CPGmatters: Kraft Scores with Concepts To Generate Center Store Traffic
By John Karolefski
Through a special arrangement, what follows is an excerpt of a current article from CPGmatters, a monthly e-zine, presented here for discussion.
Kraft Foods is relying on shopper insights and the power of its brands to help supermarket retailers lure shoppers from the jazzy perimeter into the center store aisles.
Patrick Hare, director of the In-Store Merchandising Center of Excellence at Kraft Foods, calls this creative initiative "a collaborative effort." The key is developing solutions that meet the objective of retailers to increase category sales, while meeting the objective of Kraft to increase sales of its brands.
Retailers are looking to make the shopping trip more experiential and "a lot of this is certainly happening on the perimeter," he told CPGmatters in an interview. "One of our challenges has been to bring that excitement from the perimeter to the center of the store."
One way that Kraft has done that is with Center Store Café, which aims to bring the atmosphere of a coffee café to the center of the supermarket while promoting super-premium coffees. Kraft markets the grocery store rights to Starbucks.
Center Store Café creates a destination in the coffee aisle by using eye-catching shelving and special lighting. It is deployed in nearly 400 stores operated by Meijer, Kroger, and other grocers. Some include hardware such as the Tassimo coffee machine, Kraft's proprietary one-cup brewing system.
Kraft's latest retail initiative is Mom's Kitchen, which is being tested in one ShopRite in Oakland, NY, and three Buehler's Markets in northeast Ohio. Situated in the cookie and cracker aisle, the concept simulates the look a kitchen with wooden cabinets, a kitchen island, and a bulletin board.
Mom's Kitchen is presented in three versions: one in-aisle, one in the center of the store, and one "store-within-a-store" off the back perimeter. Among the brands taking part are Ritz, Oreo and Chips Ahoy. Mom's Kitchen also includes some cross-category merchandising with a cooler for milk and another cooler in the aisle for Kraft cheese.
Mr. Hare calls the early test results "encouraging," and Kraft is discussing rolling out the program to other retail partners in 2008.
"A traditional aisle is uninteresting to many consumers," says Mr. Hare. "They want their shopping trip to be more experiential. We're seeing this in any retail formats beyond traditional grocery. Consumers are looking for solutions. This can be accomplished through improved messaging and structure in the aisle.
"These two improvements, along with the right products, can help establish an emotional connection with consumers. The Mom's Kitchen idea really establishes that emotional connection with Mom. It reminds her of simple usage and recipe suggestions for the category."
Discussion Question: What do you think of the potential for Kraft's in-store concepts to encourage consumers to shop center aisles? What advice or concerns would you have for grocers looking at similar "experiential" programs to improve center aisle traffic?