A couple of reports have interested me recently: IGD’s ‘The Small Store Shopper’ and the Grocer/Neilson’s 2010 brand survey. There is a sample from the IGD report that can be downloaded here. It may only be 5 pages from the full report, but my attention was caught by the results for their question on branded private label products. It's no surprise really, but they discovered that 59% of convenience store shoppers who were asked ‘What range of branded and private label products are preferred in convenience stores?’ preferred a mix of branded and private label products.

As I say no big surprise, but adding this information to the Grocer report on what brands are worth across all the categories from alcohol to washing powders gives a good basis to check out if our store has the range. Walking our store with the report reveals that we do have the giants that dominate their category like Walkers Crisps or Heinz baked beans that have a national value of several times their nearest rival. We also have all the main brands in categories like chocolate confectionery, tea, or instant coffee.

Since joining the Spar symbol group in 2009 we have spent a significant amount of time with the help of their support team to ensure that we have a range of product that is right for our customer base. The Grocer Top Products Survey 2010 confirms that we stock most of the top products. The products that are in the category top sell lists that we don’t stock obviously need to be considered as possibilities for 2011.

It just goes to show that when it comes to the correct range there is always work to be done.