Promotional activity has been dominated by confectionery - not just for Hallowe'en but also because the Christmas push has already begun, says James Ball


Sweet dreams are made of this. Confectionery and biscuit brands have dominated this month's promotions thanks to the tail end of the Hallowe'en push overlapping with an earlier than ever start to the festive season.

Confectionery and biscuit heavyweights filled the top three slots in this month's Promo Dynamic table and each of the top three boasted at least 66% more promotional lines than this time last year.

The most heavily promoted lines in supermarkets' featured space this month were selection boxes, treatsize multipacks and Advent calendars.

"This month is a real treat for fans of the sweeter things in life as not only have the major multiples started to offer their seasonal Christmas lines earlier than ever, there are also the usual trick-or-treat multipack bargains," said Assosia managing director Kay Staniland, commenting on the uplift. "Deals on confectionery and biscuits are often found in multiple places in-store, including the especially prominent entrance pallets. It's a tricky time to get into featured space if you're not in those categories."

This trend is reflected by reduced activity among other top 10 promoters. Heinz slipped from eighth to 10th after slashing deals 30.2% month-on-month, while wine brand Hardys cut back on deals by 26.4%, consequently slipping one place to eighth. Müller and Kellogg's have also curtailed their activity since September.

The push on sweets and snacks was almost, but not quite, enough to topple the beer, wines & spirits category from the overall most-promoted slot.

This month, alcohol deals made up 23.2% of all offers, while impulse lines trailed 0.4 percentage points behind on 22.8%. Ambient grocery, the third-most promoted category, lagged a full 10 percentage points behind, comprising just 12.5% of all offers.

Meanwhile, the number of branded promotions rose again this month as retailers continued to shift their promotional focus towards economic recovery.

Restoring brands to featured space allows retailers to promote higher-value lines and recover revenue by selling the space to brand owners. Consequently, own-label promotions dropped 1.2% this month, though remain a huge 45% up year-on-year.

The total number of promotions increased slightly this month, by 0.8%, though generosity of offers fell. Average discounts were down one percentage point on September, at 31.9%.

Focus On Confectionery

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