Growing sales - doing it differently

Andy Davis
Trading Director - Europe
The History - six years ago
Is this you?

• An oil company wanting to be a retailer

• A group of shops that are too big for the offer
• Concerns around new legislation
• The risk of a tobacco ban
• Impulse sales flat or declining with few “significant” new products
emerging in the market
• Less car use
• Reasons to shop beyond fuel
• No fresh food heritage and a weak fresh offer that is not really
trusted by the customer
• Little expertise, employees with minimal “retail” experience
Our Journey
y

Zoning
g was introduced as a p
part of the accelerator p
program
g
Fast Lane

A Fast Lane was introduced to drive impulse sales

Category Signage

Category Signage introduced to help customers locate products..

 Small adaptations
p - impulse
p

To maximise the opportunity:

Secondary units
Block chocolate attachment
Battery unit
More
oep prominent
o e t bu
bulk-stacks
stac s
Belly baskets
External Mobile Car care unit
Newspaper unit
Small adaptations
p – Wild Bean Cafe

ISB power-wing
p g

Single sided PDU

Introduction of a condiment unit to the WBC

…condiment unit introduced to make it easier for the customer….

 Tobacco displays
p y

Gantry space was increased wherever there was ”free” space to use behind the
tills. This moved displays from 1.8m to 3m. The benefit has been a more impactful
display and more facings to help drive availability and sales.

New…

Previous…
Newspaper
p p Stands

This equipment gives a highly visible display by the side of the store entrance.
 Supported by strong brands
brands…

Strong, instantly recognisable brands add credibility - customers trust them. There may
be the opportunity to receive branded equipment “free of charge”
 Services

Encouraging
g g customers to visit the store more often through
g pproviding
g better services
than competitors. Services also provide an added revenue stream to supplement total
shop sales.
But………….

• THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH

 Why?

Competition will intensify

from fuel/grocer/coffee shop
brand mergers …. +
So………….

We needed to affiliate, with the best…

What was in it for the two companies?
p

• BP have great locations

• BP had 8,000 customers per week per store
• BP had three of the four key elements but not fresh
• BP had space to “give up” in most stores
• BP offered scale and operate in an attractive trade sector
• BP branded offer strengths compliment M&S
• There are few stores that will simply cannibalise sales for M&S
• BP were prepared
d to iinvest capital
i l
Whyy M&S and BP?

• M&S have high quality fresh food products that BP could never
replicate
• M&S have sophisticated technical know how
• M&S have a tried and tested supply chain for short life fresh foods
• M&S had experience of similar
arrangements
• M&S is a tried and trusted brand
• Customers wanted access to an
M&S offer
• M&S provided a fantastic support
and training structure
 What we both have

• Trust for each other

• Respect for each other
• Similar approaches to Health & Safety
• High ethical and moral standards
• Trusted companies and brands
• Acknowledged strengths
• Commitment
C it t tto the
th customer
t
• Commitment to each other
• Respect for each others key aspirations
• Massive expectations for the offer
Assessing the possibility of an affiliation and
what to look out for
for..

• Know why you are pursuing this route

• Give an honest assessment of your own strengths and weaknesses
• Give an honest view on what you can offer another retailer
• Do not fool yourself regarding your own capabilities
• It will not rescue a business that is “dying”
• Are you trying to appeal to new and/or existing customers?
• Do not let “big company ego’s” get in the way - acknowledge each
other’s strengths
• Are you committed to working with another retailer brand - and on
what basis?
• Understand what matters to the other partner
• Make sure your skills compliment those of your chosen partner
Assessing the possibility of an affiliation and
what to look out for
for..

• Do you offer scale in terms of space and the

number of stores?
• Is a new offer compatible with your Supply
Chain ?
• Ensure that there is sufficient store space to
deliver a combined offer
• It needs
d to
t be
b a sustainable
t i bl b business
i model
d l
• Early in the process understand what the
challenges
g are to such an affiliation, p
particularly
y
I.T./systems capabilities
Assessing the possibility of an affiliation and
what to look out for
for..

• Empower teams to work together

• Do not over complicate
• Manage expectations
• Understand what “success
success looks like
like”
• Share plans and rationale with key third party stakeholders
• Understand what any trial is trying to measure, remember any trial is a trial
• Put in Best practise learnings into trial and roll out
• Be committed
• Never forget the customer in all your dealings
Connect refresh

• Zoning
g - This is evolving
g as customer behaviour changes
g and as
we learn
 Connect Refresh - Fast Lane

• The fast lane is evolving through the requirement to meet changing customer needs
• Space is flexed according to category contribution and replenishment requirements.
• The new version helps BP get customers walking past more impulse products and
therefore there is more opportunity for pick- up.
Connect Refresh – Lunch-time Offer
To Summarise:

• Six years ago BP retail had a whole host of challenges

• Improvements to the fast-lane were put in place
• We developed equipment to improve our stores, for example, the
condiment unit in WBC, the cigarette display and the newspaper
stands.
• We improved our services and made them more widely available
• ..but this wasn’t enough…
• We looked at the competitive landscape and began a trial with M&S
• This proved successful and we are still rolling out more stores
• …but again we need to think…”What Next?” to help drive profits and
stay ahead of the competition.
What next?

Other insert ideas - pizza making, flowers eg Interflora, banks,

Thank you
y

• Questions……………………