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This latest report details the research that has been carried out by the ECR UK Availability Workgroup and sub-groups during 2006, and provides an update on the work detailed in the 2005 ECR UK Blue Book‘Availability 2005 – Closer to the Shelf...'
During 2006 the key focus of the workgroup has been to delve deeper into the underlying issues affecting on-shelf availability and, one year on it is worth noting that the ECR UK Availability Survey in Q3 2006 recorded its second highest ever level of on-shelf availability at 97.1%, and the Convenience Survey recorded its highest ever level of on-shelf availability at 98.3%.
The Availability Insights sub-group, in conjunction with Heriot-Watt University, has undertaken substantial research to determine why the health and beauty category continues to challenge food and grocery retailers in terms of on-shelf availability. The sub-group gained a number of new members this year from the health and beauty sector which enabled comparisons to be made between food and grocery retailers and health and beauty specialists in terms of how products are replenished and what changes could potentially drive improved availability.
The effect of introducing new products and running promotions on on-shelf availability was the focus for the New Product Introduction and Promotions sub-group, and a number of case studies have been presented to demonstrate the effects, which clearly vary by category.
Building on the trial survey of availability within convenience stores in 2005, this survey became firmly established during 2006 as a robust measure of on-shelf availability within convenience stores. A number of refinements have since taken place to the survey, and the move towards the online reporting of the results will allow more rigorous investigation of the root causes of out-of-stocks going forward.
The results from the ECR UK Availability Survey reveal that whilst on-shelf availability can be improved over the long-term, the goal for both retailers and manufacturers is to deliver improved consistency so that shoppers can also experience these improvements on a day-to-day basis. It is only through delivering on the basics that this can be achieved.
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