Publishing: 29 August

Copy deadline: 7 August

Submissions deadline: 31 July

Contact: Simon Creasey (creasey.simon@gmail.com)

Download the full synopsis here.

The batteries market has gone flat: value sales have dipped and volumes are down. But within this rather lacklustre market some brands are showing impressive growth. How? To what extent is the growth being driven by price and promotions, innovation or distribution gains? And what’s driving the electrifying growth in specialist batteries?

Key themes:

Innovation: Key to this feature will be a discussion of the latest NPD on the market. The feature will explore the market trends that have inspired these innovations and weigh up which new launches are most likely to encourage new trends in the category.

Promotions/pack sizes/price: This feature will pay close attention to how factors like pack sizes and promotions have affected the price of batteries in the past year. How price has affected sales growth will be a major focus too.

Marketing and advertising: This feature will also explore how the marketing of batteries has evolved over the past year, with particular attention being paid to above the line advertising, point of sale marketing and the ‘as good as the major brand’ claims of many of the smaller players in the market. How have things changed and what are brands’ strategies for the coming year?

Retailers: This feature will pay close attention to how new listings have affected the fortunes of individual brands and the growth of discounters and specialist retailers is driving growth for some. How do different retailers approach the category? Who’s in growth and who’s in decline? This feature will explore how discounters are performing, with attention being paid to the products they stock, the size of packs and the prices they charge.

Specialist batteries: Our data shows strong growth, albeit from a small base, in specialist batteries. This feature will include separate box out analysing the trends driving this growth and profiling the brands and products cashing in.

4 x innovations: Four new products or product ranges that have not appeared in The Grocer before, including launch date and RSP, and a hi-res picture of each.

Key questions the feature is likely to address:

  • What consumer trends have impacted the category over the past year?
  • How have promotional strategies (both in terms of price and marketing) evolved?
  • How have individual retailers’ strategies impacted the market?
  • How has merchandising changed in the market?
  • What impact has own-label had on branded players?
  • What’s next for the category?
  • We profile four new products or product ranges that have ideally not appeared in The Grocer before, including launch date and RSP.

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