New retail formats for sweets

The box turned up in the post. Not wrapped, no damage, all intact. It was clear to see what it was so I wasted no time in “pushing and peeling” the four windows as instructed. Six little bags of sweets lay inside to tempt me – I’m now supposed to “graze” all day with any other colleagues in the office…

Confectionery is certainly an evolving category. The fact that we all love a sweet treat from time to time is resulting in the development of some interesting formats and retail styles in order to tempt us to choose a particular avenue.

This example comes to us courtesy of Mr Big Tops. Clearly based on the principle of a Graze box (which admittedly is a little more healthy), a quick look at the website suggests that they ideally want you to subscribe – a box every week even! You give a “thumbs up" to a selection of 60 sweets and then they surprise you each time. The cost of a 375g box is £3.75 with free postage and  you can simply purchase a single box if you are suitably self-controlled.

Nifty idea and the Mr Big Tops brand uses every inch of its box, inside and out, to develop the brand and encourage engagement. Whilst Mr Big Tops is not the only company offering boxes of sweets delivered by post, I certainly smile at their carefully considered format and presentation.

The methods of retailing confectionery are becoming abundant and I really doubt that we have seen the last of them yet. With the benefit of technology and creative flair, our sweet shoppers have ample choice and we must work hard to look after the customers that we have before they are tempted elsewhere.

www.sweetretailing.co.uk

Mr Simms unveiled

Firstly, I shall apologise for the lack of recent posts to the Sweet Retailing blog. It is with good reason as I shall explain – we have been a little busy…

After months of discussions, head scratching and a great deal of typing, we bring you a unique and most inspiring, brand new e-book. 

The subject? Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe.

So many of our readers are intrigued by the success story of Mr Simms. Who wouldn’t be? Within eight years, Martin Peet has created an iconic sweet shop brand out of nothing and now boasts in the region of 100 shops across the UK. He must surely have quite a bit to say about that and might even be able to offer some great advice? Of course! It’s all in our brand new and exclusive Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe e-book.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed spending a huge amount of time talking to Martin about his sweetie empire. I can drive to Eccleshall without the Sav Nav now and I stand a vague chance of being recognised in The Star Café! We’ve thoroughly delved into the past, looked firmly into the future and picked apart the current workings of the franchise which provides the backbone to Mr Simms. Knowing that every retailer would want to ask Martin countless questions about Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe, we’ve done that too! Martin was happy to use his immense experience and knowledge in confectionery retailing to highlight some of the key factors to success.

Is a step up a good or bad thing?

Should you sell to your customers?

What are Martin’s top “must-stocks”?

How do shoppers look around a sweet shop?

We know Martin’s answers to these and many more questions about confectionery retailing. We’ve popped them all safely into our new e-book for you to enjoy.

So where is this e-book I hear you ask?

Well, you can buy it for a mere £3.75 directly from Sweet Retailing right now. 33 pages of a riveting read. That’s 11p a page and certainly cheaper than most magazines these days. We show you the introductory page and the contents page before you buy too.

We’ve put an immense amount of effort into our beloved Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe e-book so we hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I guarantee that you will learn something of value from reading it and rest assured we’ll get back to a little bit more blogging now.

www.sweetretailing.co.uk 

click to buy the e-book (if you have not done so already!)

Sell sweets with a smile

We might all know that offering good customer service is a step in the right direction to a successful confectionery retail business, but it is always useful to find some factual reasoning behind this, especially when the UK high street is struggling to find its way. 

YouGov has recently undertaken a consumer poll to understand what brightens someone’s day – all the more important when the weather is so damp and dismal. Most of the key things that the poll highlighted don’t cost a penny and we think that bricks and mortar UK confectionery retailers can really excel in “day brightening” given that confectionery is generally a fun purchase. 

The top way to help someone’s day go well is to give them a nice big smile. What’s more, a smile is a two way thing as you tend to get a smile back and that brightens your own day too! High up on the list is to say “Good morning” – another simple winner. Other relevant key day brighteners include:

·         Offering a compliment

·         Giving them time to chat

·         Holding the door open for them

·         Listening 

These can all be implemented in a confectionery retail environment at NO cost whatsoever. The simple commercial logic is that if you can brighten someone’s day a little, they will enjoy coming into your shop, might buy more sweets and are more likely to come back and tell their friends - all helping you to sell more sweets. 

It really might seem obvious to many, but given some of the poor personal service and interaction I have received from many retailers in recent times, there is certainly no harm in stating the obvious when the opportunity arises! A high level of customer service will have a positive impact on your sales and comes at little or no cost to your business. 

What the YouGov research did underline is that not every simple action can be replicated in a retail environment. I don’t know many sweet shops that give you a hug, make you a cup of tea and buy you flowers whilst you decide what treats you decide to indulge in. 

So don’t let the weather get your confectionery sales down and focus on bringing the sun back into your customers’ days. 

For lots more talk about UK confectionery retailing visit our website at www.sweetretailing.co.uk 

Visit YouGov at www.yougov.co.uk