MAPPING THE CATEGORY DRIVERS

Ten key drivers of purchase

Confectionery & fine foods is arguably the most universal of travel retail categories, with appeal across demographics and ages and spanning multiple reasons for purchase, from gifting to self-treat, and prompting impulse shopping and cross-category sales.

Yet as we noted in the introduction, the business has not matched the growth trends of previous years recently, with retail footfall declining and category growth stagnating.

Nestlé International Travel Retail (NITR)’s vision for the category is informed by its recent research partnership with m1nd-set, which identified three key purchase motivators, under the headings ‘Elevated Experiences’, ‘Deeper Connections’ and ‘Better for You’.

These in turn are broken down into individual reasons to buy, or key drivers, which we will focus on in the pages ahead.

‘Elevated Experiences’

‘Elevated Experiences’ includes elements such as Travel Souvenir, Give Me a Boost and Experience & Indulge, which between them can range from a gift that evokes the trip to products that prompt different senses through flavour, texture or packaging.

‘Better for You’

Better for You includes the drivers Healthy Snacks, Better Treats and Happy Parents-Happy Kids. These can range from products with the ‘win/win’ of treat/taste and health, plus items with taste, convenience or nutrition that are suitable for snacking on a journey.

‘Deeper Connections’

‘Deeper Connections’ includes elements such as All Year Round Gifting, Share and Connect, Celebrate the Seasons and Uplifting Breaks. Examples of these are the rituals of gift-giving to surprise or delight; products for casual socialising with family or friends and using confectionery to mark key seasons in the calendar and moments in life.

At the core of all of these solutions sits the focus on quality behind the final over-arching driver, ‘Perfect Condition’.

Nestlé International Travel Retail General Manager Stewart Dryburgh says: “These findings show that there are untapped motivations for us to leverage and under-exploited need states for us to commercialise. We can provide shoppers and consumers with more of what they want. As ever it will be critical to deliver these offerings in context with the commercial strategies of our retail partners.”

*More on each of these drivers follows in the coming pages.

Spotlight Series

December 2019

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