Ferrero UK’s customer development director Levi Boorer talks to Better Wholesaling about what the brand has planned for the wholesale sector to help boost Diwali and Christmas sales.
Better Wholesaling: What support are you offering in the run up to Christmas that will help wholesalers to grow sales or drive customer engagement?
Levi Boorer: Ferrero believes in-depot displays are crucial to grow sales and drive customer engagement. By creating innovative and impactful display solutions, this ensures key launches stand out in-depot, and inspires customers around the seasonal opportunity. Ferrero will continue to support the wholesale channel by advising on range, space and continued investment in innovative and impactful POS solutions.
BW: What are the biggest challenges around capitalising on the Christmas opportunity?
LB: Retailers continue to look to their wholesalers for guidance on how to win during seasonal opportunities. Ferrero suggests prioritising core ranges that are supported by strong media investment, such as Ferrero Rocher and Thorntons. This will inspire retailers to buy with confidence.
BW: What are you doing to help wholesalers and their customers maximise the gifting opportunities at Christmas?
LB: Ferrero offers a very clear, core gifting range across its three-strong pralines brands – Ferrero Rocher, Thorntons and Raffaello, and not forgetting our popular Kinder Kids brand. To further support the channel, Ferrero will offer wholesalers eye-catching PoS tools specifically designed to help maximise the gifting opportunities at Christmas. Wholesalers are also encouraged to create off-shelf displays and secondary siting of boxed chocolates along with other categories frequently purchased together, such as sparkling wines, wrapping paper and gift cards.
BW: Where can wholesalers improve with regards to their Christmas range?
LB: Ferrero offers these top tips for a sparkling Christmas:
- Keep your range simple to avoid confusion and allow retailers to buy with confidence. Shoppers are looking to trade up at Christmas, so offer a good display dedicated to larger pack sizes and premium brands to encourage retailers to buy;
- Stock up early to make the most of the whole season;
- Don’t forget the impulse opportunity at Christmas – innovation such as Kinder Joy in a new Christmas-themed pack is perfect for driving incremental sales outside of the traditional seasonal sub-categories.
BW: What does Diwali mean for Ferrero and its wholesale customers?
LB: Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, is the best known of the Hindu festivals, and certainly one of the brightest for wholesalers and their customers. Over one million Indians in the UK celebrate Diwali each year, bringing families and friends together to embrace the spirit of giving and sharing. Ferrero is perfectly placed to help wholesalers, retailers and foodservice customers win during the Diwali occasion, with a range of products perfect for the gifting and sharing occasion.
BW: What are the big challenges around boosting sales for Diwali?
LB: To gain an in-depth understanding of retailers’ perceptions and experiences of Asian festivals, Ferrero conducted a bespoke research project to gain quantitative and qualitative insight into the opportunity surrounding Asian festivals. The research identifies key retailer findings about the Diwali occasion:
- 71% of independent retailers celebrate Diwali or Eid, but do not do anything with their customers;
- 28% of independent retailers do not celebrate either of the Asian festivals – while they don’t celebrate Diwali, many of their customers might, representing a missed opportunity if they aren’t activating.
BW: What are the key products/must-stocks/best-sellers during this time?
LB: The research reveals that 26% of independent retailers believe that confectionery is the absolute best-selling category during Diwali and Eid. Sixty-five per cent of independent retailers also state that boxed chocolates are most commonly bought as a gift during Asian festivals, while 72% of independent retailers state that they sell a lot of chocolate products during these festivals. Ferrero encourages wholesalers to remind their customers of the occasions, ensuring that they stock up at least two weeks ahead of Diwali – the time when main gift purchasing is completed.
BW: What additional support do wholesalers and their customers need during this time from suppliers (PoS, promotions, merchandising, and so on)?
LB: Ferrero prides itself on working in collaboration with wholesale partners to make sure its premium products are unmissable in depot. Our well-known Ferrero ‘hot gold’ PoS really stands out during the Diwali occasion, drawing retailers in by generating theatre within busy wholesale environments. Retailers are also able to get their hands on hot gold PoS for their own stores to help generate pull-through.
BW: Where can wholesalers improve on Diwali sales? How can they better support their customers?
LB: Wholesalers can make sure they maximise on the Diwali occasion by signposting in the same way that they would for Christmas. This will ensure Diwali is front of mind for retailers, and guarantees that they can stock up in time. Wholesalers should also look to inspire their customers by implementing cross-promotions in depot to help motivate retailers with what they can do in-store to drive sales.
