RIGHT CHOICE: HOW TO MAKE SALES SOAR Britvic's Right Choice category programme shows retailers how to get those sales rising with little effort Britvic Soft Drinks' Right Choice category management programme unveiled in February promises to deliver an extra £400m sales annually across the soft drinks market. Sales director Paul Moody says: "If universally adopted and fully implemented, Right Choice could add an extra three per cent to market growth. There is huge, untapped, potential in the market. We are investing £20m in Right Choice to maximise this opportunity." Moody says Right Choice, which cost more than £1m to develop with a leading fmcg business consultancy, is founded on in depth research into consumers' soft drinks needs and demands. "It operates as a business partnership between Britvic and its customers and is designed to drive growth in the category, increase profitability, while offering consumers better choice," adds Moody. "Tailored solutions are developed for outlets of all sizes, from multiples, to pubs and forecourts. We have already embarked upon a number of pilot schemes with leading retailers." A number of specific strategies have been developed focusing on areas Britvic has pinpointed as providing the biggest financial benefits. - Convenience strategy (potential value increase to £113m): There are 15 million visits to convenience outlets every week and the immediate consumption occasion is the fastest growing in soft drinks (9% in value since 1997). However, only 7% of visits to convenience outlets include the purchase of a soft drink, compared to 8% for confectionery. An increase of just 1% for soft drinks would add £70m to the value of the category. So retailers should make soft drinks a first purchase choice alongside crisps, snacks and confectionery by cross-promoting with other impulse products. In home consumption is growing and 40% of purchases within impulse outlets are bought to consume at home. Increasing the purchase of packs for future consumption 5% would add £22m to the value of the category. Retailers should remind shoppers to buy soft drinks for future consumption by stocking a range of bestselling brands in larger pack formats to satisfy this need and merchandise them alongside other future consumption products such as ready meals, barbecue items and family sized crisps and snacks . There is a huge opportunity to encourage heavy users to buy more or spend more by offering added value or better quality products. A recent example of success is the move from 330ml cans to 500ml PET bottles. Driving average weight of purchase by 3% would add an estimated £21m to the value of the category. Retailers should stimulate shoppers, particularly heavy soft drinks consumers on the move, to purchase more volume for immediate consumption by merchandising large packs in chillers. - Grocery strategy (potential value increase to £318m): There are currently 31 million adults in the UK and consumers over the age of 35 will make up 56% of the population by 2002. Increasing the consumption of 10% of adults over 35 by one additional glass per week would add £28m to the value of the category. Instore communication should highlight tailored product ranges which appeal to adults, meeting their lifestyle and health requirements, assisted by new product development, such as rejuvenated Idris traditional flavours and new R Whites Cloudy Lemonade. There are three other strategies for boosting sales: - Kids: two to 14 year olds drink three times more than adults and there are 11.3m of them in the UK. Children should be offered what they want by stocking packs which are easy to use and suit a range of occasions,including specific flavours and packs to appeal to different ages, such as Tango 250ml and new Cherry Tango - Rate of purchase: some 46% of consumers run out of soft drinks at home. While the average household shops 36 times a year, soft drinks are only purchased on one shopping trip in three. Increasing the number of soft drinks purchasing occasions by one visit per year would add £53 m to the value of the category. Stores can convert category buyers to buy on every shopping trip by making purchasing as easy as possible by using front of store display or a few big promotions relevant to consumer occasions. - Buying more: major sales peaks are not followed by dips in sales. In other words, when consumers buy more, they drink more. There is also wide variation in the penetration of some sub categories e.g. energy (8.7 % penetration). Retailers can motivate category buyers to buy more soft drinks on each store visit by providing space in a seasonal aisle for big packs, such as 2 x 2litres and multipack cans. The larger grocery channel accounts for 29% of the value of the total immediate consumption market, despite a lack of focus in this area. Only one visit in seven includes a purchase for immediate consumption. So larger grocery stores must look to increase frequency of purchase of impulse packs by offering consumers the correct immediate consumption range, including products from at least four sub categories, such as colas, fruit drinks, water and flavoured carbonates and promoting lunchtime meal deals. All of these strategies identify opportunities based on persuading large numbers of consumers minimally to increase their spending and consumption. These negligible shifts in choice and habit equate to huge value increases across the entire category. {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}