Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt of a current article from Convenience Store Decisions magazine.
Having a tough time deciding which gums and mints to carry? You're not alone. The amazing number and diversity of new entries in this important category have most convenience store retailers second-guessing the wisdom of their choices.
From energy boosts to dietary supplements, gum and mints are now available in a wide variety of formats at a multitude of price points, presenting difficult choices when it comes to stocking shelves and displays in the candy aisle and the front counter. Since the global gum industry alone is worth an estimated $19.5 billion annually, it clearly behooves category managers to make careful choices about which gums they elect to sell.
One of the best ways to decide whether or not to carry a new product: listen to customer requests. That's how Joao Carvalho, who owns a few Islander Marketplace stores in downtown Miami, began selling VE2 Energy Gum, two pieces of which are equal to an eight-ounce cup of coffee or an energy drink.
A friend and customer mentioned the gum to Mr. Carvalho. "It kind of struck me," he said. "I thought, ‘What else are they going to come up with?'"
Mr. Carvalho acquired a couple of cases of the gum the following day and put it out with the other 50 varieties he carries. "I was surprised at how rapidly it sold, especially as we didn't do a point-of-sale (POS) display," Mr. Carvalho said. "I tested it myself and found my friend was right - it does give you an instant pickup. I started telling people they should try it instead of drinking so much coffee."
Sales figures, of course, remain the determining factor of choice for many c-store retailers, as well they should. Jerry Goff, director of operations for Fred's Minit Mart LLC, said his company has received some anecdotal information on several new supplemental gums and mints and stocked a few, but has not had a lot of success with them. Goff makes choices about which brands of gum and mints to stock at the chain's 34 stores by what's selling and what's not as compared to customer feedback.
"Obviously the gum and mint rack is one of the areas we look at most closely," Mr. Goff said. "We make changes almost monthly to make sure we have the right products."
While Minit Mart's confectionery sales have gone down overall, gum and mints continue to perform well. The changes Goff makes don't necessarily come about as a result of dropping current stock in favor of what's new, though.
"We still do not scan, so we work pretty closely with manufacturers," he said. "We cull items and offer new ones on a regular basis on the basis of the market intelligence we get from them."
Discussion Questions: What are some smart strategies for smaller convenience stores with limited resources to determine which items to stock? How big a role should customer feedback play in deciding which brands to stock in dense categories such as candy and mints?