Impulse promotions on the rise as fruit & veg deals decline
The Grocer
As MPs call for a crackdown on supermarket discounting of junk food, latest data reveals the mults are ramping up impulse promotions while cutting back on fruit & veg deals.
Almost all of the major supermarkets increased the number of featured space promotions in stores compared with the same four-week period last year, with the exception of the Co-op and Waitrose [Promo Dynamic Retailers: 4 w/e 26 March 2017].
Impulse accounted for 21.61% of total promotions, up 2.4 percentage points month on month, while fruit & veg deals fell by 0.6 percentage points to account for just 4.3% of total offers across the mults.
“Despite the increase in number of offers, one category that is not benefitting is fresh produce which is down across all six retailers,” says Assosia director Kay Staniland.
“There were 66 fewer promotions on fruit than in the same period last year – down from 291 to 257.”
Fresh fruit made it into the top 15 most promoted sub-categories for almost all of the major supermarkets, with the exception of Asda.
But most supermarkets had fewer deals on fruit than last year. Waitrose saw the biggest drop in featured space promotions for fruit, down from 53 to 33 (37.8% year on year), but there were also fewer deals on fresh fruit in the Co-op (-6.7%), Morrisons (-18.8%), Sainsbury’s (-17%) and Tesco (-12.5%).
Most retailers also cut average savings on fruit & vegetable promotions, Staniland adds.
Average savings were also down across wider featured space promotions in the major supermarkets last month, with the exception of Waitrose.
“X for y and bogofs (multibuys) continue to go out of favour, with only Co-op showing a slight increase in the use of bogofs,” says Staniland. “Single price point promotions have increased overall.”
Featured Space Promotion Analysis conducted by Assosia
| 4 weeks to 26th March 2017 | ||||||
| Asda | Co-op | Morrisons | Sainsbury’s | Tesco | Waitrose | |
| Number of offers | 2521 | 771 | 2313 | 2840 | 2447 | 1295 |
| Number last month | 2332 | 819 | 2154 | 2794 | 2157 | 1321 |
| % change m-o-m | 8.10% | -5.86% | 7.38% | 1.65% | 13.44% | -1.97% |
| Number last year | 2261 | 812 | 2158 | 2718 | 2340 | 1332 |
| % change on last year | 11.50% | -5.05% | 7.18% | 4.49% | 4.57% | -2.78% |
| Average start price (£) per UNIT | £2.57 | £2.67 | £2.73 | £3.31 | £3.11 | £4.16 |
| Typical Average TOTAL £ saving | £1.39 | £1.47 | £1.35 | £1.29 | £1.38 | £1.80 |
| Typical Average TOTAL % saving | 29.8% | 33.5% | 32.0% | 26.7% | 29.6% | 30.5% |
| Average % saving last month | 30.5% | 33.6% | 33.5% | 28.3% | 32.1% | 30.4% |
| % savings change m-o-m | -2.37% | -0.22% | -4.59% | -5.51% | -7.82% | 0.29% |
| Average % saving last year | 28.3% | 36.2% | 33.4% | 29.7% | 35.8% | 31.7% |
| % savings change on last year | 5.27% | -7.47% | -4.25% | -9.96% | -17.25% | -3.62% |
| Current Brand:own-label ratio | 91:09 | 72:28 | 89:11 | 83:17 | 86:14 | 87:13 |
| Ratio 1 year ago | 90:10 | 72:28 | 89:11 | 79:21 | 85:15 | 88:12 |
| Average % saving (branded) | 30.6% | 36.1% | 32.7% | 27.0% | 30.2% | 30.4% |
| Average % saving (o/l) | 21.3% | 27.0% | 25.9% | 25.2% | 25.6% | 31.1% |
| AVERAGE STARTING PRICE LAST YEAR | £2.89 | £2.59 | £2.81 | £2.90 | £2.64 | £4.22 |
| Increase/Decrease in starting price £ | -£0.32 | £0.08 | -£0.09 | £0.41 | £0.47 | -£0.06 |
| Increase/Decrease in starting price % | -12.55% | 3.02% | -3.17% | 12.52% | 15.18% | -1.49% |
Featured in The Grocer, 30 March 2017