Easter: Cheep thrills

It might not always be reflected in the British weather, but in terms of retail seasons, spring has most definitely sprung. No doubt, you’ll already have sold several cases of Creme Eggs and MaltEaster Bunnies over the past few weeks. The former’s cheeky advertising campaign, which encourages consumers to ‘have a fling’ with Creme Eggs, has been running since the beginning of the year to ensure high brand awareness. And Mars is doubling MaltEaster Bunnies’ advertising run from four to eight weeks in the run up to Easter.

But while self-eat products are most certainly still a major earner, as Easter looms ever closer it’s time to bring out the big guns.

“Retailers need to ensure that stock is displayed early in the season to tell people that you have a good range of Easter gifting solutions available,” says Thorntons commercial director Phil Sargison. “Each time somebody comes into the store they will be reminded that your store has a great range of Easter products available and it gives them a reason to come back when they are ready to buy. This is especially important given that Easter distress purchases are increasing.

“Some 51% of Easter purchases were made over the week leading up to Easter Saturday, compared with 45% in 2011,” says Sargison. “Convenience stores are well placed to take advantage of consumers making last-minute purchases,” he notes. “Easter confectionery sales by store format this year showed that for all other store formats sales were down, except for convenience stores, which saw sales of £59.3m, up 7.8%.”

There’s no doubt that Easter is a big sales opportunity, but we all know that the mults will be stocked to the rafters with the most popular shell eggs, so simply sticking to all the best-sellers isn’t a good move. “The market should leave the supermarkets to scrap over the core range of branded eggs while the rest of the stores focus on the many other opportunities,” states Hancocks purchasing director Jonathan Summerley. “A high percentage of shoppers wish to buy an Easter gift that they can’t find in the supermarkets. The most important thing when choosing your display is to steer clear of obvious supermarket products. Regular trips to all of the local stores in your area should be an essential task.”

But that isn’t to say that shell eggs aren’t worth stocking at all. “Review shell eggs carefully and look for brands or sizes that the supermarkets aren’t really stocking,” advises Summerley. “This tends to be larger eggs or more premium brands. There is good demand for these eggs and your shoppers will be glad to find something different.”

The firm has plenty on offer to fit the bill, including the 200g Ducd’O White Chocolate Egg with Strawberry Truffles (rrp £7.99), the 1.1kg Ducd’O La Boule Milk Chocolate Premier Egg (rrp £19.99), and the 400g Ducd’O Dusted Truffles Egg (rrp £10.99).

Mars agrees that bigger is often better. “If stores have limited space then retailers should look to stock up on large and premium options that offer a greater return,” says trade communications manager Bep Dhaliwal. Mars’ returning favourites for 2013 include Galaxy Indulgent Collection, M&Ms and MaltEaster Luxury Eggs, all priced at £7.99.

Adult eggs are growing in importance in the impulse channel, now accounting for 13% of total Easter confectionery sales, up from 11% in 2010, claims Nestlé. “On average, shoppers are purchasing three adult egg packs (an increase of 26%) and spending £11.21 over the season, and while adults may receive fewer eggs than children, the spend per egg is considerably higher as they’re chosen to be more special, individual gifts,” says trade communications manager Graham Walker.

He adds: “The late season is critical for sales of adult eggs as this is when 81% of shoppers buy them. With limited space on shelves, ensuring that favourite brands as well as a variety of products are on offer is key to sales success.”

For 2013, Nestlé is bringing back its large After Eight egg (rrp £5.41), and Quality Insider Egg (rrp £5.41). “For those retailers with limited shelf space these perennial favourite brands are must-stocks,” says Walker. The Aero Bubbles Peppermint Insider Egg is also returning to shelves, and new for this year is the Rowntree’s Randoms Insider Egg (rrp £5.41). The chocolate egg, which is filled with Randoms jelly sweets, is targeted at 16- to 24-year-olds.

Eggs at the upper end of the price spectrum are certainly worth your attention. The category’s strong growth (up 27%) has been driven by Nestlé Confectionery, with 60% of its giant egg sales incremental to the category. This year the firm is introducing Kit Kat Chunky Giant Egg (rrp £7.49), which comes complete with a milk chocolate, peanut butter and white chocolate Kit Kat Chunky. With the firm’s Choose a Chunky Champion campaign running until March, the brand may well be front of mind for consumers. Aero Selection Giant Egg (rrp £7.49), which includes peppermint, orange and milk chocolate Aero bars, is also new.

Thorntons suggests displaying premium eggs separately from other Easter offerings to aid shoppers in finding the right product. “People buy gifts with the specific recipient in mind, so make things easier for them,” says Sargison. “For a special person, a shopper will most likely want a more premium product, so merchandise these eggs together,” he advises.

While the general rule is to stay away from the supermarket ranges, Cadbury states that medium eggs cannot be overlooked altogether. “Although self-eat and sharing products offer the biggest sales opportunities for convenience retailers at Easter, shell eggs also have their role to play for stores that have sufficient space,” says Cadbury trade communications manager Sue Nash.

“Some 56.4% of consumers claim to buy only Cadbury Easter eggs, so to offer consumers the products they are looking for we would recommend stocking Cadbury Creme egg medium shell egg as it consistently proves to be a top-seller for retailers. Cadbury’s medium eggs deliver three times more cash sales per single point of distribution than the next nearest competitor brand.”

In addition to shell eggs, there are a wealth of Easter-themed treats that could well give your store the edge over competitors. “There are lots of different products that can offer real interest to c-stores,” says Summerley. “Consider novelty chocolate shapes and products that have a keepsake element to them.” The company has launched a range of shaped chocolate gift packs, including sheep, hot cross buns and daffodils.

Nestlé’s novelties are also set to cause a stir. Milkybar Cow (rrp £1.50) and Smarties Chicken (rrp £2.55) are back for another year, and new for 2013 is the Smarties Spring Animal Gift pack (rrp £1.99).

Ferrero has also jumped onto the Easter novelties opportunity and is launching a premium moulded bunny in January. Similar in appearance to the popular Lindt bunny, the Ferrero Rocher Bunny (rrp £2.99) is wrapped in gold foil, but the firm claims that the chocolate and hazelnut treat will appeal to a more adult audience. Says customer development manager Levi Boorer: “The Rocher Bunny is aimed at a very different consumer - young adults, and older, post-family adults - and is more upmarket, whereas the Lindt Bunny appeals to families and is less upmarket.”

Ferrero Rocher’s ‘Make your moments golden’ message will be front of mind with consumers throughout spring with TV ads featuring the new Ferrero Rocher bunny running from February 25 through to Easter.

The company is also investing in its Kinder brand. “We are placing both our Kinder Surprise and Kinder Chocolate TV ads on air in the run up to Easter, and for the first time ever will run a 10-second tag on the Kinder Surprise ad to support our Easter range,” says Boorer.

The seasonal tag will run from March 4 on the Kinder Surprise advert, to raise awareness during the key Easter sales period for kids’ confectionery in the three weeks before Easter.

Thorntons also has a strong children’s offering with Bramble Bunny mould, and Miss Flutterby and Footy Fanatic eggs, all of which are priced at £3.49. Each is made with milk chocolate, plus white and dark chocolate embellishments.

However, while novelty is important, the firm urges retailers to also consider boxed chocolates as part of their Easter range. “It is important for convenience retailers to remember that boxed chocolates were also in growth over Easter 2012, up 10% in the three weeks leading up to Easter, so the Easter offering should not just rely on eggs,” says Sargison.

Ferrero agrees that boxed chocolates, such as its Rocher and Collection offerings, are a winner at Easter. “Last year we performed ahead of the category during the spring season and boxed confectionery presents a big opportunity for independent retailers as a key category value driver during the spring period,” says Boorer.

Don’t think that all of your products have to offer a nod to Easter, concurs Hancocks, which stocks a wide range of Duc d’O Belgian boxed chocolates. “Not everyone wants to purchase eggs and confectionery displaying chicks and bunnies,” says Summerley. “Easter has become a general gifting opportunity, with chocolate and indeed sugar confectionery high up on the shopping list, so consider attractive and different general gifting ranges.”

He is confident that c-stores are truly getting to grips with Easter. “In recent years, independents and convenience stores have definitely become far savvier where Easter is concerned. The Easter confectionery market for independents continues to be challenging, as it has been for a number of years now. However, clear opportunities do exist to boost sales over this season.”•