The creation of two distinct business units within Nisa will help it become more “more consumer and retail driven” chief operating officer Amanda Jones told C-Store.
The recent overhaul of its retail and support teams was also likely to drive a rethink of retail propositions and promotional programmes throughout the estate she added.
“We’re doing a lot of research among consumers and from this we will build our retail proposition. There is a diversity in the membership and different stores have different needs. If you are on a high street then everyday low price is important, whereas multibuys might work better for stores in other locations.”
“We currently send out 5.5m leaflets every three weeks and great cost, so we need to make sure they are right,” Marketing director Ian Bishop added.
“We need to look at what consumers respond to, what retailers margin expectations are, and what retail price strategy we implement. Should it be based on store formats, or would it be better based around particular product groups? It needs to be a root-and-branch review.”
Earlier this year the company overhauled the structure of its retail and support teams, creating two new business units, one for symbol operators, headed by former Spar Hendersons director Nigel Gray, and one for independent and specialists, headed by Steve Leach.
The Nisa field team has also been split into independent and symbol in a bid to meet the “ever changing needs” of the two retail groups.
The company is set to begin trial of a new consumer facing app designed to drive customers to stores through the communication of promotions and product ranges.
Work to reinvigorate its Heritage own label range and build a £500m brand is also ongoing.
“This will be a big year for Nisa, in terms of its development into a more retail and consumer focussed organisation, and we believe these changes will help Nisa be recognised as a safe pair of hands for independent retailers,” Jones added.
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