How UK retailers are reinventing the big box experience

In our recent report on Global Large Store Trends we identified four key areas in which retailers around the world are investing and innovating in order to protect market share against a plethora of competitive incursions from each other, discounters, online and c-stores: store remodelling; missions and occasions; category innovation; and technology to enhance profitability. In this article we will take a look at how major supermarkets in the UK are tackling these opportunities.   

Store remodelling

After what might be considered by some as a fallow period characterised by a lack of progressiveness in terms of store concepts, it is fair to suggest that the UK’s food retailers are very much back on the front foot when it comes to reinventing their larger stores. Arguably led by M&S, whose Renewal concept is widely lauded as among the best in the industry (and which is being rolled out at scale and pace), virtually all other large store operators are at least dabbling with a rethink on what role their larger stores should play.

Tesco (Cheshunt, Wokingham, Slough, Hexham, West Durrington), Sainsbury’s (Hendon, Southport, Witney, Epsom), Asda (Hale Barns, Bury), Morrisons (Warrington) and Waitrose (Maidenhead, Sudbury, Finchley Road) have all unveiled refurbishments or relocations that provide a window into the future for their larger stores. Some commonalities have included:

• Refreshed look and feel for produce

• Relocations / refreshes for bakery

• Investment in priority categories

• Renewed focus on particular shopper missions and consumption occasions

• Supercharged deployment of adjacencies and cross-merchandising

• Increased capacity and capability in retail media

• New and innovative checkout solutions

• Additional technologies to enhance productivity

• More partnerships

• Better accommodation for e-commerce and q-commerce

All of these endeavours have typically included wholesale improvements to décor, lighting, flooring and fixtures and it has also been noteworthy that there have been myriad initiatives devoted to sustainability and energy efficiency too.

Missions and occasions

There are two clear areas of focus when it comes to missions and occasions: food-for-now and dinner for tonight. Notable examples include Tesco’s ‘That’s Dinner Sorted’ aisle; Sainsbury’s Prepped & Ready’ food-to-go sections; and Morrisons’ Meals Made Easy chillers. There are other missions and occasions that have been better catered for in these newer store concepts too. Two lovely examples are to be found in Tesco: The Flower Shop concept that also includes gift cards, greetings cards, wrapping paper and gifting confectionery and the Sunrise Selection chillers that host a variety of food and drink ideal for the breakfast occasion. Some other occasions are well catered for thanks to cross merchandising: Tesco has a cereal display in dairy and Sainsbury’s has ice cube freezers in BWS.

The latter example also evidences the ongoing advances in ‘blended retailing’ – the permanent union of different temperature zones in certain categories. Other instances include the integration of ambient, chilled and frozen in categories like free from, meat-free and organics; the inclusion of frozen in produce; freezers for garlic bread, bread and pastries alongside regular bakery; and frozen meat, seafood, desserts and ready meals alongside chilled. While not all of these initiatives will be unbridled successes, we laud the greater imagination and inventiveness in terms of store layout.

Technology

It should be remembered that technology is not all robots and AI: it can also be more humble endeavours like new shelving or kit. Efficiencies are being gained by more efficient displays in produce from Tesco and Morrisons – more stock on the shopfloor means fewer warehouse trips for colleagues.

There are, of course, more high-tech solutions being deployed in these new store concepts, with ESLs, inventory control cameras, gap-scan robots, new anti-theft solutions and enhanced checkout solutions all seeing the light of day. Another area of focus – particularly in Tesco and Sainsbury’s – has been a more significant deployment of digital screens for retail media, both in general but also in key categories like health & beauty, BWS and pet. Our recent report on the Hyper-connected Store takes a more detailed look at some of these technological initiatives.

Category innovation

There are clearly priority categories across most of the retailers in terms of those that have received the most investment and reinvigoration: health & beauty, produce, cheese & deli, bakery, food-to-go, food-for-later, pet, BWS, fashion and toys. Particular highlights include the holistic approach to health and wellness at Tesco; the integration of digital screens into BWS and health & beauty by Tesco and Sansbury’s; enhanced toy propositions in Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s; the Pet Hub in Tesco; the cheese & deli kit in M&S and fashion improvements in Asda. As the last major retailers with service counters, it should be noted that these look great in refreshed Morrisons and Waitrose outlets.

All well and good, but we feel that there are other categories that really could do with a bit of TLC. In particular, confectionery and world foods are generally executed with a distinct lack of flair in the UK. Confectionery could be the most engaging and enjoyable aisle in the store but, compared to what we see in other European markets, UK retailers (with the exception of M&S) are very much off the pace. Similarly, world foods is a category landed with great creativity in markets as diverse as Finland and Poland, but this is sadly lacking on these shores. While we understand that cost pressures mean that efficiency can trump retail theatre, we believe that there is still scope to elevate these and other categories beyond the functional. If you’d like to see first hand what we consider to be best-in-class in certain categories, get in touch to organise a retail safari.