- Insights
High temperatures: How are retailers performing in the UK?
As temperatures rise again across Western Europe, demand for chilled drinks, ice cream and barbecue essentials is expected to increase. For retailers, these periods create an operational challenge: making sure the products consumers expect to find are still on the shelf.
To understand how well stores cope when temperatures climb, Roamler launched an audit across four major UK supermarket chains during the recent heatwave. We captured what shoppers experienced in-store: checking whether refrigerators and freezers were operating correctly, how full they were, and whether popular summer products were still available on shelves.
Discover our analysis!
Freezers are under pressure
Across the stores we visited, drinks fridges averaged a 68% fill level, while ice cream freezers averaged just 51%. Frozen products appear to be the most challenging to keep available: higher sales, more complex handling requirements and the need to maintain the cold chain all contribute to freezers emptying faster than they can be replenished during peak trading periods.
Across the four retailers, Waitrose maintained the fullest fridges and freezers on average during the audit (70% and 54% respectively).
Popular products disappear first
When demand rises sharply, shoppers tend to reach for trusted favourites. That’s exactly what our audit found: Magnum was absent in 47% of the stores visited (we’ve excluded stores with broken freezers here), while Monster, Lucozade, Coca-Cola and Pepsi were among the drinks most commonly out of stock.
The bakery aisle told a slightly different story: shoppers appeared to favour private-label products. Across the four retailers, own-label burger buns were collectively out of stock in 38% of stores, while Warburtons was the most frequently unavailable branded product (22%).
Equipment matters too
Under high temperatures, equipment is also under pressure. Across the stores visited, 24% had at least one fridge or freezer that was reported as not operating properly, whether because it was iced up, out of order or switched off. Almost all of these issues involved freezers, reinforcing the pressure on frozen categories. Although these observations represent a snapshot in time, they highlight how equipment reliability becomes increasingly important during peak trading periods.
Equipment issues showed very little variation between retailers. All four recorded between 21% and 26% of stores with at least one fridge or freezer not operating properly, reinforcing that high temperatures present a shared operational challenge for the grocery sector.
Planned summer activations deliver stronger availability
To stay on the theme of summer products, we also audited dedicated seasonal displays, particularly those featuring summer drinks such as beer, cider, Aperol and Pimm’s. Almost 6 in 10 stores had at least one dedicated summer display in place. These displays performed noticeably better than everyday chilled fixtures, with an average fill level of 72.6% across the stores where they were present.
Among the retailers audited, Morrisons had the highest proportion of stores featuring a dedicated summer display, with 68% of its audited stores presenting at least one seasonal activation.
Conclusion
The recurring high temperatures experienced across Europe are creating a growing challenge for retailers, as demand can increase rapidly, particularly in chilled and frozen categories where availability depends on both effective stock management and reliable equipment.
While some retailers performed better than others across specific categories, the audit revealed a number of common patterns across the sector. Keeping shelves full during periods of extreme demand remains a shared challenge, reinforcing the importance of preparation, operational readiness and strong execution when temperatures rise.
Want to know what's happening in your stores?
Roamler helps FMCG brands monitor product availability, equipment, merchandising and promotional execution through nationwide store audits. Get in touch to discover how real-time in-store insights can help you stay ahead during peak trading periods.