Tesco overhauls retail ready packaging

Tesco has joined forces with wine suppliers to make its packaging more user-friendly. The retailer worked with six of its largest suppliers, including ….

…. Constellation, Concha y Toro, Thierry’s, ZGM, Raisin Social and D&D Wines, (representing a wider group of suppliers), to make its packaging easy to recognise, open, display and handle.

Tesco has asked suppliers to ensure, where possible, that the outer case mirrors the bottle label design on all four sides, making it easier for staff to find the products they need to replenish from mixed cages in the warehouse. In addition, Tesco asked suppliers to include country of origin symbols on every outer case. These enable staff to move the wine case to the correct shelf location on the shop floor. To facilitate easy opening in store, Tesco has also asked suppliers to incorporate an "easy to open" panel or "letterbox opening" in the top of their cases. Alternatively, for any products that are featured on an off-fixture display, suppliers were asked to put a perforated panel or strip onto their cases allowing them to be opened easily and converted to a display case.

Tesco also asked suppliers to add carry handles onto cases, to make handling easier for staff and customers. By the end of February next year, around 70% of Tesco’s wine range, (a total of 600 products) will be packaged in line with this new directive. The supermarket plans to roll out the revised packaging across the entire range by the end of 2008, including bag-in-box, small bottles and Champagne. Commenting on the initiative, Dan Jago, Tesco category director for beers, wines and spirits, said: "Revised retail ready packaging is more practical and more effective for in store merchandising, and in the long run, we hope that the research we have conducted is adopted by other UK retailers".

© db Fionnuala Synnott, 24 October 2007