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Sep 22, 2023

Londis 'store of the future' helps retailer boost sales

Print By Liz Wells in Industry News 6th July 2018 Leeds-based Londis

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By Liz Wells in Industry News 6th July 2018

Leeds-based Londis Woodhouse Street, owned by the Bhadal family, has increased its profit by 30% and sales by 25% since converting to the symbol group's ‘store of the future’ format four months ago.

One of the major changes to the store is the introduction of fresh coffee and food-to-go. Londis has created a sub-brand called The Good Taste Food Co and the area designated for it in-store has a frame around it which creates a zone that could work with double or treble the space.

The new format has introduced units on wheels so spaces can have different uses depending on the time of day. For example, first thing in the morning the store has a bakery unit which can be swapped out for a sandwich chiller for lunchtime, and switched back later in the afternoon. "Part-day merchandising for a really important part of the store to make the space as relevant as it can be throughout the day," said Londis brand director Martin Swadling.

Londis says the old store was quite congested, so a gondola was removed, as was high shelving. It has also removed 300 tin and packet grocery lines that were duplications and slow sellers, which enabled it to "put some newness back in", such as protein and free-from products and American confectionery.

The store of the future format has also seen the tobacco gantry removed from behind the check out and the tobacco moved below the counter into drawers. However, there is still signage for it, and a price list that highlights the best sellers.

Swadling told Talking Retail: "It's still important, we just don't want to take up valuable display space for it because it's just a big grey box. We’ve freed up space for a more compelling range of premium spirits into the store and to really bring it to life we’ve back lit it."

The new format has also moved medicines out from behind the counter, because "customers don't like to ask about it", so it's much easier for them to shop from the fixture.

Another key change is the introduction of eye-catching point of sale. "We tried to go for a more contemporary look without losing the traditional Londis feel with the green fascia and the orange stripe, but we wanted to bring to life some of the new stuff that the customers would see in-store," said Swadling.

"In last year's HIM results, the area we scored poorest in was around value perception from shoppers, so we completely reformulated our point of sale inside and out so it's bolder. Previously it was fussy, lots of photos and logos, so you couldn't really see the price."

In addition, "useless space" around the store – such as columns – now feature bold-coloured signage which talks about positive things in-store such as the Farm Fresh range, social media accounts, and links to the community.

"We’ve trebled the number of Londis retailers using social media and the next step is to bring that to life in-store," said Swadling.

He added: "In some ways it would have been easier to choose a new build or a knocked-down rebuild in the leafy Cotswolds [to trial the new store format], but I knew that if I could make a difference in this store we could roll it out to any Londis store in the estate."