The importance of customer engagement

Customer engagement is vital in building loyalty among shoppers and keeping locals coming back for more. Convenience retailers have an advantage over the competition of being able to adapt quickly to trends and often have more flexibility to meet ever-evolving shopper demands.

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View the video below to hear us talk to Newtrade Insight on the opportunities for customer engagement for independent retailers

Britvic, through its portfolio of bestselling brands, offers engaging on-pack promotions to help attract shopper attention, across brands such as Rockstar, Robinsons Ready to Drink, who earlier in the year were offering consumers the chance to win tickets to The Hundred, to Pepsi Max who are currently giving away in-game rewards with every promotional bottle of Pepsi.

New products and flavours have long been a way to engage shoppers and increase sales, particularly when it comes to soft drinks, but on-pack offers and promotional price points across core lines can also be a winning formula.

Brand tie-ups, giveaways and promotional price points are just some of the ways we engage our shoppers, trying to offer them something different to stand out from the competition. We stocked the Robinsons Ready to Drink during the promotional period for consumers to win tickets to The Hundred, supporting this with POS and an attractive price point offering two bottles for £2, the brand did really well in-store. They’re getting good value from a brand they recognise and they come in popular flavours.
If we can work with brands on bespoke giveaways or ‘gift with purchase’ offers, we know it will go down well in-store. I’ve also set up some of these offers myself, whether giving away branded items, glassware, footballs or tickets we’ve been able to get our hands on, it creates a buzz with the customers and everyone likes to feel they’re in with a chance of getting something for free. It’s so important to engage our shoppers in different ways, and it definitely helps increase impulse buys

Aman Uppal, One Stop Mount Nod in Coventry

Top Tips

Top tips for engaging your shoppers and driving sales:

  • Social media

    Promote your store on social media to drive footfall including any activity or offers you are running

  • Product selection

    Ensure you have the right product selection, stock well-known brands in different flavours, and offer value through PMPs

  • Point of Sale

    Create engaging displays utilising POS to capture shopper attention

  • Shopper trends

    Keep up with the latest shopper trends, for example, food to go – and create deals which tap into this, offer a soft drink and snack, or sandwich, at a set price

  • secondary siting

    Use secondary siting to promote new flavours, such as Tango Paradise Punch – the latest sugar free limited edition from the brand as part of its rotational flavour series