Five things we can learn from the latest HFSS store layout trials

Testing out new gondola ends, promotional mechanics and highlighting healthier products.

We visited Sainsbury’s and Tesco to understand more about these trials, and other initiatives they are currently trying. We pick up five key learnings from these visits about future store layouts:

1. Gondola ends could be replaced by digital screens or POS, rather than products.

This offers new and flexible ways to showcase brands and could help direct shoppers down the aisle to where products have been relocated. We could also start to see digital being used more in-aisle to draw shoppers towards products they normally would have found elsewhere.

That being said, our research shows that gondola ends are the most effective purchase influencers with 47% of shoppers stating that they bought a product because they had seen it on a gondola end; therefore are screens and POS an effective use of space, could non HFSS categories benefit from increased use of these spaces instead?

2. Focusing on HFSS compliant snacking could be used to help encourage shoppers to make healthier impulse purchases.

These types of displays could also be used to give more prominent positioning to NPD and reformulated products.

3. Gondola ends could be used to shout about issues shoppers care about, such as sustainability.

Although the photo below is not a feature of HFSS trials, it does show potential future thinking for ways of using the space when retailers can’t shout about price.

4. Retailers are experimenting with highlighting great value for HFSS products in aisles.

With products no longer where you expect them to be, this could cause confusion for shoppers and the challenge will be ensuring the product selection makes sense for the location.

5. Seasonal could be repositioned from the power aisle at the front of store to another location, or tailored to look different.

Seasonal is an area which requires more thought for retailers. Trialling new initiatives throughout the seasonal calendar will help prepare for the golden quarter. The timing and confectionery-heavy nature of Halloween likely to be a particular challenge.

What do we think?

It’s early days for the retailers in the test and learn process that needs to take place before the HFSS regulations come into force later this year. Therefore it is difficult to speculate on which changes will stay, and which will not. However, what we can see is that there is still some way to go before finding a perfect solution.

We have seen some excellent features such as the HFSS compliant snacking gondola ends. They are visually impactful and could help encourage shoppers to make healthy choices, alongside encouraging impulse spending. This is a two part problem, relocating what’s been on gondola end to retain visibility, as well as understanding what are the right products for the space that becomes available.

There are also some initiatives such as highlighting value in aisles, which could be confusing for shoppers. For example chocolate and sauces being adjacent to each other is not a natural fit. However, our research has also shown that while many secondary locations work well to remind shoppers or encourage shoppers into aisle, the majority of purchase decisions are made at main fixture, therefore getting those executions right would be very impactful.

Look out for continuing changes in store as retailers explore different solutions over the next few months. So far what we have seen is not the full picture, with the front of store and seasonal still awaiting changes, and new initiatives are still likely to continue on gondola ends and in aisle.