Post Office Counters Ltd is the biggest retail network in the UK, with more branches than all the banks and building societies combined. And they offer more than 170 different products and services.
Facts:
- The Post Office has over 11,500 branches across the UK
- They process 16 million weekly customer visits amounting to 47 million customer transactions a week
- 99.7% of the population live within 3 miles of a Post Office
- 97% of Post Offices are run with retail partners on an agency or franchise basis.
With such a comprehensive branch network and impressive customer reach, The Post Office wanted to add real value to their retail partners.
An area of opportunity was identified that involved leveraging shopper understanding to optimise category management principles. In other words...
How can we provide tangible category management expertise to retail partners based on solid shopper and consumer insight?
Adcock Solutions Ltd and Post Office Counters Ltd ran a number of brain storming sessions. These enlightening exercises uncovered more than 100 proven ways with which Post Office could add tangible value to their retail partners , who in turn could make their own businesses more shopper oriented and effective through better shopper understanding.
Post Office Counters Ltd, are now in the process of disseminating the insights throughout the network.
Primary Post Office Counters Goal
To provide retail partners with effective ways of driving their businesses by improving their relevance and appeal to Post Office customers.
Business Goals
- Recruit more new customers to both Post Office and their retail partners
- Improve and simplify the shopping experience in-store
- Increase cross shopping: The percentage of shoppers who shop both The Post Office and retail partner store during the same visit
- Increase the total basket spend within retail partner stores
Results
- Build on Post Office brand strengths and refine the in-store experience to attract new segments of customers
- Improved the shopping experience by employing shopper psychology and category management principles in-store
- Able to raise awareness of additional Post Office and retail partner products and services available
- Opportunity to significantly grow average weight of purchase through more targeted product adjacencies
The Post Office has the potential to serve UK shoppers in so many ways. In addition, it is a valuable partner to other retailers, driving footfall and broadening their relevance. The organisation has recognised the potential from becoming more shopper-oriented. They have invested in actively growing their expertise in this area, helped in no small part by Adcock Solutions Ltd.
When improved shopper understanding is combined with a more marginal gains based approach to retailing, a visit to the shops becomes much better: Better for shoppers, better for retailers and better for the brands they sell.
