A new report, ‘How to help consumers adopt refill on the go’ from IGD and environmental charity, Hubbub, has trialled with three UK retailers – Asda, M&S and Aldi.

The report gives retailers and suppliers clear insights into consumers’ attitudes towards refill on the go, and is a considerably valuable tool, enabling companies to formulate sustainable packaging strategies that influence longer term behaviour change.

According to its author, Natasha Maynard, Sustainability Programme Manager at IGD, it follows a previous phase of consumer research with 2000 UK shoppers, in which IGD asked questions about the barriers and opportunities consumers experience when approaching refill and return packaging.

“Over the past three years, it’s been an honour to be part of the Sustainable Packaging team at IGD, and the latest phase of our work has been especially exciting,” said Natasha.

“As we emerge from the holiday season, this may be a good time to reflect on the role of packaging in the products that we buy and the businesses that we’re part of.”

A shared ambition for our food industry

Collectively, the sector is working hard on solutions, such as reuse, to meet a shared ambition – to halve the environmental impacts of all packaging systems by 2030, whilst still enhancing the benefits and quality of products and their packaging today.

Delivering sustainable packaging systems is a critical industry issue for food and consumer goods and sits within wider Net Zero strategies. To accelerate the food and consumer goods industry’s progress, business as usual will not be enough. There will need to be at least a 20% reduction in the amount of packaging on the market to deliver this ambition shared by IGD and the industry. This is where reuse systems can play a part.

Reducing the need for single-use packaging through introducing reusables is a vital part of the solution. But making reuse a reality, at scale, is complex. It’s been so exciting to see retailers and brands trialling new initiatives, but many have not yet scaled and currently consumer uptake is low.

Consumers perceive several barriers

Our research has highlighted opportunities across three key themes:

• cost
• ease
• reassurance

From our previous research, we know that 83% of consumers are open to change but they need support to overcome key barriers – this is particularly true of refill on the go. Our latest research reinforces the discovery that perceived cost, effort and concerns around hygiene and quality are still acting as significant barriers for many consumers.

We partnered with Hubbub, Aldi, Asda, and M&S, to develop and test a series of real-life, in-store and online communications solutions to help break-down some of the barriers. Promoting cost-savings was an overarching and successful theme.

Cost is key to motivating consumers to try refill on the go

We found that communicating cost savings is a key window of opportunity, through which to inspire shoppers to try refill on the go. This is especially true at a time when a significant percentage of people are experiencing stress to household budgets and are monitoring how much they spend. We asked consumers that hadn’t yet tried refill on the go about some of the potential incentives/motivators to try it, such as earning rewards and saving money – these were cited as top, motivating factors in nudging shoppers towards refill.

Effective communication plays a vital role in encouraging consumers to try refill on the go

We learned that strong marketing, with messaging centred around cost, helped consumers understand that refill was cheaper than the packaged equivalent products in the stores where trials took place.

When we examined the impact of the different campaign elements, shelf-edge labels at the packaged equivalent delivered the best results with nearly half (46%) of consumers recalling seeing shelf edge labels or other signage around the trial stores. Fewer recalled seeing refill on the go promoted on staff uniforms (13%) or social media (8%).

Whilst awareness of more traditional signage was higher among consumers, digital screens with step-by-step guidance boosted consumer confidence; 68% of consumers agreed it helped them better understand how to use refill on the go.

Supported by our wealth of research, below is our top-line, ‘how-to guide’ in which companies within food and consumer goods can strike a chord with shoppers and make refill on the go a success.

How to: marketing refill on the go

• Signpost cost savings of refill on the go.
• Show cost savings of refill on the go compared to the packaged equivalent.
• Consider other incentives to encourage new habits e.g. loyalty points.
• Introduce shelf edge labels and use other key touchpoints to boost awareness.
• Show others using refill on the go and include step by step guidance to boost consumer confidence and help them overcome concerns around ease.
• Consider other touchpoints in and around the store to drive further awareness among your target audience, such as store entrance and colleagues.
• Grab attention quickly with a bold design and a strong call to action
• Use a bold design and simple language to help the refill fixture and any communications around the store grab attention quickly and stand out from other activity.
• Feature simple and consistent messaging with a strong call to action throughout.
• If using digital communications or social media – keep the content short and targeted to those shopping near refill on the go.

To drive greater uptake, refill on the go also needs to feel easy, and consumers need reassurance to overcome concerns around hygiene and quality. This needs to be a priority, alongside any marketing.

You can read the full report here: How to help consumers adopt reusable packaging (windows.net)

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According to the latest Kantar figures, a record £1.37 billion passed through the tills last month, with the average household spending at an all-time high of £477 across the month, an increase of £28 on 2022.

Total take-home grocery sales grew in value by 7.0% while the number of items bought rose by 2%.

Grocery price inflation fell to 6.7% in December, marking the fastest month on month drop that Kantar has recorded.

As predicted, Friday 22^nd December was the most popular shopping day, when just over 25 million trips were made and consumers spent £803 million in physical stores – 85% more than the average Friday in 2023.

BUDGET PRESSURES REMAIN

Despite the fall in grocery price inflation, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, Fraser McKevitt said consumers are still feeling the pinch.

“The rate of inflation is coming down at the fastest pace we have ever recorded, but consumers are still facing pretty hefty pressures on their budgets,” he said.

“Retailers were clearly working hard during the festive period to offer best value and win over shoppers, and promotions were central to their strategy. Nearly one third of all spend in the four weeks to Christmas Eve was made on items with some kind of offer, the highest level since December 2020 and £823m more than last year.”

Appetite for the traditional Christmas dinner was as strong as ever, with volumes of parsnips, sprouts and potatoes up 12%, 9% and 8% respectively, and chilled gravy up by 11%. Festive meals including pigs in blankets, sausages, hams and turkeys were also up by 6% collectively.

“We’re creatures of habit when it comes to Christmas and our data shows that the classic festive plate remains much the same,” added Fraser McKevitt.

“However, mince pies and Christmas puddings did buck the trend. They were less popular this year, with volumes falling by 4% and 7% respectively, but that isn’t to say we’ve lost our sweet tooth. Fresh cream was up by 5% across the month, so dessert was still very much on the menu.”

‘Retailers were clearly working hard during the festive period to offer best value and win over shoppers’

Meanwhile, discount retailers Lidl and Aldi saw their highest ever market shares for the Christmas period, with Lidl’s sales increasing by 13.8% and Aldi’s growing 0.2 percentage points.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose accounted for a combined market share of 70% during the 12 weeks to 24^th December.

Fraser McKevitt said this year was no exception for traditional retailers doing well in the run up to Christmas.

“Supermarkets saw especially strong performances for their own-label lines, with sales of premium ranges like Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference and Tesco Finest surging by 11.9% compared with last year, to £790 million. Branded sales rose by 6.0% during the same period,” said Fraser McKevitt.

Frozen specialist Iceland’s sales increased by 2.9%, with its market share at 2.4% and Asda accelerated sales growth to 3.4% to take 13.6% of the market.

Online purchases grew slightly ahead of the market during the four weeks to 24^th December versus last year, up by 7.5%.

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Consumer champion, Which? found shoppers could save over £18 on a basket of 40 items in Aldi compared to the most expensive store.

The analysis compares the average prices of a shop consisting of popular groceries at eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets and is carried out on a monthly basis.

A basket of goods in Aldi cost £68.60 on average across the month, with Lidl in second place with a difference of £1.91 (£70.51), widening the gap from last month which was just a 65p difference.

Which? also compares the cost of a larger trolley of 131 items (the original 40 plus 91 more) and found that Asda was once again the cheapest for this shop – a title it has held since January 2020. In May 2023, it cost £332.40 on average for the larger trolley shop.

‘Which? believes the big retailers have a responsibility to ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges’

The latest pricing analysis demonstrates that consumers can make some considerable savings on their groceries, depending on where they buy their food. However, Which? also found that while some good practices exists in the supermarkets, many of the major ones have not done enough to support their customers during the cost-of-living crisis.

“Which? believes the big retailers have a responsibility to ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, and to provide transparent and comparable pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value,” said Which? Retailer Editor, Ele Clark.

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Reports of egg shortages came amid the rising costs being faced by UK poultry farmers and an outbreak of avian flu, culminating in the supply of eggs being affected.

Earlier this month, it was reported that stores including Asda and Lidl had put a limit on the number of boxes of eggs customers could purchase in their stores – Asda reportedly limited this to two boxes per customer, while Lidl limited the number to three boxes per customer.

However, this week it was announced that Tesco and Aldi have pledged a combined £26.4m of additional support to the egg industry. Tesco said its commitment to provide a further £13.9m of support until March next year takes its total support to £27.5m since March 2022.

It is understood the funds will be paid to suppliers to cover the costs of handling, processing and egg production, which includes any increases in feed prices for farmers.

Similarly, Aldi announced it would be contributing another £12.5m by March 2023, which takes its total support for the year to £38m.

Both Tesco and Aldi pledged to work with suppliers to ensure the investment is passed to those who need it most “as quickly as possible”.

Harold Richmond, Agricultural Director at Skea Eggs, welcomed the support package.

“At a time when egg producers are facing huge inflation-driven cost increases, with an overhanging threat of avian influenza to their businesses, Skea Eggs very much welcomes Tesco’s support package which will help support producers now and over the coming months,” said Mr Richmond.

“We must continue to work together to ensure we have a sustainable, secure supply base now and in the future,” he added.

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