In the UK, confectionery giant Nestlé has opened an Insight and Learning Centre, to help its retail clients understand how the layout of shelves in their stores can be tailored to shoppers’ needs.

Based in Nestlé’s factory in York, the £1m centre includes mock-ups of supermarkets, convenience stores, individual shops and cash-and-carry layouts to demonstrate how consumers shop. Shelves at the centre are stocked not only with Nestlé products, but also with those of its competitors. Retail clients will be invited to visit the centre to improve their understanding of the drivers of confectionery purchase.

A spokesperson for the firm explained that confectionery products are bought for different reasons –hunger, pleasure, or as a gift – and that the way people shop is different in a supermarket from a convenience store.

‘The Insight and Learning Centre is helping us develop our understanding of this and enabling us to share this understanding with our customers in an impactful way,’ she added.

The firm, which was founded in 1868 by Henri Nestlé, has increased its market share in the past 12 months, with sales of its KitKat brand soaring by 20% to make it the country’s fastest-growing confectionery brand.

Web site: www.nestle.co.uk .

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