OPINION: Supermarket secrets

Last week Gregg Wallace revealed the spring season’s Supermarket Secrets on BBC1. In this 4th program in the series Gregg takes us through what makes the months up to Easter so important. The program kicks off with a stark reminder of just how dominant the supermarkets are in the grocer market as they capture 90% of consumers spend.

As every CTN or convenience retailer will know spring is the season that brings Valentine’s Day, Pancake Day, Mother’s Day and Easter. Four great selling opportunities, but the supermarkets work hard to make the most of them too.

The Easter chocolate market has moved beyond just eggs and now includes novelties as well. Gregg meets with Waitrose product designers and follows through the development of their Woodlands Friends range. This includes seeing how the hollow chocolate products are made, fascinating.

Hot cross buns are next and Gregg spends time in the Sainsbury’s class room where their bakers are trained to produce identical buns in-store every time. It’s all about detail, equipment and following the recipe with precision. As this is production baking, the bakers have a limited time to undertake each task. One of the secrets to a perfect hot cross bun is to give the baking tray a bang when it’s taken out of the oven as this stops the buns from sinking.

How enough eggs for Pancake Day and daffodils for Mother’s Day got into stores for their peak selling period is also interesting.

The highlight of the programme for me was when Gregg put on a pair of high tech glasses that tracked is eye movements as he did his shopping in a Morrisons store. It revealed that he didn’t look at the hanging advertising signs at all and that mostly customers look at the shelves that are between waist and chest level. Another valuable insight is that the faster customer shop the more they are likely to spend.

See the clip below and if you have an hour to spare before 10^th April then invest it in watching Supermarket Secrets  or download it to watch later.