As shopping behaviour continues to change, retailers need to refresh their soft drinks merchandising approach.

RN re-joins Red Bull’s category specialist Robyn Cardno to find out how simple changes have boosted two retailers’ soft drinks sales.

Catering to shoppers’ demands is the key to successfully growing soft drinks sales. Are you making the most of the shop-ability of your displays to drive sales?

RN visited two retailers’ stores with Red Bull’s category specialist to introduce them to highly effective soft drinks merchandising principles. What were the results? The retailers tell us what they have learned and how this helped them to succeed.

FOCUS ON JANE FLYNN, Costcutter Raynell Stores, Leeds

Challenges

Logical flow: Jane’s chiller had no logical flow order, making it difficult for her shoppers to find the drinks they needed.

Vertical blocking: Brands didn’t stand out, so shoppers weren’t able to quickly
locate their favourite drinks.

Strike zone: Top brands were being missed, as they hadn’t been placed at eye-level.

Changes to drive sales

Logical flow: Arrange your soft drinks based on shoppers’ needs. Organise them into a ‘refresh, stimulate, hydrate’ sequence, moving from left to right.

Vertical blocking: Display similar brands in a vertical line to make shopping easier, as customers need to see what they’re looking for in their 1.3 metre view.

Strike zone: Place top brands at eye-level to improve shop-ability and encourage shoppers to buy higher-priced products

Key lessons for your store

1) Merchandise your fridge according to the ‘refresh, stimulate, hydrate sequence’, moving from left to right to cater to your customers’ needs.

2) Arrange similar brands in a vertical line close to each other as this makes them stand out and speeds up shopping.

3) Make sure top brands and best sellers are within easy reach of their respective customers, encouraging increased sales for all items.

Jane says:
“We never thought that arranging our soft drinks in a certain way could influence our customers’ buying behaviour as much as it has. Our overall sales across all ranges, including slow sellers, are well up. We are particularly pleased with the big 75% increase in sales of the £1.19 price marked 250ml Red Bull. We’ve kept to the principles on adding new ranges, and they have been selling well straight away. Making shopping easier for our customers has made a big difference.”

FOCUS ON Pradeep Bachetta & Amit Patel, Nisa Local, Sky Plaza, Leeds

Challenges

Reversed logical flow: As there was no logical flow sequence in Amit’s large chiller,
it was difficult for shoppers to find what they needed.

Clear signposting: The fixture lacked clear signposting and shoppers were not able to
pick out pricing and special offers on the most popular products.

Backing of top brands: Core ranges of top brands didn’t stand out, which slowed down
sales of these higher margin products.`

Changes to drive sales 

Reversed logical flow: Organise soft drinks based on customers’ needs by arranging them into an adapted ‘refresh, stimulate, hydrate’ moving from right to left instead.

Clear signposting: Help shoppers spot pricing and offers on the biggest-selling products in the category by adding some bright, attractive PoS.

Backing of top brands: Organise top brands together vertically to help shoppers focus on
best sellers and encourage multiple purchases in the category.

Pradeep says

“We were delighted by the increase in overall sales. Placing core ranges at eye-level has helped shoppers make quicker choices and try out different brands. The transparent pricing and signposting of offers have made a significant difference, with an increase of 61% for the £1.19 price marked 250ml Red Bull cans alone.

“Red Bull has taken ownership of the soft drinks category in a very competent way and applying the principles to other areas of the store has improved sales there as well. An extremely positive experience.”

Key lessons for your store

1) Merchandise your fridge to cater to customers’ needs. Follow the ‘refresh, stimulate, hydrate sequence’.

2) Attract shoppers with PoS, highlighting prices and offers on the biggest selling products in the category.

3) Organise your fridge so similar brands are together to help shoppers focus on best sellers.

Mentor Advice
Robyn Cardno
Category specialist, Red Bull

“We are delighted with the uplift of 10% and 17%, especially when the current growth in soft drinks within the symbols market is only 2.5%. Both stores were in great shape when we arrived, and by being open to change and implementing and engaging with the category merchandising principles, both retailers were able to achieve even better results.”

Red Bull’s Tips

1) Merchandise in flow: refresh, stimulate, hydrate
2) Block brands vertically
3) Split category space according to share of sales
4) Focus on the top three brands
5) Put signpost brands at eye level and stair-step variant sizes
6) Create clear price labels and use branded PoS