The sun is shining, the clock has almost finished its countdown, the athletes are all here and there are just a few hours to go until the 2012 London Olympics officially get underway.
In the last few weeks the trade PR team here at Cirkle have been out, along with our research partners him!, talking to hundreds of convenience Retailers inside and outside of London to gauge how they are feeling and acting towards maximising sales for the Olympics and other big in-store events this year.
Confidence is clearly very high:
- 77% of Retailers Expect to increase their sales through in-store events this year
- nearly three quarters of retailers expect to grow their sales by up to 25%
- the most optimistic one in ten are expecting more than 25% sales growth
For retailers, the Olympics is easily the most eagerly anticipated in-store event of the year, clearly more so than the Euros or the Jubilee, fuelled largely by leading suppliers like Coca-Cola, Cadbury and P&G also being primary Olympics partners.
Retailers say these suppliers have been particularly proactive, innovative and supportive in helping them get ready with exciting NPD, displays, promotions and heavyweight consumer Marketing Campaigns.
Given the huge sums of money that are involved in brands securing and promoting official LOCOG partnerships, ensuring perfect in-store execution at the final stage of the product journey, at the point of purchase, is an absolute must - not just a nice to have. And it seems that this has not been lost on the vast majority of retailers we spoke to, who are feeling extremely well prepared and confident.
After all the moaning and worrying, the Pre Games Anxiety as some have called it, there seems to be a genuine sense of excitement building this week among consumers. If this optimism is coupled with a bout of long-anticipated good weather, some medal-winning British performances and best-in-class in-store execution, retailers might yet make up some ground on what has hitherto been a disappointing year.
And in terms of that much-vaunted Olympic word – legacy – perhaps these Games will also leave a lasting impression on convenience retailing in the UK… a blue-print for the future on perfect in-store event execution and supplier/retailer collaboration.
This research was carried out through Cirkle’s intellectual property Retailer Inner Cirkle - the industry’s first and only independent evaluation tool of business to business marketing campaigns. The latest report is out now…. contact @neilbrenson or email [email protected] for a copy of the report or for more information.
This research was carried out through Cirkle’s intellectual property Retailer Inner Cirkle - the industry’s first and only independent evaluation tool of business to business marketing campaigns. The latest report is out now…. contact @neilbrenson or email [email protected] for a copy of the report or for more information.
