Keep it local and get the basics right

Musgrave’s two retail brands in the Irish market — SuperValu and Centra — are not only competing, but winning in today’s tough economic climate.

SuperValu’s market share sits at just under 20%, which means that one in every five euro spent on grocery shopping is spent in our stores, while Centra is widely recognised as the number one brand in the convenience sector. I put this success down to a number of key factors, beginning with absolute clarity around what both of our brands stand for.

Driving sales for us, begins with our brands and ensuring that there is no ambiguity. Our shoppers understand that everything we do fits under the SuperValu “Real Food Real People” banner or Centra’s “Brighten Up Your Day”. These are not just straplines — they are the very essence of everything we do with both brands, so our shoppers know exactly what they will get, when they shop in our stores.

They underline our desire to be the leading Irish retailer, who is down-to-earth and takes real care in delivering good honestly priced food for today’s consumer, into the hearts of the communities in which they live.

In an era when supermarkets are becoming increasingly anonymous, we want to be sure we are offering consumers a very different shopping experience, which is tailored by our retail partners, to suit the communities they serve.

We are also hugely committed to supporting Irish jobs and Irish suppliers. Whether you take the €1bn we as a business spend on fresh Irish food, the €75m our retail partners spend with local suppliers or their €213m payroll spend; the numbers by any stretch of the imagination are impressive. So our model, the way we do business and our commitment to buying Irish is really resonating with the consumer.

They understand how important it is to buy not only Irish, but local produce. Shoppers want to go to their local store and purchase local eggs, local milk or local potatoes. Our retailers facilitate this on a daily basis, by buying from local producers and our brands are using this as a key differentiator.

But for us, the key has been to stay close to our shoppers in this new economic climate. They have to cut back — austerity has obviously had a significant impact on disposable income and grocery shopping is the one bill consumers can directly control.

It is now looked on as one of the key areas for cutting back, if they need to pay another bill, such as the health insurance, gas or electricity.

Shoppers are managing their budgets themselves — buying more promotions such as half price, 33% off or buy one get one free. Sales of products on promotion are growing at 20% year-on-year, while own brand is growing at around 15%, so we need to ensure we have our value offer just right.

However, there are other factors we are also focused on, including getting the basics absolutely right, innovation, fresh food and food safety and quality.

SuperValu was one of the few retailers who was not affected by the recent equine meat crisis and we are proud of this fact, because when we say it is Irish, we really mean it is Irish. Our meat is born, bred and reared in the Republic of Ireland, 67% of our fruit and veg is Irish and 100% of our milk is Irish.

We also like to see ourselves as innovators in the market. We now have an online shopping service which covers most of the country, while our SuperValu App was a first for the Irish market.

So to drive sales, we know there is no silver bullet, it needs a top-to-toe approach.

You must focus on the basics and get those 100%, and by combining this approach with hard work, an excellent range, value for money, customer service and innovations that benefit the shopper, we believe that this business and indeed many others, can win even in this tough market.

* Martin Kelleher, is managing director of Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland and will be one of the key speakers at the Sales Institute Conference on May 22 in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin