Record numbers of retailers attended the very FIRST Bestway Retail Showcase (Thursday 25th May), held at Liverpool Exhibition Centre.
The new innovative event comes on the back of the incredible success of the retail Drinks at Home events and RDA seminars, bringing together the strength of both, and much more.
It was the biggest gathering of Bestway’s symbol customers from brands Costcutter, Bargain Booze and Best-one – alongside the wholesale Xtra Local retail club members to showcase the very best of how the Bestway Retail offer comes together.
With more than 1,000 retailers registered to attend, the day was described as “one of the most useful and inclusive events we’ve ever experienced” by one retailer, who continued “we’re going back energised with fresh ideas, learnings and a raft of valuable insights as to the future of dynamic retailing”.
More than 140 supply partners engaged with retailers, sharing market insights and product opportunities, inviting retailers to feedback on NPD lines they are looking to bring to market. There were over 100 special Retail Showcase offers extended to attendees on the day, giving powerful opportunities to make more margin and capitalise on sales opportunities.
Best-one, Bargain Booze, and Costcutter all brought their market leading propositions alive in the real-time mock stores and giving snapshots of the future, sharing the latest merchandising techniques, and highlighting opportunities for retailers to sell more, helping them open up greater margin potential. The event also presented an opportunity for retailers to see the newly launched Best-one store branding, standing proud next to the other brand propositions.
The exhibition space was divided into key zones for business hub, category zones, retail mock stores, alongside a Show ‘deals hub’ and marketing services, which included tool kits for retailers to take away across social media and marketing. In addition to these services Bestway made available the GroceryAid tools to ensure all retailers had access to the wider support available from the industry.
Bestway’s managing director, Dawood Pervez, presented to a packed auditorium, thanking retailers and supply partners for their unswerving support over the past year, reinforcing that Bestway’s aim is ‘frictionless retailing’ – making it easier for retailers to do business through delivering service, products, category support and rebates in the way that meets retailer needs.
He also reiterated the ‘true value of local’ as being enormously important to the way consumers see their local convenience stores saying: “Increasingly consumers are aware that it’s not just the price on the tin, but they have woken up to the fact that there is so much more to community stores. They are saving time, cost, energy and reducing emissions by shopping local, as well as reducing waste by not buying products they don’t actually want.
“90% of consumers shopping in local stores walk to the store, helping health and wellness and reducing obesity, and that’s before we consider the local business benefits of putting revenues back into the community”.
Bestway’s new Retail Director, Jamie Davison, emphasised that Bestway is an entrepreneurial wholesaler that wants to collaborate and partner with its retailers saying: “We will never be a faceless, transactional, wholesaler – the very heart and soul of our business is about collaborative retailing, getting to know our customers and helping them grow their businesses through providing the right products, the right service, and the right environment for them to thrive.
“Just one example is in today’s increasingly digital environment - we are leading the way in time-saving retailer tech and making platforms available to help them optimise margins, and help their shoppers buy goods in the way they want to shop.”
Other presentations included “10 Top Ways to Excite your Shopper”, from Lumina and “Big Issues Facing the Convenience Market” from Aidan Fortune, editor of C-Store, as well as “How to Grow Sales with Best in Class Off-License Proposition” by Diageo, AB Inbev, Accolade and “The Importance of NPD to Category Growth” from Mondelez, Ferrero. There was a market update in Vape, alongside trends and opportunities in this category from Imperial Tobacco / Juul, and a look at the Soft Drinks category with a presentation from CCEP, Red Bull and Danone on ‘Getting the Right Mix to Drive Sales and Footfall”.
Bestway further partnered with FareShare to ensure any food waste from the day itself was managed responsibly. As the UK’s biggest charity, fighting hunger and food waste, FareShare collected surplus food that was still within date to pass on to its network of charities and community groups.
Speaking of the day, Dawood Pervez, concluded: “As our first Retail Showcase, the day far exceeded our expectations. To have over 1,000 retailers engaged alongside our supplier partners and industry guests, was enormously valuable.
“A key aim for us was to ‘share’ and help our retailers ‘learn and grow’ alongside deepening our own team’s understanding of current market needs. It gave us all the opportunity to engage and discuss current challenges and how we all work together to help our customers capitalise on market opportunities.
“There is no question that this aim was met and the combination of our brands, and partners shows that we are ‘stronger together, as one’ - which enables us all to move forward as a united force!
“I would also like to extend a sincere thank you to our supply partners who helped make the day such a success”.
