Grocery customers are not very tolerant of frequent changing of assortments and layouts in the store. However grocery, unlike fashion apparel, depends on frequency. “They create interest and are great for marketing hype. “Limited-edition items in grocery are a double-edged sword,” wrote Gary Sankary, retail industry strategy at Esri. Some BrainTrust members did, however, point out potential hurdles to avoid when playing with limited-edition offerings. “These brands give consumers permission to bypass their normal ‘go-to’ store in search of exclusive/limited edition brands.” George, professor of food marketing at St. “The choice of limited edition flavors aside, the concept of exclusive brands has real market differential potential,” wrote Richard J. “For example Lay’s Kobe Steak Flavor from Taiwan fetches about $8 a bag at a NYC shop called Motherland Exotics. “I see an opportunity for CPG brands to bring in some of their international products,” wrote Gwen Morrison, partner at Candezent. Will it work? Why not, it has for decades now.”įor others, the strategy opens new potential avenues for both brands and customers to explore. “So Walmart and Van Leeuwen’s partnership isn’t exactly blazing new ground in the category - unless you consider marketing flavors and form factors that probably shouldn’t be combined in the first place new ground. “Ben & Jerry’s has made several fortunes on limited availability ice creams,” wrote Mr. Ryan Mathews, CEO of Black Monk Consulting, pointed out that in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) arena there is some precedent for offbeat ice-cream success. Speedway and Mountain Dew, Sam’s Club and M&Ms, Starbucks and Target, and Kroger and Oreo have all recently partnered on limited-edition products. The trend may already be picking up speed in grocery. Grocers would be smart to identify compelling products and campaigns to drive frequency, traffic and margin.”
“When they do have these types of specials, they don’t do a great job promoting them. “Outside of predictable seasonal item promotions, grocers have not done a great job developing or partnering to offer LTOs,” wrote Patricia Vekich Waldron, CEO of Vision First.