It feels like a bit of a confusing seasonal time in stores this month, with some summer displays still knocking around, a mash-up of Halloween, and (I can’t quite believe I’m writing this!)… Christmas in stores.
It also seems to be the time of year for drinks promotions – plenty of on-pack and gift-with-purchase promotions which are nice to see.
Let’s dive into September’s store watch…
AsdaBristol
A very sweet entrance to the store this month with Halloween-branded bollards. Inside the store, it’s a mix of Halloween and Christmas and quite honestly, it feels a bit chaotic!
Unsurprisingly, Asda’s gondola end game is strong. A really lovely execution for Peroni, who lean on their Ferrari sponsorship to giveaway racing experiences. Not far from this sits an ‘ultimate roast’ gondola end, a great co-branded space. It’s just a bit of a shame that baked beans have been placed on the bottom shelf!
Drink promotions seem to be the in-thing in Asda this month, with a great Tribute on-pack promotion on shelf (we might be a bit biased!), Stowford Press giving away Haven holidays on pack, and Coors offering up epic music experiences.
Heineken is giving away a free gift with purchase in the form of a Champions League pint glass. We’re assuming this promo has done well as there were no glasses to be seen!
MorrisonsBristol
Fanta is the stand-out brand in Morrisons this month. Their Beetlejuice film collaboration is primed outside of the store, on the trolley park, appears at the end of the aisle of a gondola end, and then again in-aisle as hanging media.
Morrisons are well-known for their hanging and floor media and this visit didn’t disappoint. In fact, there were floor stickers on almost every aisle!
A little shout-out to Lynx with a bit of innovative POS, too. On-shelf smell testers to try before you buy. A great idea to stop any sneaky tester sprays in store and gave nice stand-out amongst competitors.
Sainsbury'sBristol
Less of a focus on Halloween in Sainsbury’s (and not too much Christmas either!) but plenty of floor media, branded bays, and interesting header boards.
Haribo was a stand-out here, alongside Ferrero Rocher, with their 3D header board. Keeping on the sweet theme, Maltesers and M&Ms branded bay collab was a great one with nice use of cut-outs, too.
The drinks promotions continue in Sainsbury’s, with a free gift with purchase on Poretti (with actual glasses available this time!), a chance to win a £5k holiday with Fosters, and a Jamshed spin to win ‘Win 25,000 prizes’ on-pack promotion. Cheers to that!
TescoBristol
Last up, Tesco. Of course, we were expecting to see digital screens. Three of these in this store this month, two of which (unsurprisingly) sit amongst the alcohol. An interesting KitKat creative on the goalpost screens – highlighting the support KitKat is giving to their cocoa farmers however, interesting to see a QR code on these screens. They move so quickly… quite a tricky scan!
Nice to see Tesco celebrating Diwali. With a bespoke display near the front of the store (sadly a bit messy, however!), security shrouds, and barkers, Tesco has brought these colourful displays to life nicely.
There were fixture frames galore in Tesco! From Old El Paso, to Pataks, to Hellmann’s, these do add stand-out in the aisle and we’re seeing a lot of them.
Alongside some text-to-win promotions, the Itsu ‘Win a £10k trip to Japan’ promotion is sure to be popular… but was incredibly hard to read with the lighting reflecting the gold sticker in store.
Halloween did feature, too. There were plenty of Halloween pack changes to products, including Wotsits and Squares changing to Scares.
