Godiva’s Dubai-style chocolate bars have been mistakenly reduced to clear in Tesco following a system error at the supermarket, The Grocer understands.
Retail marketing expert Dave Lewis yesterday posted a photo of a fixture displaying Godiva’s Pistachio & Kadayif 122g tablets plastered with “reduced to clear” notices in Tesco’s Fulbourn Cherry Hinton store to LinkedIn.
The chocolate bars were listed by Tesco earlier this month for a limited run, priced at £10 or £7.95 for Clubcard holders. However, Lewis’ photo showed the bars reduced by 50% to £5.
“Yet another fad is #reduced to clear,” Lewis posted to LinkedIn.
“Instead build the #brand by focusing on the core #customer #propositon for long term #commercial success.”
Several industry insiders commented on Lewis’ post, all speculating on what might have led to overstock.
John Taylor, director and retail partner at UST, suggested “the in-store positioning of the FSDU” by the store’s warehouse doors could have “prohibited” shoppers from browsing.
“Or maybe people who walk into a store aren’t the audience on the Dubai chocolate train, it’s those who shop online,” commented Rohlik Group CFO Vineta Bajaj.
Darren Miller, sales executive at AB&S Wholesale, suggested Dubai-style chocolate had “lost its exclusive appeal” after the trend had “flooded the market” over recent weeks, with several brands and retailers launching their own takes on the treat.
However, a spokeswoman for Godiva told The Grocer that the reduced to clear promotion in Tesco “was due to a supply chain system error which is being resolved.”
Shopper demand for Godiva Pistachio & Kadayif Chocolate was “strong” and the bar was “selling well,” the spokeswoman insisted.
Tesco advised that an error on its system has caused Godiva Pistachio & Kadayif chocolate bars to be incorrectly marked down in price in some stores.
The error has since been corrected, and the product will return to its normal price in all stores. At the time of writing, Godiva Pistachio & Kadayif Milk Chocolate bars were £10 on Tesco’s website.
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