Many brands are installing branded fridges to gain visibility in-store. One of our previous studies in the French market, carried out in 2019, showed a growth potential in all retail stores, and pointed out some leading brands. In order to observe developments over the years, we have relaunched our survey in 140 hypermarkets that were also visited three years ago. The aim was to identify all the branded fridges in four areas of the store: snacking, ice cream, drinks and checkouts.
Potential in all retail stores
As in 2019, 9 out of 10 stores have at least one branded fridge. The only outlets without fridges are Leclerc or Intermarché Hyper. On the other hand, there has been an increase in the number of fridges present: when stores are open for installation, there are on average 7 fridges (vs. 6 in 2019). Géant and Carrefour are the two retailers with the most fridges. Some stores have more than 20 fridges!
Coca-Cola still leading
The brands who install the most fridges are the same as in 2019 with no change in the top 8. Unsurprisingly, we find the giants of soft drinks and beers but also Unilever with its Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s and Miko brands.
The Coca-Cola group is by far the one that uses this visibility tool most massively: 37% of the fridges surveyed are in the colors of one of its brands (Coca-Cola, Monster, Fuzetea, Powerade). The group is present in 79% of the hypermarkets surveyed with an average of 3 fridges.
Next is Suntory with Orangina, MayTea, Oasis and Schweppes fridges. The group is present in around 55% of stores, as in 2019, but with fewer fridges. Indeed, many MayTea fridges have disappeared from the shelves since our last study.
A challenge of good execution over time
Installing fridges allows brands to be more visible and attractive in-store, but they must be well filled and not occupied by competitors. Two basic rules that are far from always being respected! Of all the fridges surveyed, 14% were not well filled and 8% contained competing products.