Marmite now costs more than a gallon of petrol

Much has been made of the fact that the price of Marmite has risen by 25 per cent in five years, and is now more expensive than rump steak or a gallon of petrol. However, whilst specific cases can grab headlines, most NAMs/KAMs realise that the game is about demand-based portfolio management of both brands and customers. In other words, starting with planned corporate ROCE, this breaks down to Margin x Capital turn, large margins with slow stockturn, or high margins with fast stockturn. Overall ROCE performance drives share price, so as long as suppliers and retailers are meeting stockmarket expectations, they are usually left to play the 'margin x stockturn' game as appropriate, being 'experts' in market need. Thus a supplier can juggle a portfolio mix of brands (or customers ) to optimise total company ROCE.

In the same way headline performance figures i.e. 'green shoots', are averages, hiding not only negative performance, but also 'above-average' growth opportunities in individual categories or retail sectors.
Hence, many growth opportunities already exist, for those able to see though the averages….
....as indeed, misjudging market-price tolerance can cause consumers to vote with their feet..?

Breath-test required for vending machine wine sales

For an enriched shopping experience, why not try buying wine in Pennsylvania?
The state is currently testing a vending machine that holds 1,000 bottles of 55 wines. Following selection of a bottle, customers must insert a driver's licence to show they are over 21, then submit to video-linking for verification of identity by a member of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Next customers must blow into a breathalyser to make sure their breath-alcohol level is not more than 0.02, or just one quarter the legal limit for driving. If it is, the sale will be denied.

Apparently, Family planning authorities have thus far shown little interest in adapting the machine to dispense other weekend requisites…

Have an imaginative weekend, from the Namnews Team!

Tesco's Glasgow airport move a mere toe-in-the-water?

News of Tesco's first foray into airport retailing is obviously an initial step on a new route to consumer, an opportunity for the company to get a feel for opportunities in the travel environment. However, whilst every little helps via an airport-by-airport roll-out, Tesco may soon be tempted to consider additional options to take some high ground in travel retail.

For instance, with sales of €5.8bn and a market cap. of €2.5bn, Autogrill may present a no-brainer opportunity to leap forward on a number of fronts.

Think about it:
Autogrill SpA is an Italian company involved in the restaurants sector. The Company operates mainly in three sectors of activities: Food & Beverage, Travel Retail & Duty free and In-flight. In the Food & Beverage division its offer includes restaurants supplies, sale of daily use products such as newspapers and magazines, cigarettes, etc, offered to people travelling by plane, train or car. Travel Retail & Duty free offers products consisting primarily of fragrances and cosmetics, spirits, tobacco and confectionary. The In-flight Catering division is involved in the supply of catering products for over 100 airlines. The Company operates over 5,500 points of sale in over 1,200 locations. The Company operates also railway outlets in Europe. In addition, it operates in shopping centers, trade fairs and high streets. The Company's direct subsidiaries include Autogrill Deutschland GmbH, HMSHost Sweden AB, Restair UK Ltd, Autogrill Hellas EPE and Nuova Sidap Srl.

And think of the scope for Clubcard promotions…
(See Ci Corporate Information for a financial report on Autogrill  or go direct to Autogrill for latest annual report)

Dublin: Arnotts in the rare auld times…

News that the banks are moving into control of Arnotts department store appears to be the final nail in the coffin of a company that survived as an old business model and failed in an abortive ride on the back of the Celtic Tiger… Details of its step by step slide into debt culminating in an anticipated €300m debt-for-equity swap by Anglo Irish and Ulster Bank make grim reading.

Arnotts was not merely a retail store, it was a tradition and a way of life for many Irish shoppers, like many department stores in the UK and Ireland. However, the model is no longer suited to modern retailing from the perspective of the savvy consumer.

Suppliers that are heavily dependant upon this route to consumer should perhaps factor the inevitability of decline and switch of business to mass retail into their own business models…..

If in doubt, why not try a 'what if' on the possibility of your bank manager being responsible for business strategy?

Risks of 'catching' 'em young….?

News that a five-year-old boy has won a defamation case against Lidl, when wrongly accused of stealing a pack of crisps, makes apprehending 'shrinkers' more of a judgement call…
Incremental sales required to recover the loss of a 50p pack of crisps for a retailer on 2% net profit are £25.
However, getting it wrong can mean that extra sales of €375,000 are needed when the court awards €7,500 ex costs….
Have a great lidl weekend, from the Namnews Team!

Sure about the £1 in your pocket, really, really sure?

Daily Mail

According to reports in the Daily Mail and Telegraph, the Treasury have announced that there are £41m fake £1 coins in Britain – meaning one in every 36 in circulation is of no value…
The level of fake coins is getting worse. This is Money reported in September 2008 that one in 50 was a fake and last year Treasury figures suggested one in 40 were fake.
Small shopkeepers, including 'Pound shops' can suffer from accepting a fake £1 coin as they are not refunded by the bank if they attempt to deposit them with their daily takings.

The real issue is consumer confidence; already concerned about value reduction, if authenticity is challenged, then the only answer may be to remint the lot…

Or perhaps a shot of inflation to shift attention and usage to the £2 coin, and incentivise Pound shops to offer 3-for-2?

Degrees of theft?

(Pic showing 'thief-links' at Target)

News that police have told shopkeepers not to report thefts of goods less than £20 betray police misunderstanding of how retailing works.

A theft of £20, from a retailer making 2.5% net profit means incremental sales of £800 to recover the loss.

In other words, the same thing as telling householders not to trouble them with reports of burglaries of less than £800 a time…

Have a DIY-security weekend, from the Namnews Team!

Hotel foot-shooting for the unwary....

Most of us in this business have a reflex-suspicion of hotel charging procedures born out of first-hand experience. However, few of us realise that hotels are simply trying to provide stimuli for new substitute technologies such as
- Excess rates for phoning from bedrooms drove the early stages of mobile phones
- Ditto for bedroom broadband and the growth of dongle sales
The latest faux pas is a £14/day/laptop for BB/wifi workshop delegates in a conference room!
An opportunity for a provider to bundle a sensible package-rate?
Or for hotels to saturate the building with free access, and thereby fill the public areas with coffee drinking, snacking NAMs and other 'word-of-mouth' compulsive networkers, at a cost to the hotel of less than £100 per month?