30 Retail Display


The inconvenience of convenience retailing


In light of the prevailing difficult trading conditions for supermarket chains, Adande chairman Nigel Bell addresses the changes in consumers’ shopping habits, the growth of the convenience retailing sector and the implications for the refrigerated display of perishable merchandise.


UK consumers. S


Shoppers are keener to shop around for value, including visits to discounters. They are also prepared to make more frequent shopping trips, typically to convenience stores, with fewer items in their baskets. These factors have been bad news for the large, out of town supermarkets, with a significant impact on the big four retailers, who have experienced the slowest growth in sales for a decade.


Unsurprisingly, the trend has resulted in a notable slowdown in the rate at which retailers are developing new, large format supermarkets.


In January 2015, leading commercial property specialist, CBRE, reported that only 2.8 million square feet of land is currently being developed for new grocery stores, the lowest figure since 2008. CBRE also noted that a total of 43.81 million square feet of UK land, owned by retailers, which is proposed for grocery store development or has already received planning permission, was not under construction.


Sector growth


Notwithstanding the stall in the development of new supermarkets, the big four retailers, have confirmed their commitment to the convenience store


USTAINED PRESSURE ON housekeeping budgets has led to a change of behaviour amongst many


sector, in part to meet changing consumer shopping patterns.


Smaller format stores are also attractive to retailers as they may be delivered with lower capital expenditure, have less impact on the trade of existing superstores and incur less planning permission issues. The proliferation of convenience stores is, however, raising issues for retailers at a time when they are seeking to cut energy consumption, across their estates, to meet obligations under the Carbon Reduction Commitment Scheme.


Convenience stores and forecourt outlets have a higher kilowatt-hour to square foot ratio than supermarkets and larger stores, mainly due to the fact that a higher proportion of floor space is committed to the refrigerated display of chilled merchandise.


Environmental factors


Convenience stores, especially those which were not purpose built for grocery retailing, are also susceptible to other factors, which may influence the efficient performance of refrigerated displays and their energy consumption. In smaller stores, the proximity of refrigerated displays to the entrance door means that drafts can compromise the often fragile air curtains of open front refrigerated display cabinets. This results in cold air spillage from the cabinet, causing increased energy


consumption, cold aisle syndrome and even unstable display temperatures, which may compromise the shelf life of merchandise.


Similarly, lower ceiling heights in smaller stores exacerbate the impact of HVAC systems on the air curtains of refrigerated displays. Even the effect of sunlight, shining through glass windows, may create a heating effect on refrigerated displays causing an increase in duty and greater energy consumption.


While some retailers and equipment manufacturers have employed glass doors on open front multi-deck refrigerated display cases as a means of making energy savings and addressing the issues associated with convenience stores, it is becoming increasingly apparent that glass doors are not necessarily the perfect solution. Indeed, the Carbon Trust Refrigeration Road Map, produced with the Institute of Refrigeration, even questions the value of glass doors in high traffic convenience stores: “The levels of energy saving claimed vary considerably and must be related to the level of use of the cabinet. Cabinets with doors undergoing higher usage have been shown to save little energy when compared to an open-fronted cabinet.”


Barriers


There is also evidence to suggest that glass doors act as a barrier to shopping and particularly impulse purchases, especially in narrow aisled convenience stores. In today’s competitive grocery retailing environment, it is unlikely that retail merchandisers will sanction any development, which may compromise sales.


In addition, there is the capital cost of fitting glass doors, together with ongoing maintenance and cleaning costs, which bring into further doubt the viability of the glass door option.


Retailers’ demands for significant energy savings will continue to place pressure on equipment manufacturers to develop display cases, which operate more efficiently, even in harsh convenience retailing environments.


While the jury is out on the suitability of glass doors, there are certainly opportunities for alternative technologies.


ACR News February 2015 Visit ACR News online at www.acr-news.com


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