Confectionery @ GT

General Trade accounts for more than 75% of Indian retail and the different kinds of formats cropping up in this space have resulted in increase in the consumption and growth in the category. We met and collected information from four such general trade specific formats to give you the details.

We met GT retail stores specializing only in sweets, upgraded GT retail stores which look like supermarkets, medical stores which have high impulse rate for the category, and bakery stores, for understanding the different shopper profile and their buying tendencies for the category. Though the retailers shied away from giving us the average footfalls for the day, the continuous buzzing activity gave an idea of the footfall and they are what every supermarket hypermarket would dream of on a daily basis.

Here is a gist what the retailers had to say:

Andheri Bakery and Dry Fruits Store, Mumbai

Spokesperson: Laiwalla, Manager

Format: Bakery shop with chocolates

Brands doing well in the order: Cadbury, Nestle, Éclairs.

Observation & Trends: The category is Impulse driven; older shoppers consumer more of the confectionery items. Biscuits are doing better than chocolates and local brands hardly do well; hence we keep less stock of these. Orange flavored confectioneries are doing better. Also, ladies shop more for chocolates and Rs 10 chocolate packs are doing well.

Location and the significance: Located near the Andheri suburban station with thousands of people travelling on a daily basis drives a high footfall rate. The store has created a niche for itself with major travelers visiting the shop only for chocolates for their regular dose of something sweet.

1)  Bombay Suburban Society Stores, Mumbai

Spokesperson: Mavji Nanji Patel, Owner

Format: Traditional Trade with more than 400 sqft (average sqft remains 250 sqft or less)

Brands doing well in order: Cadbury (Dairy Milk), Nestle, Kinder Joy - a big demand, Mars, Snickers. Grownups prefer Alpino.

Observation & Trends: In the last two three years, shoppers are keen on including confectionery to their regular purchases. Chocolates are doing very well with grownups but kids still rule the category. In premium brands, Alpino is doing very well as shoppers are specifically asking for it. The TG market for premium confectioneries is 30-40 years. Out of 250 shoppers, more than 100 opt for chocolates.

Local brands: Slow demand for local brands

Location and the significance: Located near SVM school which results in high selling of chocolates. Distribution of chocolates on birthdays is now a tradition which is reflected in a tremendous consumption of chocolates by students and kids still rule the category

Mangalore Sweets, Mumbai

Spokesperson: Neeta Shetty, Owner

Format: Traditional trade specialty in sweets

Brands doing well in order: Ferrero, Cadbury, Nestle

Observation & Trends: Out of 200-500 shoppers a day, 90% prefer having chocolates and the buyer profile ranges from children to their parents. The average age group for grownups going for chocolates is 20-40 years of age. Lesser known international brands with fancy presentations are doing very well and preferred by the young shoppers. Women shoppers buy more chocolates compared to male companions. Ferrero Rocher in the premium brand category is doing very well.

Location: Residential space

Purohit Medical Stores, Mumbai

Spokesperson: Arjun Purohit, Manager

Format: Medical store

Brands doing well in order: Cadbury (Five Star, Perk) Nestle (Munch, Kitkat)

Observation & Trends: Kids and women are the major buyers in the category. The price point doing very well for chocolates is Rs 5. The average age group for those shopping for chocolates is 35 years of age. It is an impulse driven category and small chocolates do well.

Location: Residential

Well, by and large Indians always had a sweet tooth. Sweets are an integral part  of any auspicious occasion. And though brands may find it difficult to substitute traditional sweets with chocolates for traditional occasions, chocolates particularly are increasingly becoming a popular gifting choice and an integral part of new age occasions like Valentine's Day, Friendship day etc. What will drive it further are innovative packaging, visibility and activations across the GT and MT space.

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Some key findings

• In terms of brand preference, Cadbury is Numero Uno, with Ferrero Rocher keenly following in the second place followed by Nestle in the third.

•  As a category confectionery is so huge that even local brands have their own market no matter how small. Though shoppers prefer the branded confectionery items due to strong ATL initiatives, local smaller brands also shine through the clutter due to fancy packaging and right eyelevel placement.

•  It appears that merchandising for confectionery category is not focused due to the shopper knowing what they want beforehand even though it is impulse-driven.

•  Premium brands have their own space

•  The age group of confectionery has gone up considerably

•   But Kids still rule the category

•   Location plays an important role in the category

•   Women buy chocolates more than Men.