Bridging the gap from consumption to repurchase

Ever enjoyed a great bottle of wine and thought to yourself - i must buy that again?

A week later, having recovered from the hangover, you find yourself in the supermarket aisle looking in vain for that very same bottle.

It seems simple enough, but this is the first time I've seen the 'remember me' tab on the rear label of a bottle, in this case from a New Zealand producer.

It's a great example of bridging the gap from consumption to repurchase for the shopper, though I'm not sure how long it will be before i see it on a bottle of claret.

Helpful reminder for the next shop

Hologram technology finds a new home

I've seen diagrams, I've seen illustrations, I've seen animated videos, I've seen role play films, I've even had real people tell me how to prepare for the security check in at an airport.

I thought I'd seen it all, until i was confronted with this at East Midlands airport.....

Life size hologram issuing instructions prior to security check at East Mids airport

I was so traumatised i forgot to take my laptop out of its bag.

Welcome to London, sorry about the queue

As London gears up for the busiest 2 weeks of its life this summer, someone at LOCOG has forgotten to tell the chaps at the Gatwick Express. A trip into London this week started with me paying a rather handsome £35 for a return ticket on the Gatwick Express. 'Express' because it goes straight from the airport to Victoria non-stop. Unfortunately for all those suitcase laden passengers on the platform, the 'Express' picks up as many commuters as it can from the South Coast beforehand, all no doubt paying an equally handsome season ticket price.

What will be the verdict on London be come September? There's a huge focus on whether the athletes, the facilities, Danny Boyle, can deliver... they will, but that's not the problem.

The transport infrastructure stands little or no chance of standing up to the pressure, all the more galling when you're shelling out serious sums just to try and get a ride. Once visitors arrive in London, having stood holding a suitcase for 40 minutes, they can look forward to a 4 quid tube ride to the west end, or £2 on the bus if they've got an entire afternoon to kill.

There's only one thing for it, strap a trailer and phone holder on to each Boris bike and create a tourist friendly sat nav app so they can make their own way into town, quicker than the bus, cheaper than the tube, and plenty of opportunity for sightseeing along the way.

The luxurious surroundings of the Gatwick Express

Gin, from Scotland?

Caorunn Gin seems to be everywhere at the moment. As a bonafide Gin addict i thought i had a good grasp of the botanical spirit landscape but over the last 2 months this Scottish Gin seems to have appeared in every independent off licence i walk into, most supermarkets and pretty much every duty free airport shop.

Great packaging, an interesting story and a different taste seem to put it squarely in the Hendrick's court - not sure about the red apple garnish though, is that asking a bit too much of the fruit bowl at home and staff in the bars?

Iberia Airlines strikes again

No one likes to point out mistakes, unless they're from Iberia, a truly terrible airline - so it was pleasing to see the mishaps don't just happen at Madrid airport and at the customer relations centre, they're in fact fully integrated across the marketing dept as well.

Is this the best supermarket in Britain?

It's been a while since the last post due to a bit of travelling. On those travels i came across Booths. I'd read about it before in the odd Sunday supplement but never had the good fortune to walk into one. What i experienced is how i think everyone wants a supermarket to be, quality products, value for money and old fashioned values in a comfortable, contemporary setting.

Unassuming from the outside

Clearly something was amiss the moment i walked through the door - not only was i confronted by a wheelbarrow extolling the virtues of the locally sourced veg, the veg in question, new potatoes, had mud on. Mud?! on veg? in a supermarket?

Stop Press - dirt on supermarket veg

Unnerved, i ventured down a few 'tinned' aisles - no bus stops, no 'great value' messages, just well signposted products, clearly priced. That had the inverse effect of making deals standout even more.

Clean, well lit shelving

I've never walked through the freezer section of a supermarket and thought 'what a pleasant place to shop, i must hang around here a bit longer', but that hanging around is usually inevitable given it's the hardest part of the store to navigate with everything behind glass doors or stowed away in chests. the picture below is the freezer section at Booths, though it could be easily mistaken for Carluccios, if that place had a freezer section.

A freezer area you don't mind hanging about in

This really pleasant ambiance and fresh food cues continued through the bakery and fresh food areas, with nice little touches like 'proper' scales, information on suppliers and a mushroom section that resembled something more like continental Europe than North West England.

Fresh Bakery section - ovens to the right

The Wine & Spirits area used curved shelving to create a bit of an oasis of calm (not that it were needed), again, the feel was more like a specialist wine seller than that of a supermarket, the friendly staff and 'tasting' events reinforced that further.

But it was two areas of the store in particular that resulted in me needing a double take. Everyone knows fresh orange juice from supermarkets is rarely that, fresh. So why not take a leaf out of the food market book - and squeeze it there and then, straight into the bottle. High quality, as fresh as you will ever get it and because of the theatre and transparency over what's in the bottle - the higher price point is justifiable for the shopper.

Freshness has a big impact on another product, ground coffee, so at Booths, they take a leaf out of the coffee shop book and sell the beans allowing you to grind them there and then to your desired taste before sealing and enjoying at home only hours later. Similar to the Orange Juice experience, you can tangibly see the quality of ingredients and the added value which again makes the price premium more justifiable.

I walked out through the suitably pleasant check outs wondering whether we'll see the big 4 looking more like this in a few years time. I hope so.