kislingbury Mini Market & Post Office in Northamptonshire, carries out a range review every quarter. “We monitor how often we’ve had to reduce each product since the previous quarter. If it’s more than twice and hasn’t sold through a single case, we’ll delist it,” he says.

A core focus for both retailers has been streamlining their ranges to avoid overwhelming their customers and offer more value than before.

Of course, value means different things to different shoppers, and this is where you need to consider the functions of each product you stock and the specific needs it caters for.

Less is sometimes more with range reviews

Think about whether you need three or more varieties of the same product. For example, if you have more than one type of bleach, do you need them? In some cases, having more than one type of product can be confusing.

“We’re doing a massive range review as part of our refit, and we’ve taken a long look at each category,” says Pandya. “With bleach, we had two brands and one own-label product, which was too much. We removed our branded options, as most are similar anyway.

“We look at our EPoS, see what’s been sold and how easy it is to source that product, and whether we’re likely to overwhelm our customers with the amount of choice available.”

The same is true for categories such as bars and savoury snacks. Do you need to stock multiple products offering similar flavours and price points? Could you curtail some of these products and make room for innovative brands and tastes?

Patel says this ethos can be applied to every category, adding that most stores don’t need “six kinds of strawberry jams”, and if you do, to focus on a budget, middle and high-end option.

What to consider when doing a range review

When analysing your data, consider how often you sell through cases. If it’s a product you’ve had for six months or more, and you’ve only sold one or two cases in that time, it might be time for a shakeup.

But if it’s a new product you’ve had for a month or less, and you’ve only sold a case or close to it, it might be worth keeping it in your range and promoting it more.  

Of course, the good thing about a range review is it allows you to make room for new products to meet the latest trends, which is where we can help.

Some of our latest products include:

• Grind Coffee - Grind offers a refreshing twist to speciality-grade coffee, crafting ethically sourced, cold-brew, and barista-quality drinks in fully recyclable packaging. The iced coffee flavours you can stock include: Oat Latte, Caramel Latte, Flat White Coffee, Black Coffee and Mocha Coffee.
• Buttermilk – Buttermilk snack bars are vegan, as well as dairy-free and palm oil free. The brand’s packaging is also fully recyclable. We stock Coconut Choccy, Double Choccy, Caramel Nougat, Honeycomb and Peanut Nougat Caramel, and multipacks of Caramel Nougat Choccy and Double Choccy.
• Wallaroo - Wallaroo is a range of simple, nutritious organic tropical fruit snacks. Our range of Wallaroo Gently Dried products includes Mango Slices, Pineapple Chunks, Whole Apricots and Coconut Chips.

Retailers’ advice to maximise your next range review

“Being with Londis, we get data from other retailers, but we also look at trade media for the latest trends and ranging advice from suppliers,” Patel says.

Pandya says retailers should observe their customers, paying attention to what they’re buying in-store, where they’re standing and what they’re looking at. “You’ll soon notice brands that aren’t cutting it,” he says.

“Look at buying history, too. Sometimes price is a factor more than quality, especially in household and core food categories.”

To conclude, Patel advises: “Remember, you know your shop and your customers, and as a retailer, you know what sells. Also, refrain from seeing an empty space and immediately wanting to fill it with a new product. Double facing is not the enemy.”

The start of the year is a great time to refresh your store. If you’re planning a range review, get in touch to find out how we can help you tap into profit-driving trends.