DISPLAY is crucial to confectionery sales. That’s the thinking behind Mars’s latest initiative, the Chocolate Factory, a range of POS units that is being introduced to 1,700 retailers in the UK.
The company says that point of sale material prompts consumers to purchase, with around a third of confectionery impulse purchases made after a shopper has spotted a brand on the shelf. Half of confectionery shoppers make their mind up at the fixture, underlining the need for an engaging display, the firm says.
The Chocolate Factory units have limited Mars branding and are designed to support stores’ entire confectionery ranges. The display kits, which include side fins and shelf barkers, have been shown, says Mars, to boost sales in the confectionery category by 11%.
And its research is said to show that shoppers like them, with three-quarters describing the revamped Chocolate Factory shelves as “appealing”.
The company also highlights other strategies and activities that it reckons will help retailers increase chocolate sales.
Ensuring key lines are in stock is crucial. Mars reckons lines being out of stock can lead to 75% of customers not making a purchase.
Some 43% of consumers surveyed told Mars researchers they would leave a shop that didn’t have the item they wanted and buy the product elsewhere. Some 33% of them would simply do without.
Single-serve products, which it says account for nearly half of all confectionery sales by value in c-stores, form a key category. The company suggests including singles in meal deals as a sweet treat.
It sees siting the confectionery display area at the front of the store as another way to maximise impulse purchases.
Mars says that chocolate is the most popular snacking item to eat on the go; positioning chocolate lines in a prominent position and ensuring consumers can easily find what they want will make the most of the opportunities.
• Maltesers Teasers has been named Product of the Year 2014 in its category in the annual awards scheme for new FMCG launches.
It came out top in a survey of almost 12,000 households that forms part of the Product of the Year programme.
Mars says Maltesers Teasers is now one of the top-20-selling chocolate confectionery singles in independent stores.
