LAS VEGAS — When it comes to beverage and foodservice promotions, Coen Markets’ Jim Jacko focuses on products that can benefit the overall store.
Items that don’t move well nor effect promotional success he “moves to the side,” said Jacko (right), a senior category manager at the Canonsburg, Pa.-based convenience-store chain, during the educational session “Promotions Customers Actually Want” at the NACS Show in Las Vegas.
Jacko said industry knowledge comes into play when considering what to promote, and certain promotions have an inherent form and structure, such as tried-and-true buy-one, get-one packaged beverage offers. “It’s proven success,” he said.
“But sometimes you need to dissect those promotions,” he said. “I like to take the ones in place for a long time and ask if the tactics we’re using were successful, such as a two-for-one energy drink.”
Jacko looks at the elements in the promotion, such as signage, and examines if the promotion is getting stale.
- Coen Oil Co. is No. 118 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 list of biggest U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
“I like to dissect it and ask, ‘What if we do this or that?’ Don’t be afraid to try a different tactic.”
For example, Jacko said, Coen had a slightly underdeveloped water category and sold less in winter.
“We asked how can we invigorate it organically and not give it seven doors and force it down people’s throats,” he said. “I developed a promotion with a value brand, Deer Park, and promoted it lower and minimized any cannibalization with high-end products.”
In crafting a promotion, Jacko said he uses as many weapons in his arsenal as possible: pumptoppers, GSTV (Gas Station TV), door and floor signage, and digital.
Jacko also looks to data. “I look at potential profit and how can I increase sales to reach goals,” he said. “I might tap vendors for knowledge with how a promotion ran with a different retailer, and look at best- and worst-case scenarios.”
Jacko also examines what products might be cannibalized in the category. “You might have an inverse effect happen,” he said. “It might look successful, but if you look at it as a net, you might have burned the end at the other side.”
Eric Sherman (left), executive vice president, insights and analytics, GSTV, offered insight on consumer spending habits, tying them back to promotions. Detroit-based GSTV is a video network available at thousands of fuel retailers.
A promotion at the pump can see results quickly, as convenience-store consumers spend 3.7 times more money immediately after a fuel transaction than those who did not purchase fuel that day, he said.
“A fuel transaction predicts elevated consumer spend,” he said. “Convenience retailers can use this insight to meet customer needs in a c-store.”
Sherman emphasized telling a compelling story in the need to communicate the offer. “Have a call to action, such as ‘Grab one inside,’ ” he said.