Have you ever noticed how quickly it takes you find Heinz baked beans?

My name is Olivia Clinton, I’m here at Southern Co-op’s Head Office on behalf of my work experience at Havant and South Downs College and I recently spoke to Michael Terrill, Lead Merchandise Specialist Trading and Formats. He took me to the beginning of him starting in Co-operative Food stores at the age of 16 and from there he progressed into team leader, then to a promotion in the head office. This started off with managing the location of sweets, confectionery and soft drinks. Michael would then report on this and give recommendations on what to do next. This led to a second role in merchandising. After doing that for 4/5 years he left.

But two years later, Michael came back to do what he’s doing now. This includes managing the lifecycle of a product, what products should be put into the stores and their location on the shelves.

Michael and his team will be assigned the amount of space a store has and therefore dictates the amount of stock that should be put into it. This is done in a specific way which helps to drive sales into the stores whilst making sure that the right range of products is added and placed strategically. In addition to this, Michael must also think about allocating products onto the shelves that sit within the customers eyeline which they may want to add to their main purchases. The location of specific brands/products is also analysed, for example, placing desired, well-known products at the back of the store, so customers walk through all the other products that they aren’t specifically looking for or may not get enough attention.

Then, Michael explained that the slightest details can create a whole different feel, for instance, putting fruit, vegetables and flowers at the entrance of a store creates the impression that it’s a fresh store. On top of that, dealing with products seasonally – being prepared for specific events like Easter for example. Michael’s team will look at the company budget and see what customers bought last year in order to forecast what products will sell best next year. As well as this, he looks at the demographics of the store within the area of where the store is placed. Therefore tailoring the products to the demographic and satisfying the targeted customer needs.

Also, there is the thought process of how a shopper behaves (their reasoning for coming into the store). This could either be a larger shop for the week or just a quick pop in to top up on a couple of products or, for example, one of the stores in Portsmouth is near ferry transport so there will be more ‘on the go’ confectionery snacky pieces.

There has also been recent changes with a new law made by the Government relating to high in fats, salt or sugar (HFSS). The law restricts HFSS products from being placed around the till point and the store entrance. This meant that Michael and his team had to reformat 80% of Southern Co-op’s stores.

Surprisingly, I personally haven’t noticed this drastic change until it’s just recently been mentioned to me. Have you? However, this may be because its Michael and his team’s role to deal with those sorts of situations everyday therefore making it more noticeable for them rather then an average public shopper like myself.