Total online retail spending by New Zealanders in February was up 14 percent compared to February 2016, according to the latest BNZ and Marketview monthly report. 2017 is off to a very good start…
According to the report, this can be considered a solid performance.
Especially when considering that last year was a leap year. An extra days shopping in February can boost the month’s spending by more than three per cent, depending on factors such as the day of the week the extra day falls on.
Purchases from offshore online retailers in February were up 16 per cent on February 2016.
Key trends were similar to January, with clothing and computer stores again responsible for approximately half of the year-on-year increase. Pharmacy and Cosmetic purchases from offshore sites also saw strong growth, up more than 40 per cent.
Spending at local online retailers was up 12 per cent on February last year, significantly stronger than the year-on-year growth rate at bricks and mortar stores (approximately 0.1 per cent). Food categories were responsible for over 40 per cent of the increase in online purchases at local merchants since last February. Article source: insideretail.co.nz
We’re always on the lookout for fresh ways to show off deli items, fruit and veg and butchery, and we think our recent products offer interesting new ways for stores to showcase their goods – at both ends of the price scale.
Managing director Rosemary Fowler says end of spring and start of summer is the perfect time to revamp food displays as it ties in with shoppers changing their eating habits to include al fresco dining, barbecues and picnics as well as meaning they’re well prepared for the inevitable Christmas rush.
“Most of our customers don’t want to put anything new in at Christmas because, at that time of the year, they’re really under the pump,” she says. “So now is the time to be planning, and within our retail areas many customers are looking at changing their produce or serve-over delis because that’s where shoppers are looking for ingredients for their barbecues and for when they’re entertaining. It can be good to have a change in those areas to spark a bit of interest.”
New product #1: The Pod Shelf System
This is a major new product designed to let supermarkets make the most of their produce merchandising.
Because of their modular design, they are flexible and can work alongside any existing display cases while enhancing the shopping experience by attracting and holding attention and adding eye-catching tiered displays.
This system is perfect for a large store trying to give the impression of a boutique market and is made up of:
The Pod Shelf: Hooks in to a standard produce wall case to create one of multiple mezzanines or to a multi-deck case to increase merchandising options. Its unique one-piece shelf design and wire front fencing creates a visually impactful and upscale look while the perforated front allows for water drainage, preventing build-up of mould and bacteria. Each shelf includes baffle kit to ensure the lowest possible product temperature and is made from black powder-coated steel with rust-resistant undercoat.
Modular pod display fixtures: This creative solution to displaying products creates a dramatic landscape to draw customer attention and increase sales. The height, multiple configurations and customisable layouts adds dimension and is perfect for highlighting product categories, but also controls inventory and reduces shrink.
Mod Pos for Direct Hook-In Shelf: The aluminium construction is rust-resistant, strong and suitable for misted areas making these the perfect addition to the produce aisle in any supermarket. And because they’re designed to work alongside the rest of the modular shelf system, they are appealing, easy to install or remove for cleaning, and fit the overall consistency of an all-in-one display system.
New product #2: Melamine skillet
Instead of having to deal with the weight and difficulty of cleaning a cast iron skillet, we have found this brand new melamine version. It won’t rust but has all the detailing and look of a real cast-iron version.
It looks great in a butchery section for displaying meat or in a deli are for displaying ingredients for one-dish meals such as paella.
The rustic charm of cast-iron evokes feelings of farmers markets and outdoors barbecues to give your marketing and merchandising team a new toy to play with while its melamine construction means it’s extremely durable, dishwasher safe and break and chip resistant. It comes in one size at the moment – of 33 x 276 x 35mm.
The key to successful merchandising is to add interest and variety to your displays which is why at Mills Display we have developed years of experience working alongside Kiwi businesses to understand what their customers like and which new trends they can tap into.
If you want to keep up to date on our new products, items and systems, or you’re interested in finding a customised solution to a particular display challenge, you can get more information by downloading a catalogue, emailing us or by talk to one of our salespeople on Live Chat.
When the annual trumpeting of New Zealand’s December retail figures arrived in early January, it did so with very little fanfare. Sure, we’d all spent $5,936.8 million during the month, according to the Paymark press release, but even they were forced to describe the increase over November as “modest”. The National Business Review went one better quoting Westpac Bank senior economist Satish Ranchhod as saying it seemed “New Zealanders had a frugal Christmas” and the total take was “much weaker than market expectations for a bounce following a similar-sized fall in spending in November”.
So should retailers tighten their belts and prepare for the end of the boom time that has seen four straight years of strong growth up to 2016’s 6.7% growth rate (as rated by Paymark) for processing 1.2 billion transactions for $57.4 billion of goods and services? The answer is most probably no. Last year, the average Kiwi spent $12,230 in 255 transactions – that’s 4.5% more spending per person and 6.1% more transactions per person. And just because things got a little flat in the run-up to Christmas, doesn’t signal a sea-change in retail behaviour. Boxing Day, for example, saw the usual frenzied run on the tills with Paymark saying they’d processed a record $152.7 million – up 1.9% on last year. (Again, they called it a modest increase – but an increase is an increase!)
And, besides, there’s a lot of other statistics that will be music to the ears of retailers. An overall growing population (the year to June saw the fastest growth rate since the 1960s and is tipped to hit 5 million around 2020) and fluctuations in where those people live (Tauranga has just passed Dunedin as the fifth largest city in the country) means that there’s simply more people out there looking to spend their money. There’s also been a rebound in the dairy industry pumping a bit more of the nation’s milk money back into the economy, and the surging tourism sector is bringing plenty of overseas currencies on to our shores and into our tills.
So how do retailers tap into these changing times? The rising population does present some challenges – for example, it’s probably not enough to simply sit back and wait for returning expats and new immigrants to search you out. Instead retailers will need to look for products, retail displays and store layouts that customers might have been more used to where they used to live. And different regions are growing in different ways – the huge rise in Auckland’s population, for example, has had a knock-on effect for surrounding regions such as Waikato and Bay of Plenty, where retailers might now look to the changing face of their typical customer.
Tapping into the tourism dollar also needs some forethought. There’s been a marked increase in the number of visitors from China, for example, who now travel independently as opposed to in group tours. And this means that more retailers in holiday hotspots, cruise ship stop-offs or well-travelled routes between cities and frequently visited areas can expect to have tourists through their doors. (This is no fantasy either – as of February 2017, there are five separate airlines flying direct between China and New Zealand.) Regardless of where visitors come from, they offer a specific opportunity for retail – for example, the Countdown on Waiheke Island, which is a popular spot both for international tourists, returning expats and immigrants, has an “International Aisle” selling specific, hard-to-get products from England, Asia, South America and Europe.
So if you’re scratching your head wondering why your business is still making a profit while sections of the media are talking about a “modest” or “frugal” Christmas season, it’s worthwhile looking at where the spending is coming from. Retail is a rapidly changing industry worldwide at the moment and although some of the most exciting technology is yet to find its way to our shores, there is still plenty of ways to move with the times.
Mills Display has more than 25 years’ experience of working alongside retailers to find the right food display, point-of-sale display, signage and printed products to help them maximise their customer experience. If you are keen to create the right customised solution, you’re interested in our off-the-shelf display products or if you simply want to talk through options with our friendly and knowledgeable staff, you can get more information by downloading a catalogue, emailingus or by talk to one of our salespeople on Live Chat.
New Zealanders can trace their living and buying habits, it seems, by the calendar. In a recent article on Stuff, what we wear, how we exercise and the contents of our shopping trolleys went under the spotlight over the weekend in which the clocks went forward for daylight savings. And, apparently, regardless of the weather, the traditional start of summer heralds a complete change of diet for us all.
Countdown’s sales figures for the past two years showed roast meats, soups, root vegetables dropped by 30% in October as shoppers turned instead to entertaining, barbecue and picnic foods.With salads, sausages, burger patties, pre-packed cheese boards as well as beer and cider were all up around 15%. Jason McQuoid, the store manager at Countdown Ponsonby in Auckland, said if the weather is fine on Sunday they will see a marked change in what people buy. “If we have a really beautiful day on Sunday we can guarantee we’ll see a lift in salads and barbecue meats because people will get the barbecue out Sunday, they will enjoy their first late night,” he said.
At Mills, this change of season sparks a busy time as retailers across the board prepare for the hectic run-up to Christmas while food retailers also have to contend with this change in buying habits. Managing director Rosemary Fowler says the key areas for many food and produce retailers to watch out for are:
Think about a change in the way you display produce to highlight to customers this change in the way they are thinking and “spark interest”.
Displays that push shoppers into thinking about barbecues and entertaining – for example, information about recipes or wine, cider and beer matches to different foods.
Having enough shopping baskets. Customers are more likely at this time of the year to pop in on the way back from work, or on the way to family and friends to pick up a small number of items to eat that day. This “bits and pieces” shopping is very much a summer phenomenon and can easily leave stores feeling light on basics such as baskets.
And as the days count down to Christmas, stores need to be certain they’re prepared for their own “silly seasons” when they can expect higher numbers of customers and in-stock items and need to be able to cash in on all the extra sales. Mills Display is open throughout the festive season – apart from the stat holidays – for any stores who need last-minute display products but, ideally, businesses need to be preparing now so they’re not introducing new products or reorganising displays during the Christmas rush.
So here’s out Christmas checklist to make sure you’ve got all your business’s display bases covered:
Storage. With all that extra stock you’ll need a well organised way to keep it safe and secure as well as ensuring your staff aren’t exposed to any hazards from over-stocked storerooms.
Customised Display Products. Remember this is our busiest time of the year too and although we work hard to keep our turnaround times really fast, you still need to be prepared to give yourself enough time to order and for us to manufacture and deliver your products well in time for the rush.
Seasonal Displays. As soon as Halloween is out of the way, all that Christmas marketing soon takes its place. Don’t leave planning for one-off seasonal displays until the last minute – whether it’s to showcase a specific item, to attract people through your front door or it’s themed posters and wall hangers, being well coordinated means having this set up and good to go well before the start of December.
Information. Your shoppers are often keen to think of new ways to use new ingredients at this time of the year – or are maybe looking for something a bit different as a present or talking point at home. Either way, stores really need to be able to deliver information about products fast and effectively – and this can mean investing in good ticketing, pricing, posters and signs.
The key to successful summer and Christmas trading in New Zealand is being prepared for the rush that leads up to the holiday season and then finding the right strategy to attract customers through the early months of next year. At Mills Display we have years of experience working alongside Kiwi businesses and understand what it takes to cash in on the festive period.
If you are keen to create the right custom solution, you’re interested in our off-the-shelf display products or if you simply want to talk through options with our friendly and knowledgeable staff, you can get more information by downloading a catalogue, emailing us or by talk to one of our salespeople on Live Chat.
It’s no secret that Christmas queues at New Zealand stores are one of the biggest turn-offs for shoppers. And just as customers get wound up as they waste time while they wait to reach the cashier, so retailers can see their good will, loyalty, and potential spend go up in smoke. But there is plenty of research around queuing that can help stores design their layouts better, make the most of their retail display cabinets and point of sale displays, and keep their customers happy.
1. Customers with full shopping trolleys move faster than small baskets:
It might seem strange but research has revealed that the average amount of time it takes to greet, pay, say goodbye and move out of the point of sale area is 41 seconds per person while the average time it takes to ring up an item is 3 seconds. This means that one person with 100 items takes 341 seconds – just short of six minutes, while a queue of four people with 20 items each (that’s 20 fewer than the first person) will actually take 404 seconds – more than a minute longer. Retailers who understand this can find ways to limit the time taken at point of sale for shoppers with baskets to help queues move faster, while also ensuring enough variety of lanes for shoppers with trolleys or baskets.
2. Single line – multiple check-outs:
Although studies have shown very few customers ever join this type of single-file queue, they are far faster than lots of parallel lines. This efficiency does come at a cost, though, for the retailer who has to find space to accommodate a long, thin line – but, if successfully applied, it offers the fastest route to handling the largest number of shoppers.
3. Know your rights (and lefts):
Research has shown that right-handed people tend to join queues to their right which means that, because there are far more of them, queues on the left tend to be shorter and faster. In order to even out this natural discrepancy, retailers can make point of sale displays on left-side queues more attractive or have more of the right-handed ones.
4. Tough customers:
Nothing slows down queues like people finding it difficult to pay, or chatting to the cashier, or who have items that can’t be scanned (such as produce), or who want information as well as a check-out. Retailers who divide their lines according to different types of product, or who have designated help-desks or information posts around the store can help cut their queues considerably.
5. Don’t let POS displays block cashiers’ views:
One study discovered that cashiers who can’t see the end of their queue don’t work as fast as ones who can see how they are able to keep their line from getting too long.
6. Keep your products well-labelled and displayed:
By having bar codes easy to find, having clothes displayed off their hangers for purchase, and by having information freely available in store, you’re going to cut down the time it takes for customers to move through the point of sale area.
7. Fairness usually trumps fastness:
Many studies have found that what irks shoppers more than waiting in line, is seeing others who arrived after them served before them. And even though most people overestimate the amount of time they spend in a queue, they are willing to wait much longer to avoid the unfairness of having some people served faster than others. The message to retailers is to therefore strike the right balance in their queues – at serveries you can take a number, at the cashout you can create a single line feeding to multiple cashiers. In all queues you can offer a mix of information and potential purchases that keep customers engaged, rather than having them keep tabs on how their line is moving in relation to others.
Mills Display is expert in creating the right custom solution or off-the-shelf display products for point of sale as well as customer control products such as barriers and stands. For more information, download a catalogue, email us or talk to one of our salespeople on Live Chat.
Two new pieces of research have revealed key information both about the future of shops but also the next generation of shoppers. And, despite the increased interest in online stores, the good news for bricks and mortar businesses is that retail display is still very much at the heart of how people like to spend their hard-earned cash. Both studies were carried out by Retail Perceptions which has spent 25 years investigating insights from shoppers on the trends affecting retailers and manufacturers.
The first study looked at “the next generation of retail” by asking more than 2000 teenagers – or Gen Z – how and why they shopped and what they looked for in the retail experience. And, although you might assume that this connected generation would prefer the virtual world in which to shop, they were surprisingly switched on to the in-store experience. “Generation Z is constantly connected to technology, which retailers may find intimidating to overcome when it comes to in-store engagement,” said Interactions President Bharat Rupani. “However, our study found that this group is longing for retailers to provide an engaging in-store experience. In fact, when given the choice, over 64% prefer shopping in-store versus online.”
The main features that these teens looked for in a shop were:
• Cleanliness
• Friendly and clued-up staff
• A “positive checkout experience”
Other key findings from the report include:
• 89% of Gen Z are very price-conscious
• 62% would rather spend money on experiences as opposed to material items
• 81% would change brands if they found better quality elsewhere
• 75% check a store’s app for special offers before making a purchase and 75% prefer retailers that accept mobile payments
The main message to retailers is that the next generation of shopper is not going to dump the high street, mall or edge-of-town shopping centre any time soon – but that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to have to try a little harder to land their custom. The main way you can do this is by having a strong social media presence that pushes promos and offers, and then continuing that interaction in-store with demonstrations, tastings and a strong, informed workforce. Interactions second study looked at the “impact of augmented reality on retail”, and, again, this didn’t so much sound a death knell for bricks-and-mortar stores, rather it offered a strong indication that retailers, retail displays and point of sale will have to adapt the way they work to make the most of new technology.
Augmented reality offers customers a way to experience products before they purchase them – in the case of clothing, they might be able to see how they look wearing it, or the same item in different colour or style; for tech items, they can see demonstrations; and for foodstuffs, they can see how ingredients might work together. It can also help retailers push special promotions and deals.
“It’s not surprising that 61 percent of respondents reported that augmented reality has already changed where they decide to shop,” said Bharat Rupani. “AR is reshaping the way shoppers experience and engage with retailers. We are seeing even the most traditional brands start to include this experiential element in stores, largely driven by customer interest.”
Key findings from the report included:
• 55% said AR made shopping fun
• 45% said it saved them time
• 68% would spend more time at a store if they could shop with AR
• 40% would pay more for an item if they could experience it via AR
• 72% had bought something they hadn’t planned to buy because of AR
Although AR is yet to make a huge splash in New Zealand, it is very much on the horizon and retailers need to work out how their store’s design and display units can be adapted to make the most of such useful technology. What is clear from these pieces of research is that, more than ever, customers are demanding more from their in-store experience, and the way retailers show off and offer information about their products is vital to getting them to make purchases.
Mills Display can help your business find the right custom solution or off-the-shelf display products to be prepared for the next generation of shoppers. For more information, download a catalogue, email us or talk to one of our salespeople on Live Chat.
