Promo Dynamic – Brands desert bogofs for half-price and multibuys
The Grocer
Bogofs have all but disappeared as a promotion mechanic this summer, new figures for The Grocer from Assosia reveal
The bogof accounted for just 3% of featured space promos in the past four weeks, down from 6% a year ago. The promotion of choice is increasingly the x-for-y mechanic, which was used for 31% of featured space promos in the past four weeks, up from 25% 12 months ago.
The use of half-price promotions also increased, accounting for 22% of deals – up just over one percentage point.
The same pattern applies for the 10 most heavily promoted brands. Only Coca-Cola increased its use of bogofs in the past four weeks compared with the same period a year ago [Assosia]. Coke used bogofs in The Co-op, Morrisons and Waitrose, but none in Sainsbury’s or Tesco.
While Mr Kipling and Birds Eye continue to eschew bogofs on featured space altogether (as per last year) the remaining seven top 10 brands are running fewer bogofs – the sharpest decline being recorded by Fox’s biscuits, which used bogof for almost a third of its featured space promos a year ago but is now employing it for just 4% of deals. It has switched its focus to straight money-off deals.
“Half-price offers have increased for the top 10 brands, with the exception of Walkers and Birds Eye – so the consumer is effectively getting the same deal in terms of savings, but they are able to purchase just one product rather than the two required with a bogof deal,” says Assosia MD Kay Staniland.
The shift in mechanic has brought with it a decline in the level of savings offered by featured space deals. The average saving has fallen from 34.6% a year ago to 32.5%, with the saving on own-label deals down 3.8 points year-on-year to 27%, while savings on brands have fallen 1.4 points to 33.9%.
The cut in saving – a trend seen in recent months – has been necessary to fund the increase in brand promos. Across the entire fmcg market, featured space promotions has risen from 8,778 in July 2012 to 11,281 this year.
| 4 weeks to 21/07/2013 | ||||||||
| Ranking | Rank last month | Brand | Number of promotions | Increase / Decrease on previous month | Increase / Decrease on previous year | Average % saving | Average savings % change m-o-m | Average savings % change y-o-y |
| 1 | 1 | Cadbury | 367 | 14.69% | 31.54% | 30.76% | 0.4% | -6.6% |
| 2 | 2 | Nestle | 253 | 6.30% | 12.95% | 38.62% | 0.6% | 3.1% |
| 3 | 4 | Birds Eye | 228 | 9.09% | 79.53% | 39.69% | -0.7% | 0.9% |
| 4 | 3 | McVitie’s | 226 | -4.24% | 58.04% | 37.89% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| 5 | 5 | Coca-Cola | 209 | 7.73% | 48.23% | 32.12% | -2.5% | 0.3% |
| 6 | 6 | Mars | 170 | 4.29% | -3.95% | 37.46% | 1.0% | -1.3% |
| 7 | 7 | Kellogg’s | 140 | -7.89% | 20.69% | 36.28% | 0.3% | 3.8% |
| 8 | 8 | Walkers | 139 | 0.72% | 13.93% | 36.77% | -2.3% | -7.0% |
| 9 | 10 | Mr Kipling | 105 | 6.06% | 66.67% | 29.78% | 1.8% | 9.5% |
| 10 | 9 | Fox’s | 97 | -2.02% | 79.63% | 40.09% | 2.0% | 2.2% |
| Total o/l | 2239 | 0.72% | 77.28% | 27.00% | -0.2% | -3.8% | ||
| Total brands | 9042 | 1.02% | 20.32% | 33.90% | -0.2% | -1.4% | ||
| Total | 11281 | 0.96% | 28.51% | 32.53% | -0.2% | -2.1% |
Published in The Grocer, 26 July 2013