Bestway Wholesale has unveiled its Summer 2026 trading programme, a nationwide commercial campaign designed to help more than 100,000 independent retailers across its 60-depot network capitalise on one of the most important trading periods of the year.
Running until 10 September 2026, the campaign forms part of Bestway’s ongoing strategy to drive incremental footfall across its depot network, helping independent retailers increase store sales and profitability through stronger seasonal execution.
Summer represents one of the most commercially significant trading periods for convenience retailers, with warm weather driving increased and often unpredictable demand for convenience retailers. Impulse categories peaking as shoppers make more frequent top-up trips for BBQs, staycations, sporting occasions, picnics and last-minute food and drink missions.
Against this backdrop, availability is critical, with retailers needing the right products in stock at the right time to capture seasonal sales opportunities.
Designed to create value for both independent retailers and supplier partners in the peak summer trading, the campaign is designed to help retailers drive basket spend and respond quickly to weather-driven demand spikes across high-margin, impulse-led categories including soft drinks, alcohol, snacks and confectionery.
In depot, Bestway is delivering bold barbecue-themed theatre alongside strong pricing and supplier-backed promotions, all designed to influence purchasing decisions at fixture and help retailers build the right range for summer.
The activation simplifies seasonal ranging by highlighting proven, high-performing SKUs and helping retailers capitalise on key summer missions including BBQs, staycations, sporting occasions, picnics and last-minute top-up shops.
The campaign, themed ‘Red Hot Deals – Whatever the Weather’, is fully aligned across Bestway’s website and app, ensuring consistent access for both delivered and Click & Collect customers. Bestway’s weather-responsive digital tools also return for 2026, enabling retailers to align stock decisions with local forecasts and react quickly to short-term demand spikes across key drinks, food-to-go and summer entertaining occasions.
A structured programme of trade engagement will run alongside the campaign, reinforcing key messages across multiple touchpoints and supporting both ranging decisions and promotional execution throughout the period.
The campaign builds on the success of Bestway’s 2025 summer activity, which delivered an average 10% sales uplift for participating suppliers, demonstrating the effectiveness of combining compelling pricing, strong depot theatre and digital engagement.
For suppliers, the 2026 campaign provides integrated exposure at scale across depot, digital and trade channels during a critical trading window, helping to drive visibility, engagement and sales uplift at a time when impulse-led categories are at their seasonal peak.
Kenton Burchell, Group Trading Director at Bestway Wholesale, said: “Summer remains one of the most important trading periods for independent retailers, particularly across impulse-led categories.
"Warm weather changes shopping behaviour quickly - frequency increases, convenience missions become more important and demand can move fast across categories such as soft drinks, alcohol, snacks and confectionery.
“Our role is to make it as easy as possible for customers to buy the right products, at the right price, at the right time, while helping them drive both footfall and basket spend.
“We’ve built ‘Red Hot Deals – Whatever the Weather’ to reflect how retailers actually trade - fast-moving, reactive and increasingly influenced by local conditions. Whether shoppers are planning BBQs, watching sport, enjoying staycations or making last-minute top-up trips, availability is critical.
“By combining strong pricing, clear in-depot execution and digital support, we’re helping customers convert opportunity into profit. This campaign is designed to give retailers the confidence to back key summer categories, maximise availability during peak demand and make the most of every seasonal sales opportunity.”
The Summer 2026 campaign forms part of Bestway’s ongoing investment in commercially-led seasonal activity programmes, designed to drive depot engagement, support supplier performance and deliver measurable returns for independent retailers.