How can Retailers Rebuild Consumer Confidence?
Retailers need to get their governance right to rebuild trust and instil consumer confidence as promotions make a mockery of headline prices
Insights from Anthony Carr, Sellex Managing Director
The tactic of reducing products on promotion by more than 50% is making a mockery of headline pricing and could lead to retailers needing help to rebuild trust and instil confidence in shoppers.
The era of cheap food is over and retailers are making solid profits, they at least need to go the extra mile to be up front and fair to shoppers. Food inflation has become a “clickbait” opportunity for media, but with consumer confidence in retailers at its lowest point since Which? started looking at it in 2012 and with consumers more concerned about food pricing than ever, eagle-eyed shoppers are becoming more aware that all is not as it appears.
People paint a picture of trust in supermarkets spiking during the height of the pandemic, though I’m not sure whether this is reality or people looking back through rose-tinted glasses. Either way, people need transparency and straightforwardness more than ever right now. Retailers have a vital role to play in protecting the shopper and holding suppliers to account on what they promote and how they display it.
This means retailers and suppliers need to get their governance right, whilst still striving to do the right thing.
Climate change is going to increase food price volatility and ultimately drive food prices up, but when some promotions are back to pre-pandemic levels despite the headline price in the stratosphere, something is simply not right about it.
But there are steps retailers can take to help to rebuild trust and instill confidence in shoppers:
- Reserving secondary display opportunities for the pack configuration in the range which truly represents the best value for money in that range – a well known condiments brand has been very aggressive in this space recently, placing their mid-size SKU on secondary display, with a cheaper, larger alternative in the standard location
- Ensure that larger packs (off-promotion) do represent best value – kitchen cloths more expensive as a 20 than 2 x 10 will have been fooling less-savvy shoppers for months!
- Put the cost per/g on all SELs and Barkers without fail– I hope this a retail discipline issue, not a flagrant attempt to confuse the shopper!
Why choose Sellex to help you?
Sellex has a strong heritage in growing sales and profit for blue chip organisations. It trains, consults and co-creates future ways of working to leave businesses stronger. It has also taken a fresh look at what Commercial Confidence needs to look like in Sales and Customer Development, and has developed a new set of commercial competencies, whilst also delivering cutting-edge consulting projects across Revenue Growth Management, Category, Channel and Commercial Organisational Effectiveness.
For an initial conversation, call our Managing Director, Anthony Carr on +44 7342 084166
