Gum is very rarely a planned purchase, which makes it crucial to ensure that the fixture is visible, fully stocked with bestsellers and easy to shop. To find out how to drive these essential impulse sales, Better Retailing joins Mike Fitzpatrick from Mars Wrigley and two retailers to share key category advice.
THE EXPERT
MIKE FITZPATRICK
Field Sales Leader
Mars Wrigley
FOCUS ON
SHAILESH PAREKH
Nisa New Invention, Wolverhampton, West Midlands
“I like to have an open counter area, so I use the space under the tills for gum and mints. Unfortunately, this means customers have to bend down to see them and sometimes they bypass the display entirely. My sales have stagnated, so I’m hoping that, with Mike’s expertise, we can improve the visibility of the gum display and my sales will increase as a result.”
Mike says
“Shailesh has high footfall in his store, meaning there’s a key opportunity to increase impulse sales. Dedicating prime counter space for a gum fixture is important to driving sales, so we’ll add counter-top displays. We’ll do this at both tills to ensure better visibility to increase ease of purchasing even during busy times. Shailesh is also missing some of the bestselling lines, so we’ll add those in to cater for different types of shoppers.”
ACTION PLAN
Range: To help Shailesh cater to all shopper needs, we added bestselling lines, including Extra Strawberry, some new lines and the bottle format
Height: To help customers see Shailesh’s range, we moved his gum to a new fixture on top of the counter, which could grow sales by up to 20%
Visibility: To ensure his gum can be seen at both tills and grow impulse sales, we placed an additional gum fixture by Shailesh’s second till
FOCUS ON
VICKY ONIONS
Vicky’s Convenience Store, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
CHALLENGES
“With a small store, I need to be strategic about where I place my products. Customers often have trouble finding the gum fixture, especially if they are picking up a coffee. Also, keeping up to date with the bestselling lines and new products is a challenge for me. I hope that with Mike’s help to improve my display and the fixture’s visibility, sales will increase.”
Mike says
“Vicky has a good range, with most of her bestsellers on display, such as Extra Peppermint. The key opportunity for her is ensuring good availability and grouping product types together to maximise sales, especially as gum is an impulse-led category. Vicky’s gum display is currently obscured by a greetings card stand, so we’ll move it to a different position to ensure the best visibility of the gum stand, which should help to increase her sales.”
ACTION PLAN
Presentation: A greetings card rack was blocking customers from seeing the fixture, so we moved this and placed key lines at eye level
New products: To help bring new shoppers into the gum category, we’ve added some key new lines, such as Starburst Gum Fruity Mixies
Secondary siting: Vicky was missing out on potential sales by her hot drinks machine, so we added a small display of the top-selling lines
MARS WRIGLEY’S TIPS FOR YOUR STORE
Stock the full range, especially bottle formats, to encourage customers to trade up on their favourite brands
Display your gum across the till area and at eye level to maximise visibility and drive impulse
Be disciplined when ordering gum to ensure it’s always available for your customers
Dual-site gum by hot drinks machines or food to go to grow sales and increase impulse purchases
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