Mars Wrigley Shares New Products and Best Practices

Confectionary giant develops ideal checkout lane program and design for retailers.

May 30, 2018

CHICAGO – Nearly 85% of shoppers buy an item in the checkout lane every year. The best-sellers include beverages (34% of sales), candy (20.8%) and gums/mints (17.7%). It’s the seventh largest category for the entire store.

At the National Confectioners Association (NCA) Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago, Mars Wrigley Confectionary debuted new products, new packaging and best practices for checkout lane. Since consumers are snacking more and grabbing food on the go, the company challenges retailers to rethink some of the offerings at the checkout lane.

Suggestions include moving gum and mints to the space above the conveyer belt; put the best-selling chocolate candies, like Hershey’s Reese’s and Snickers, on the top three shelves at eye level. For optimal sales, Mars Wrigley recommends dividing up front-end space: 51% for “Refresh” products like beverages and snacks, 39% for “Reward” products like magazines and chocolate and 10% for “Remind” products like cell phone chargers and lip balm. With the right assortment and merchandising, the company says you could see double-digit sales growth.

“We found out from our research that consumers shop by flavor and brand, not really packaging,” said Rimsha Baig, associate category manager at Mars Wrigley. “Most retailers only use one shelf for non-chocolates. You just want to make sure you have the top seven SKUs, and if that means taking up two shelves, do it, because even though non-chocolate is a really small player at the front end, it still tends to sell.”

Experts attribute the decline in candy sales to the increased buying power of millennials and technology’s impact on consumer behavior. Many shoppers stand in the checkout line looking down at their phones, rather than the displays right in front of them. Today’s consumers are also more health-conscious.

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