On a recent trip to the UK (London & Aberdeen) I was looking for things that were different from an everyday life and of course from a consumer look. Here are some of my observations and comments
- Tax inclusive pricing – if it says £1 on the shelf it’s £1 at the till, the NSLC does this and we love it based on the outcry when they tried to change, why not have it that way everyday.
- 3 for 2 deal – instead of the BOGO or BOGO1/2 we have it’s 3 for 2 and tends to be on a range of products instead of an individual item
- small grocery stores – neighbourhoods have their own full range grocery store complete with prepared food and fresh meat and produce and Supermarkets are much more rare
- Bookies all over the place, fills up empty retail space
- The food in the grocers are sold in smaller packs, especially meats produce etc designed for 1 or 2 instead of out mega packs, also the food is displayed much more condensed and stacked higher, the newer Sobeys have integrated this into some of the newer produce departments
- they have luggage racks on Airport transfers
- Scatter crosswalks – one direction of traffic goes then the other then the pedestrians can go on a diagonal, as a result retailers tend to have entrances right on the store corner
- packaging of product in general is more minimalist
- Buy British is very prominent and they are very proud to support their own food supply chain
- many public buildings that have doors that swing both directions but look they are PULL based on the handles
- rarely see people walking the streets with a coffee in hand or eating something as they walk
- They do not stop for pedestrians, vehicles are king and people are always expected to yield
- I did like this idea at Waterstones, they had shelves dedicated to books that appeared in recent online and print media and cited where the article was
