Similar to how fast food restaurants added dollar or value menus in order to entice consumers, the value proposition for discount retailers has helped dollar retail chains gain market share against traditional retail formats.
Similar to how college basketball coaches instituted end-of-game timeouts in order to strategize a “sure-fire” inbounds play during March Madness, retailers and brand owners are calling their own plays when it comes to merchandising. Retailers and brand owners have taken a methodical approach to different merchandising tactics for brands and categories in order to engage consumers and stimulate purchase behavior, experts note.
For cold and flu season, allergy season and everything in between, drug stores provide consumers with the advice and relief they need for their ailments.
Whether it’s the ambiance, celebrity sightings, exclusivity, cocktails or a combination of all of the above that attract consumers to nightclubs, it’s clear that the “cool factor” is a must-have for success.
By offering a wide variety of items such as food, beverages, health products and more, supermarkets have managed to remain relatively stable in terms of store performance during the last year, experts suggest.
According to IBISWorld’s July 2012 report, “Warehouse Clubs & Supercenters in the US,” supercenters are one of the fastest-growing industries in the retail sector and have shown consistent growth during the last five years.
Although it’s true that “there’s no place like home,” the on-premise segment strives to offer consumers something they cannot get at home, whether it’s the environment, the service or the drinks.
The drug store channel showed higher-than-average growth last year with unit sales increasing 2.2 percent versus a retail industry average decline of 0.6 percent in food, drug, convenience and mass merchandise stores, excluding Walmart, according to Susan Viamari, consumer insights expert at Chicago-based SymphonyIRI Group.
When it comes to category management, retail experts often agree that beverage manufacturers are on the leading edge of understanding assortment and placement of their products within retail outlets. Paul Weitzel, managing partner at Willard Bishop, Barrington, Ill., attributes part of the segment’s success to the direct store distribution (DSD) system used by many manufacturers.