Mars wins candy Category Captains award 2023 from Convenience Store News
As Retail Is Redefined, Mars Is Helping Grow Sales Across Candy Category By Testing Innovative Merchandising Solutions
Mars, the maker of some of the world’s most-loved confectionery products, including M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, and SKITTLES®, was selected as Candy’s 2023 Convenience Store News Category Captain.
Now in its 10th year, the award celebrates companies who have zeroed in on shopper insights and earned retailers’ trust with innovative offerings that help grow sales and profits across the entire category.
“At Mars, we know the success of retailers, the industry and the category pave the way for our success as an innovative business,” said Tim LeBel, President of Sales at Mars Wrigley. “Mars is leading the category with data-driven insights and investing heavily to ensure that we are helping our channels thrive as the retail landscape evolves.”
Consumer behavior and the retail experience have shifted dramatically in recent years. Shoppers are increasingly looking for speed and convenience and are more open to leveraging new technologies, especially at checkout.
“Impulse purchases like candy and gum, which typically happen at checkout, are critical to the Convenience channel’s bottom line,” said Jim Dodge, Vice President of Convenience at Mars Wrigley. “In line with the criteria for the Category Captain awards, our Convenience team is leveraging shopper data to identify and develop customizable merchandising solutions, tools and technology that will enable the Convenience channel to dynamically manage and drive sales of Impulse products as checkout options shift.”
Contributing to its 2023 Convenience Store News Category Captain recognition, Mars recently conducted foundational Convenience store research to better understand the various reasons why shoppers visit Convenience stores and identify opportunities for Confectionery and Treats & Snacks purchases.
Mars’ Shopper Insights, Category, and Transaction Zone teams then leveraged these insights to develop and test a range of merchandising solutions dedicated to driving Impulse purchases in a Seamless checkout environment. Findings from both virtual research and in-store testing at a major Convenience store retailer confirmed that these merchandising solutions helped mitigate risk to impulse on seamless trips and drove growth for the Confectionery category.
