Coles Little Shop 2 campaign falls flat
Coles’ Little Shop 2 failed to capture the imagination of shoppers. So is the collectables fad over or did Woolworths’ popular Lion King Ooshie campaign steal the limelight?
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Coles is nursing a major Little Shop hangover.
And, as usual, the sequel has failed to match the magic of the original.
Supermarket sales at Coles rose a wafer thin 0.1 for the 13 weeks to September 29, the lowest rate of growth in more than a decade.
The result, released this morning, is well down on the 5.1 per cent jump in sales notched up in the same period a year earlier when Coles was enjoying the rewards of the original Little Shop promotion and its decision to slow the phasing out of free plastic bags.
The sales results are measured on a like-for-like basis, meaning they strip out the impact of stores opening and closing.
Coles latest trading update covers the period of its Little Shop 2 promotion which has failed to match the success of the original as it came up against Woolworth’s popular Lion King Ooshie collectibles campaign.
But the update was still better than what many analysts had been expecting and shares in Coles rose by more than 2 per cent to $14.89 in early trade today.
The wild success of the original Little Shop promotion has prompted both supermarket chains to run out a string of collectable campaigns, although analysts are beginning to question whether they are running out of puff with shoppers.
Coles launched another collectable program on Tuesday – this time a glass giveaway targeting adults – and chief executive Steven Cain would not say whether Little Shop would ever get a third outing.
“I’m not going to talk to the marketing program for the next year or so,” Mr Cain said.
“We have said previously that there will be the end to collectibles, but it is too early to call when that will be.”
Total sales across the Coles Group, which includes its petrol station and liquor offering, rose 1.8 per cent to $8.69 billion for the 13 weeks to September 29.
Like-for-like sales were up 0.2 per cent.
Total supermarket sales rose 1.6 per cent to $7.7 billion.
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A new partnership with fuel supplier Viva Energy is also showing early signs of success with Coles posting its first rise in like-for-like petrol sales in four years.
Weekly fuel volumes hit 64.9 million during the latest reporting period, up from 64 million litres on the same period a year earlier.
Coles struck a new deal with Viva in February where the pair are giving up profit made on fuel sales in order to provide a more competitive offer at the bowser.
Fuel sales at Coles Express outlets have slumped by about 40 million litres a week since Viva became its supplier in 2014.
with AAP