Sales of cold and flu remedies start to rise dramatically during the autumn. Although the category may be relatively small, we recorded an average of 46 SKUs per store,and the retail profit per square metre is quite attractive.
While advance weather forecasting helps the multiples gear up for cold, wet weather, how good are they at meeting the demand each day?
At Asda we found only 5% of OTC cold and flu products on promotion - well below the category average of 8%. As a result huge spikes of demand created by deal-seekers meant 50% of promotional SKUs risked being of out of stock during peak shopping periods. In contrast, only 13% of non-promotional brands were low on stock.
Safeway was a better bet for shoppers than many of its bigger rivals, with only 7% of standard lines and 5% of promotional lines low on stock.
Of course, shoppers here might well be paying more for their favourite remedy, given Safeway’s high:low pricing policy.
Though Sainsbury delivered some below average trading figures to the City last week, it did not disappoint in this poll. Only 11% of SKUs on promotion were at risk of being out of stock, while normal lines came in at 5%.
Somerfield carries the smallest range on offer here. Its availability was slightly higher than the retail average this month: 18% of promotional lines were at risk and 11% for normal lines. Shoppers looking for cold and flu products in Tesco are likely to see the same levels of availability regardless of whether they buy on promotion. We found 14% of promotional lines and 13% of standard lines at risk of being out of stock.
And that leaves Morrisons, which certainly has a lot to be cheerful about this month - as do its customers. Those wanting a deal would have found all promotional lines fully available and only 5% of normal lines at risk, which is about as good as it gets.
While advance weather forecasting helps the multiples gear up for cold, wet weather, how good are they at meeting the demand each day?
At Asda we found only 5% of OTC cold and flu products on promotion - well below the category average of 8%. As a result huge spikes of demand created by deal-seekers meant 50% of promotional SKUs risked being of out of stock during peak shopping periods. In contrast, only 13% of non-promotional brands were low on stock.
Safeway was a better bet for shoppers than many of its bigger rivals, with only 7% of standard lines and 5% of promotional lines low on stock.
Of course, shoppers here might well be paying more for their favourite remedy, given Safeway’s high:low pricing policy.
Though Sainsbury delivered some below average trading figures to the City last week, it did not disappoint in this poll. Only 11% of SKUs on promotion were at risk of being out of stock, while normal lines came in at 5%.
Somerfield carries the smallest range on offer here. Its availability was slightly higher than the retail average this month: 18% of promotional lines were at risk and 11% for normal lines. Shoppers looking for cold and flu products in Tesco are likely to see the same levels of availability regardless of whether they buy on promotion. We found 14% of promotional lines and 13% of standard lines at risk of being out of stock.
And that leaves Morrisons, which certainly has a lot to be cheerful about this month - as do its customers. Those wanting a deal would have found all promotional lines fully available and only 5% of normal lines at risk, which is about as good as it gets.
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