‘Gold end’ promotional bays at the front of store are driving “phenomenal” sales growth for Londis since their launch at the beginning of the year.

In the six months since launch, keen money-off deals have run on more than 200 lines, with the highlights being Nescafe original (pricemarked £2.95) up 245% compared to the previous three weeks; Diet Coke (six pack, two for £4) up 426%; and Cadbury Milk Tray (half price offer) up 444%.

Paul Courtney, Londis sales director, said: “With over 40% of market spend now on promotions, the ‘gold end’ promotional bays at the front of store means our value message is clear for shoppers. Findings from Eyetracker, the research agency, show that there’s a five second window of opportunity in which to engage customers as they walk through the door and entice them in.

“To drive sales in these tough times we need to think like a consumer and act like a retailer, and we know this promotional bay meets the needs of our retailers because we’ve developed the concept in partnership with them.”

Londis retailer Julian Taylor Green added: “We want to deliver value to the consumer and profit for our store, and these ‘gold ends’ do just that. Through working together with Musgrave we have a process in place for promotional bays to be laid out and tested before they’re rolled out to retailers, so we know the stock fits. We did our own promotional bays before, but there was no uniformity and they were driven by our own opinions. Now they’re driven by what the consumer wants and what the market’s doing.”

Sited at the front of the store, typically four or five shelves on the ‘gold end’ promotional bay carry Londis’ top four or five promotional deals which are also featured on the consumer leaflet, distributed to more than one million households every three weeks.

The value message is supported with clear and simple point of sale and options are available for both licensed and unlicensed stores. Londis has initially introduced these ‘gold end’ bays to its 500 Londis retailers on the Brand Essentials scheme, which offers additional support and service in return for additional levels of loyalty.