Friday 10 July 2015

Kingsmill is back on the shelves at Tesco - Life after Re-set?

News in This is Money that ABF has managed to persuade Tesco to take back its key Kingsmill 50/50 bread, a blend of white and wholemeal flour, indicates that in the right circumstances, some re-set moves can be reversed.

Given that Finance Director John Basson could only make minimal reference to the move: ‘The Kingsmill bread line was taken out of Tesco but we are not going to get into the detail because it was a sensitive commercial agreement’, it is reasonable for NAMs in other categories to assume that Kingsmill made a successful, demand-based case for re-instatement.

Given the scale of the initial cull, it was always obvious that a 30,000 SKU reduction would mainly focus on product overlap and duplication and miss some gems in the process. What is encouraging to discover is that there are ways back in, for products in genuine demand, 'packaged correctly'...

If you are still awaiting the re-set email from Tesco it might be wise to revisit your current Tesco listings, re-assess SKU appeal and prepare for a fast response.

Our guest-KamBlogger Wayne Robinson offers three ways forward:
  1. Lurch into analysis mode...deep diving in to category data...ranking ros...etc It's not only the market/consumer data that will be swaying decisions about products on the shelves; there will be a financial element to this too.
  2. Use your research and insight to bring products to market that are focused on consumers' needs and have a true usp that add value to the category...otherwise known as innovation. In other words, try to identify the 'gems' in your assortment
  3. Channel diversification. No manufacturer should be overly reliant on any one customer. In other words, anticipate the obvious and try to optimise other routes to consumer, for products that are worth it.
Finally, it is worth bearing in mind that whilst some shops will be casualties, Tesco are unlikely to close down aisles, meaning there will be new opportunities for real innovation, as Tesco attempts to optimise redundant space...

'packaged correctly'? It can be assumed that a key criterion for a brand's success in a financially driven demand-based Tesco, has to be an appropriate combination of shelf-price, margin, support and credit period. In other words genuine consumer appeal, in a suitable financial package....

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