GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — S. Abraham & Sons Inc. (SAS), a convenience store distributor and subsidiary of Imperial Trading Co., drove 7.5% unit growth over last year in its National Candy Month promotions, including deals, point-of-sale kits and an internal sales contest.
“Seeing the growth of this program a second year encourages us to continue to invest in innovative promotions,” said Alyssa Snyr, category manager of confection and snacks at SAS. “Candy is one of the most important categories in the convenience channel and SAS is fully committed to offering innovation not only in the products we offer, but the way we advertise and promote. We are already exploring how we can grow the excitement again next year!”
National Candy Month in June, created by the National Confectioners Association, bridges the gap between the surges in candy sales near Easter and Halloween.
In the June Monthly Marketing Publication by Grand Rapid-based SAS, the company promoted candy with 10 pages of deals on 80 confection items with the help of vendor support. SAS also offered point-of-sale (POS) kits, which included window clings and shelf danglers representing National Candy Month.
The company’s internal sales contest drove 13.5% sales growth over last year for the confection category. With the National Candy Month Planogram published by SAS, representatives set stores accordingly with 28 confection items that had a deal for the month or were recently launched into distribution. Many stores had additional ideas for marketing the program, including video boards, props and markdowns at the consumer level.
Representatives sent in images of their stores for a chance to win one of seven $1,000 prizes. A total of 145 stores dedicated an endcap to National Candy Month, and this led to 7.5% unit growth, with the items included in the planogram seeing as high as 68% unit growth.
“It has always been a challenge in a convenience store to find a space for new item introductions,” said George Abdoo, vice president of sales at SAS. “This contest encouraged our sales team to think out of the box, re-merchandise sections and create a space for new items to be placed. The program was a big success and will lead to increased impulse sales and profits for our retail partners.”
Imperial Trading, Elmwood, La., and SAS, Grand Rapids, Mich., provide marketing, distribution and technology solutions to convenience retailers. Their service area extends from the United States and Canada border to the Gulf of Mexico where they service more than 5,000 retail locations. The companies have six distribution centers serving 20 states.
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