Partners for Growth relaunches

For the first time the programme – which is based on national sales data, insight from Unilever category experts, and supported by practical insights from a panel of award-winning UK retailers – will be opened up to other non-competing categories.

The relaunch will also see the website updated with new unbiased ranging and shopper mission advice that reflects the impact on shopper behaviour of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as improved functionality to make it easier for retailers to access the wider range of category content anticipated on the site. There is a Retailer Support section that provides retailers with content to help them improve how they run their business, and includes a range of business tools that can help with diverse aspects, such as writing a business plan and creating customer surveys. In addition, there is a new Talking Shop section, where retailers are able to exchange ideas, comment on content, and put questions to category experts and its Retailer Advisory Panel members to help them innovate and improve how they run their store.

Mandeep Singh, of Singh’s Premier in Sheffield, said: “Good merchandising is number one for us, because if you get your house in order the rest will take care of itself. But a lot of the information we receive is biased towards stocking their products, which can mean you make the wrong ranging choices for your store. Partners for Growth is different, because their advice is genuinely unbiased, which is a big reassurance for retailers trying to make the right ranging decisions in categories that they aren’t experts in. That’s why I give my valuable time to support them by being on their Retailer Advisory Panel.”

Kat Simpson, Unilever UKI’s category director, added: “We know that receiving credible, trust-worthy advice is critical to the convenience store sector, and Partners for Growth is the longest-running category advice programme providing retailers with the necessary support they need to help them grow their business.

“We have seen significant changes in shopper behaviour as a result of the pandemic and would urge retailers to review the new category insight and advice, as it is important that they reflect these changes in behaviour in their ranging decisions.”