How are you enjoying the Autumn weather?
Winter seems to be around the corner. I'm not quite ready for the winter wardrobe yet but bring on the comfort food!
As always, here is my round-up of the hot topics heading into October...
Supermarkets aim to replenish shelves
Grocery sales remain 8.7% higher than pre-COVID levels as we are still dining at home more than usual.
With more and more people returning to their workplaces, we can expect shopping habits to change. We are already slowly moving back to more frequent, smaller shops!
These trips are being affected by availability due to shortages of staff and fuel.
Nielsen analysis shows that Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons out-of stocks are now double pre-pandemic levels.
With food shortages expected to affect supermarkets until the end of the year, we have seen retailers cut levels of promotion as a way to manage stock.
When the supply chain issues are resolved, you'll need a great promotional strategy. For my latest blog post, I created a helpful checklist of a few things you should know before planning your next promotion.
Aldi & Lidl are making their comeback... 🛒
Aldi attracted more new shoppers than any other retailer this period, with an extra 612,000 households in the 12 weeks up to the 5th of September.
Lidl has also made market share gains, up to 6.1%.For more info on Aldi & Lidl, check out my blog post on what I learned from shopping in the discount supermarkets.
Refill stores in Tesco & Asda ♻️
According to Kantar's 'Who Cares Who Does' study, "using refillable or reusable products" is the number one way people are looking to be more sustainable in the next year.
Tesco have partnered with Loop to bring reusable packaging solutions into ten of their stores.
Most of the difficulties I had using Loop's online service are related to deliveries and returns, so this removes a huge barrier!
ASDA have been trialling an in-store refill solution in Leeds for almost a year. They have replicated this successful trial with a second location in Glasgow, as well as commiting to two more stores (Milton Keynes and York) by the end of 2021. While 65% of people say they try to buy environmentally friendly packaging, only 29% of people regularly avoid buying plastic. There is a huge opportunity to bring more mainstream solutions like these to those of us who want to do better but are stuck in our habits!
Trick or Treat? 🎃
For the last decade, Halloween has been growing in popularity and retail sales in the UK.
2020 wasn't an exception, thanks to the 31st falling on a Saturday and retailers offering deep deals on pumpkins.
In October last year, the UK was in different lockdown tiers and the result was a 26.9% decline in sales of sweets for trick or treating. But as we spent more time at home there was a boost in the popularity of pumpkins, both for carving and cooking.
With no lockdown restrictions this spooky season, retailers will be pulling out all the stops.
Brands should be tapping into this key moment, whether it's creating recipes with pumpkin or providing a unique spin on the festivities.
I hope you're all set for the events of Autumn and Winter and starting to plan for 2022.
Get in touch if I can help in any way!
Continue to stay safe, well and positive.
Ella.
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