How Gurkaval Athwal is using data to improve his store

Gurkaval Athwal is doing big things in his small Scunthorpe shop. Having taken responsibility for the running of the business from his parents, he is seeking to make improvements both aesthetically and commercially. When we visited him, he had recently completed a refit which improved the look of the shop, taking full advantage of his Lifestyle Express fascia. Our interactions with him started when he approached us, interested in getting more value out of his EPoS system’s data and insights.

Mr Athwal’s store has a great location. He benefits from a large residential catchment with plenty of foot and road traffic. The nearby bus stop also means that he enjoys a school rush, despite not being located close to local schools. Recently, a large Marks and Spencers opened within walking distance of his store, and in response, Gurkaval has been differentiating his range from the premium M&S products on offer nearby.

Using the data from his EPoS system and suppliers, he refined his key categories. Those where he saw potential, such as alcohol and chilled, were boosted with additional shelf space while other categories which had struggled, such as news and mags were reduced. Thanks to careful planning and clever use of his data, his alcohol and chilled sales are up while his news and mags sales have remained consistent, despite shelf space being reduced by over 60%.

"We knew we had to be careful with lines when reducing space so we approached our magazine supplier Menzies. They provided a report of our best sellers which we used as the basis for our new range. So far we’ve seen no negative change in sales and growth in other profitable categories, which is fantastic. – Gurkaval Athwal

Looking forward, Gurkaval is working with TRDP to understand more about his most popular selling periods for his premium lines, especially confectionery which is a great opportunity considering his daily school rushes. He’s even considering some creative merchandising to get the most out of his space at different times of the day and exploring his pricing to ensure that he is as competitive as possible.

He is hoping to make further use of the space in his store with a media screen in his front window which he hopes will offer a community service as well as create a new revenue opportunity through advertising.

We wish him every luck in his future endeavours and will be exploring new opportunities with him in due course.

If you are a TRDP retailer and are interested in the help that Mr Ahtwal has received, contact our marketing team at marketing@retaildata.co.uk