Year-end festivities are a key period for some categories such as chocolates. Since late November, all the brands in this sector have competed with each other in terms of creativity and activating their sales forces on the field to offer the most beautiful displays in-store and attract shoppers.
In order to better understand the extent of this special occasion and to evaluate the place of each retailers, we have surveyed all the chocolate displays in 100 hypermarkets and supermarkets.
1. Massive displays
In the majority of stores, the Christmas chocolates are displayed in the central aisle. With an average of 120 boxes of Christmas chocolates per shop in hypermarkets and 50 boxes in supermarkets, chances of missing out are low!
To make it easier for shoppers to find their way around, the various boxes are grouped into blocks. On average, there are 7.3 blocks in hypermarkets and 4.5 blocks in supermarkets.
Most often, the grouping is done by brand: in hypermarkets, 7 out of 10 clusters are specific to a brand in the sector (Ferrero, Lindt, Nestlé, Mondelez, Mars, Cémoi). In supermarkets, due to the smaller areas, the brands are more mixed within the blocks. Some stores also choose to group all the advent calendars, whatever the brand, on the same block.
In terms of display, hypermarkets still have the lead with 2/3 of the blocks having a massive POS display in addition to the boxes (arch, totem, carousel, etc.) compared with only 45% in the supermarkets.
2. A strong leader: the Ferrero group
In terms of chocolate displays, the Ferrero group stands out with its Kinder and Ferrero brands, both in terms of quality and quantity. As revealed last week, Kinder or Ferrero blocks are considered by shoppers as the most impactful in 80% of shops. This impact is helped by the fact that the two brands are massively promoted, accounting for almost half of the boxes set up in stores!
With its famous Champs-Elysées, Pyrenees and other specialities, Lindt is in third place with 20% of the boxes. Next are the Nestlé group (Lanvin, After Eight, Smarties, etc.) and the Mondelez group (Milka, Côte d’Or, Toblerone), each with 8% of the boxes.
