Not a day goes by without a news headline about the impact of the economic downturn on consumer spending and household budgets.

With value for money being front of mind for consumers, particularly at Christmas, retailers responded with an ever greater range of promotional offers and deep price-cuts. ‘Better than half price’, ‘buy one get two free’ and £5 ‘meal deals’ became commonplace in store, but what impact did the fight for the consumer pound have on on-shelf product availability?
 

The ECR UK survey measures out-of-stocks

A Benchmark of Availability

Early January sees the release of the latest ECR UK Availability Survey results. One of IGD’s industry initiatives, this bi-monthly survey is a key measure of superstore on-shelf availability.

Covering 200 superstores across Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco, The Co-operative Group and Waitrose, this survey measures the on-shelf availability of 200 key products to provide an industry benchmark.

The December survey also includes an additional 40 seasonal products typically purchased in preparation for the Christmas festivities.
 

A Merry Christmas for Shoppers?

The December survey was conducted between the 14th and 20th December. This is one week later than previous years and it is believed that later survey dates will give a better measure of the consumers’ view of Christmas on-shelf availability.

Superstore on-shelf availability was recorded at just over 97%, a 1% increase on the result seen in October and a 2% increase against the survey completed in December 2007.

	Christmas 'unique' products

Seasonal lines showed a 1% improvement on availability compared to the previous year, however, overall, availability of seasonal lines was significantly lower than core survey lines at 91.6%.

Included within the seasonal lines are a number of Christmas ‘unique’ products - products not stocked at other times of the year, such as selection boxes. Retailers want to be clear of stock of these lines post-Christmas, rather than be left with stock that has to be discounted.

This does not apply to all seasonal lines however, as many are available for sale throughout the year and experience an increase in sales across the Christmas trading period.

More detailed analysis of the results reveals that 24 products achieved 100% availability across all retailers, whereas, none of the seasonal lines audited achieved 100% availability.
 

Into 2009

With the increasing importance of promotions to retailers, the availability of promotional lines is vital. One of the main areas of focus for ECR UK during 2009, is understanding the promotions replenishment process within retailers, identifying the points at which issues occur and offering solutions and recommendations for improvement.
 

Get FREE Access to the Survey Results

Do you work for one of the following companies? If so, they you can be setup with FREE direct access to your historical and future results. E-mail Kelly.anderson@igd.com to find out more.

Products Audited

We also currently audit products belonging to the following companies. If you would be interested in gaining access to your products’ results, then please email Karen.chalmers@igd.com.

Find out more

To see more information on the ECR Availability Survey please click here
 

	Availability & Demand Planning 2009 conference A one-day event on 18th March to help retailers and suppliers beat the on-shelf availability challenge.