Sell More, Save More: Snacks - profits in the bag

Back in February, both the rural and community pubs in our Sell More, Save More project had no clear strategy for their snacks offer and indeed had not fully appreciated how significant snack sales can be for pub profits.

Getting your snack offer right can mean the difference between someone popping in for a pint and staying several hours with friends. It can be a trigger for bigger food sales, and it can entice customers in at times when otherwise they might head straight home or to a restaurant to eat.

Some of the advice offered to our pubs by Walkers has enabled them to understand which of their customers might be looking for snack options, when they want them, and the sort of product range that will be optimum for their particular business.

In the Wheel Inn, for example, which has a very male-dominated clientele, ridged crisps and Doritos are always a popular option, and licensees Marie Richards and Pete Walters were encouraged to trial these with some value promotions which appeal to concerns over the current economic downturn. The results have been truly impressive, with snack sales up a very pleasing 41 per cent since then! Elsewhere, at the Stanley Arms, which is also male-led, the range licensee Steve Bennet had on already was impressive but it was not displayed prominently enough to encourage impulse purchase, which is the mainstay of snack sales. This has now been rectified and sales are booming - up over 20 per cent since February! 

Walkers customer business manager Matt Blake visited the two sites and reported back on the success so far.

The Wheel Inn

The problem:​ The Wheel had no clear snack strategy, and with a male customer base the product range needed to be right to tempt them in

The advice:​ Walkers advised a change of range and some value promotions on ridged crisps and Doritos, which are popular with men

The result:​ Sales of snacks have risen 41 per cent since February 

"From the start of this project, licensees Marie Richards and Pete Walters have been very open to trialling new ideas to boost sales, and have seen some great progress by developing their range offering and introducing products on promotion. Since our visit in February, the pub has seen a sales uplift of 41 per cent in the crisps, snacks and nuts category.

"Stocking the right range of products is crucial to the success of a pub's crisps, snacks and nuts sales. Eighty-five per cent of customers at the Wheel Inn are men aged between 40 and 70, so we suggested stocking a ridged crisp as an incremental sales opportunity. Marie and Pete started to stock two variants of Walkers Max - Paprika and Chargrilled Steak - and these are now selling well while complementing sales of the core range. Consumers are increasingly looking for value, and pub customers are no exception. Offering good-value promotions like lunch meal deals will help drive loyalty. Pete and Marie started stocking Walkers 2-for-£1 promotional packs in their range, which have increased overall brand sales by almost 30 per cent1.

"Similar pubs would benefit from stocking up on Doritos products, which currently feature an on-pack promotion offering customers the opportunity to win '30 seconds of fame' and a top prize of up to £200,000 by designing their own advert for the brand. The campaign builds on the success of the Doritos 'You Make it We Play it' project in 2008, which grew sales of Doritos by 15 per cent2 and cemented the brand as the perfect sharing snack. These promotions are a great way of offering customers added value and driving incremental purchases."

1 Walkers Internal DTS sales data

2 Nielsen RMS, value Sales 4wks w/e 17.05.08 to 14.06.08 vs same period 07 - Total Coverage

The Stanley Arms

The problem:​ The Stanley had a good range of snacks already available but no clear display or promotional strategy

The advice:​ Walkers advised clear snack displays in the highest-footfall areas of the bar and promotion of the football-themed Flavour Cup promotion throughout the pub.

The result:​ Sales of snacks are up a very impressive 21 per cent since February.

"The Stanley Arms has a largely male client base and its sales are predominantly wet-led. However, licensee Steve Bennet is constantly exploring fresh ideas to help his business improve and grow.

"Since our visit in February crisps, snacks and nuts sales have increased by 21 per cent.

"Steve already stocked a diverse range of crisps, snacks and nuts, catering for all occasions, so one of the main areas we have built on is display. Crisps and snacks need to be seen to be sold - customers need to know what products are on offer. Where possible, crisps and snacks should be displayed above the bar and within 6ft of the till area as this is generally the highest-footfall area. At the Stanley Arms, clipstrips displayed above the bar have made products more visible and driven impulsive purchasing.

"Another area that has worked well for Steve is trialling products while they are on promotion. Walkers Max crisps were bought into the range on promotion in January and sold so well that they are now a regular stock line.

"This summer, pubs with a male customer base will particularly benefit from Walkers' recently launched Flavour Cup, a multimillion-pound promotion which sees 15 new internationally inspired flavours go bag-to-bag in the first ever crisp tournament. Eight of these variants, including English Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding, Argentinean Flame Grilled Steak and Brazilian Salsa will be available in single serve, making them perfect for pubs. The Walkers Flavour Cup builds on the success of last year's Do Us A Flavour campaign, which attracted 30,000 text votes from pubs, equating to 17 per cent of the total text vote.

"Crisps and snacks should be an important part of any pub's offering and there is no better way of leveraging the sales opportunity than by using innovative and exciting point of sale materials, particularly when supporting a promotion. Collectable beer mats, bar-runners, wobblers, posters and bunting can all be supplied free of charge and are a proven mechanic in raising awareness and driving sales."