Category Focus: Big Night In

Possibly people are opting to stay inside and curl up with a DVD rather than venture towards the big, expensive multiplex? The 'Big Night In' may well be the future of entertainment, and below looks to demonstrate why.

TNS Worldpanel said that take home soft drinks, confectionery, and crisps have all become more popular recently, as DVDs have also become more popular in some locations.

Soft Drinks

Year-on-year until 13 July, the take home soft drinks market saw a 1.8% growth, the analyst revealed. The fruit juice sector has especially fared well as sales jumped by 4.1% in the last year, helped not only by an influx of new shoppers, but also by existing people purchasing the item with greater frequency.

Tesco continues to have the largest market share in terms of soft drinks, TNS said, with 29.9%. It is followed by Asda on 15.8%, while Sainsbury's is in third with 15.2%. Diet Coke has overtaken bedfellow Coca Cola to become the largest brand in the soft drinks stable.

Here is the value of sales and the percentage change year-on-year:

Total soft drinks £3.5bn +1.8%
Fruit juice £1.1bn +4.1%
Colas £674m +1.7%
Flavours £568m +4.4%
One shot drinks £457m +4.8%
Fruit squash £401m -2.4%
Mineral water £476 -9.1%
Mixers £84m 1.6%
Shandies £9m -10.6%

Crisps and Savoury Snacks

Growth is also being witnessed in the crisps and savoury snacks sector, TNS stated. Year-on-year these products grew in value by 7.1%, and shoppers are starting to move away from single-serve bags, heading towards multipack and large sharing versions. Multipack items have grown in value by 7.1% as multipack snacks have risen by 11.7%, the company said.

Walkers regular crisps remained the most popular for consumers, while Pringles and Tesco own-brand were in second and third place respectively. Additionally, it revealed that the healthier side of the market is beginning to grow, as shoppers become more aware that titles such as Walkers Sunbites and Pringles Rice Infusions exist.

Take-home Confectionery Market

Shoppers are also purchasing more chocolate for the home environment, more often, TNS noted. Now people are buying confectionery about once every eight to nine days, the organisation outlined. As a whole, the market is worth £2.5bn, with sugar confectionary the variety most likely to be purchased and consumed in the home. Yet large block chocolate is starting to be bought more by people, the company said.

Private label and Total Cadbury's Dairy Milk remain in first and second place in terms of the most-bought brands, but Total Galaxy Milk jumped into third.

Up until the 13th July 2008, here is the value of different types of confectionary plus (on the right) the year-on-year change:

Total confectionery £2.5bn +4.5%
Multipack countlines £309m +5.8%
Sugar fruits £250m +5.2%
Boxed chocolates £441m -5.0%
Bagged chocolate £223m +8.1%
Moulded block milk choc £205m +12%
Twist warp assortments £189m 5.2%

And sharing bags are the item that retailers ought to focus on to propel growth, Nestle UK trade communications manager Graham Walker added. He suggested that strores stock big-name brands that people can recognise, with a range of items also key.

The firm said that the Rowntree's brand has seen the largest growth – with sales seeing an increase of 23% in 2007. Mr Walker remarked that all of the company's major labels are available in the sharing bags.

But he noted that the more "ideal products" for the big night in are indulgent products such as Munchies and Aero Bubbles. Consumers wanting more luxurious chocolate may be tempted by the After Eight or the After Eight Dark Premium Bag, he said.

The DVD Market

The total DVD market dipped by -2.2% yet is still worth £2bn a year. Supermarkets have grown their market share by 13.7% to stand at 31%, while less people are getting their films from specialist outlets (a dip of 14.7% was registered).

TNS suggested that this trend is because a greater number are buying DVDs on "impulse" when they shop for other goods and are not venturing out specifically to get a movie. The internet was the sector with the largest year-on-year growth, at 18.3%. According to TNS, this was because online retailers are not only good at capturing new customers, but also at tempting existing consumers to buy more too.

Catalogue feature films jumped in popularity by 11.1% although new films became less popular, by 2.2%.

The key, then, could well be tying all these elements together. Retailers opting to try and capitalise on the trends must structure layouts so that consumers consider the range.

The final words go to Graham Walker: "A shopper may have just been popping in for a DVD to rent, or bottle of soft drink, but by linking these categories with chips and dips and confectionery for example, the shopper is more likely to pick up a complete 'Big Night In' solution."