You might expect a Kellogg's head honcho to say "expand the fixtures," but sales director Jean-Yves Heude has some interesting views on merchandising cereal snacks.
Heude was presented with a target of increasing Kellogg's sales in snacks from 15% to 50%. No mean feat, in fact he wonders if he accepted it before he'd translated it fully, being as he's a Frenchman.
The fact sales are at 50% in the US is giving him hope it's not a pipe dream. However he thinks change is needed in multiple retailers to help maximise sales.
"Because of category development in multiples, we are now at a stage where out of stocks are getting higher and higher. We believe there is an opportunity now to expand the category by one bay". He insists that where this has been trialled, it "has absolutely burst out".
He also believes bars should be kept together, to avoid confusing consumers as to their location: "At the moment stores are split into two parts. You can find cereal bars in the cereals aisle and in the biscuit category, even in the home baking section."
He added that 70% of consumers who buy fruit snacks also buy cereal snacks, indicating the crossover potential.
He concludes that 79% of shoppers told Kellogg's "they expect this category to be in the cereal aisle". Basically, "simplify choice for consumers" is the message coming from Kellogg's.
Has the number of customer complaints about the price of goods increased recently?
