New data from GMDC and Nielsen provides optimistic forecast for grocery retailers.
The Global Market Development Center and Nielsen have released the much anticipated, latest refresh of its proprietary GMDC/Nielsen General Merchandise Hierarchy data set. The data provides a detailed look at sales and trends across GM in the food and drug channels and extends to all channels of retail combined.
“Over the past two years The GMDC/Nielsen GM Hierarchy has become an industry standard,” said Tom Duffy, vice president of industry services, Nielsen. “This tool allows companies both large and small, to access deeper insights, category and benchmark trends that deliver greater confidence as trading partners build strategies to drive towards growth together.”
Initial insights showed that one-third of all outlet sales come from general merchandise and that the gross margin in GM is generally nearly twice as high as the gross margin of other categories in store.
The data also shows good news for grocery retailers who invest in GM. Particularly, with the food channel representing 16% (or $32 billion) of all GM sales, the bottom-line contribution of GM sales in this channel is significantly higher than other categories. An expansion of GM in the food channel can help retailers increase wallet-share of GM and reduce sales leakage to online retailers.
“Aisles carrying general merchandise are clearly a major part of the shopper experience and household spend,” said Mark Mechelse, director of research, industry insights and communications at GMDC. “The refresh of this GM Hierarchy data gives our retail members a roadmap of profitability to defend the base, and grow the space. In other words, through stocking innovative products and investing in attention-grabbing displays, retailers can turn the GM space they already have into a destination for shoppers. At the same time, this can be a merchandising opportunity to grow other areas of the store through adjacency.”
“Data from the GM Hierarchy is reliable and accurate and gives us a true view of where the market is trending and what the consumer wants. It has proven to be an integral part of our strategic planning and selling process because we can focus on building areas where we know we’ll see higher sales and profit margins,” said Scott Galey, director of sales, Newell Rubbermaid.
The GM Hierarchy reports data from more than 12,900 stores and includes 30 million SKUs and 190 food channel retailers while measuring 18 mega categories and hundreds of sub-categories.
