Bottled water is a drinks category that sees major increases in sales in hot summer weather.
But even if the weather isn’t scorching, good positioning in store can help boost sales at a time when consumers are often looking for light and healthy food and drink, according to Andrea McQuaid, head of brand marketing with bottled water company Highland Spring.
She said: “Bottled water is a truly incremental category to your soft drinks sales. When the sun comes out, shoppers will often choose it in addition to their original planned purchase in order to keep cool and hydrate properly.
“However, with a scorching summer never guaranteed, the health driver of consuming water during these months is a key selling point for retailers.”
She said that retailers should site waters near the entrance of the store and ensure they are close to other impulse buys such as sandwiches and healthy snacks as shoppers will be tempted to add to their basket, increasing the amount they spend.
And she added that as the weather improves, shoppers may be entertaining more at home so c-stores should give sparkling waters space among their soft drinks.
She continued: “Our best-selling 500ml PET bottle or 750ml sportscap bottles are increasingly popular as we find that waters are often that ‘one extra item’ for shoppers.
“Situating plain bottled water in chillers located at payment points and near the entrance of the store attracts the busy consumer at the highest footfall area.”
• Silika Shellie, head of shopper and category development for Nestlé waters, which markets Nestlé Pure Life and Buxton waters says bottled water is a growing product category that provides retailers with significant impulse sales opportunities.
Nestlé Waters has a series of water category management tips for c-stores. It says:
• 50cl, 75cl and 1-litre are must-stock sizes, and where space allows 1.5-litre should also be stocked.
• A branded sparkling water should be available in the chiller.
• s well as the core range in the chiller, ambient small multipacks such as Buxton 4 x 50cl should be stocked.
• Displays should be laid out to be easy for the shopper to navigate quickly. Water displays should be clearly segmented into still, sparkling and flavoured.
• Dumpbins and secondary displays can increase prominence of bottled water in stores and help ensure constant availability.
• ositioning secondary display units next to newspapers and confectionery increases impulse sales.
• Water should be given 20% of total soft drinks space in front-of-store chillers.
