Mind your P’s & Q’s

Pricing & Positioning –  Be competitive at shelf and drive the category forward. How does your brand stack up?

• Pricing matters on the shelf – Are you a premium product? Are you mid-level? Are you affordable? How are you communicating your value positioning to the consumer? Checking your pricing  and promotional programs against the category as a whole and the top competitors within your segment is a must. Seeing how your brand stacks up is just part of how you can WIN at shelf.

Packaging – Create eye capturing, sustainable, informative, shelf presence, drive the buy!

• Does your product jump off the shelf? Draw new eyes? Tell a story? All of these things are key when you’re thinking about your packaging strategy. Online packaging does not always translate to the retail shelf. You need to think through this strategy to capture the eyes and wallets of your consumer. Creating a statement on shelf will help to bring attention to your brand. 

Quality – Meets or exceeds natural ingredient standards, innovative products that meet white space.

• Certifications and Seals are important. The Natural consumer is very invested and educated, and they want to purchase high quality products. How does your quality stack up against your competition? Does your ingredient deck meet the top retailer standards? Are your ingredients on trend and innovative? Unique ingredients will make you a category trend setter and leader.

Quarterly Planning – Are you ready for Q4?! Holiday Inventory forecasting and strategic promotional preparedness are key ingredients to crushing it in the last quarter of the year!

• If you weren’t in market last year, how are you planning your inventory? Without a track record, holiday products can be tricky. Forecasting is critical to holiday success – over or under estimating can impact the lift of a holiday innovation. Is your supply chain solid? Do you have a great marketing plan? Do your retail promotions align? Are your warehouses staffed to meet the demand of Q4? Does your broker have all the information to support you at shelf? Asking these questions and more can help set your brand up for a stellar holiday season!
• The Q4 Category Review Slow down  – New Year’s resolutions start here! Without the pressure of all those  category reviews, it is a great time to work on innovation, strategy & planning for the new year. This is a creative time where we can help you dig deep and drive the foundation for a successful year ahead.

Pricing Data – Pricing has gone up 13.5% on average, are you in the know on where your category is?
Inflationary pressures are impacting pricing throughout all parts of the store, across all channels. Average price increases, for the most recent 4 weeks, ranged anywhere between +12.6% within FOOD, +7.1% Natural to Convenience ARP increases of +5.6%. Drilling down to the departmental impact, we see most parts of the stores saw ARP increases in the double-digits. With Pet products increasing the most (+23.3%), followed by Refrigerated (+17.4%), Grocery (+15.5% and Frozen (+14.8%). The rise is pricing has sustained sales over last year, as units declined.

Promotional Lift – Roughly 27.7% of grocery sales are driven by promotions. Are you meeting or exceeding the average?
With rising prices and stretched consumer budgets, shoppers remain conscious of shelf tags. Splurging on some items, trading down on others, while seeking out discounts and promotional buys wherever possible. Unfortunately, across all departments, promotions are down compared to the same time last year. While promotions are down in total, activity varies by retailer, segment, and product mix. Evaluating competitor promotion and pricing strategies leading into the holiday season is crucial, as you may be leaving sales on the table.