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FILL-UP
WITH FROZEN - Frozen Food Age, vol.51 No.11
June 2003.
As the number of gas pumps
at the supermarket continues to skyrocket, so do the promotional opportunities
for suppliers in H.E.B and Tom Thumb stores in Texas, Meijer stores in the
Midwest and Stop & Shop stores in the Northeast. These retailers feature
frozen food brands like Eggo, which offers shoppers $1.25 in free gas with the
purchase of two 16-count boxes of waffles, as well as Kellogg's meatless
Morningstar brand.
These
offers, and others like them, were put together by the Centego Fuel Rewards
Program, which rewards consumers with free gas for meeting minimum purchase
requirements on specially marked consumer goods products. Shelf execution was
handled by The SPAR Group, an international third-party merchandising services
company.
The
programs aren't limited to only stores with pumps. When a customer pays for
their groceries at checkout, they receive a voucher for the free gas. The
vouchers are then redeemable at participating gas stations, whether at an
on-site fuel station or at a partnering off-site station.
The
job of keeping the Fuel Rewards shelf signs up-to-date can be daunting. In some
cases, as many as 800 different products in one grocery store require Fuel
rewards signs. In recent H.E.B, Tom Thumb, Meijer and Stop & Shop programs,
SPAR's Merchandising Specialists ended up calling on more than 450 stores
during each four week program cycle to check tag appearance, remove old tags
and install new ones. Categories serviced within the store include: dry goods,
health and beauty, center store and frozen areas, including coffin-style
freezers and closed door freezer units.
The
frozen section presented numerous compliance challenges. Fuel Rewards' original
tags could not withstand the frigid temperatures. Alternative hanging methods,
including plastic sleeves and clips have since rectified that challenge.
According to Centego, SPAR merchandisers have been instrumental in ensuring
that the life of tags in the frozen food section is lengthened.
As
a result of the properly maintained shelf tags, shopping brochures and Fuel
Rewards banners erected in-store and at the station, shoppers purchase more
products and receive free gasoline as a reward for their purchase behavior.
Free gas voucher redemption rates consistently average 20% nationally, 10 times
higher than standard coupons or FSIs. In 2002, Fuel Rewards consumers earned
$16 million in free gas savings. That same year, the program touched more than
25 million shoppers.
To
learn more about SPAR and its unmatched retail merchandising programs, call
(800)314-SPAR (7727),email
servingyou@sparinc.com
or check www.sparinc.com.
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