Heineken’s Star Retailer scheme has helped convenience store retailers increase their cider and beer sales by around 12% since 2012.

The Star Retailer scheme provides advice to retailers to raise the standards of merchandising in the convenience channel. It helps retailers stock the right range of products, ensure their beer and cider category is laid out correctly in the chiller and make sure key brands have enough space to maintain availability. 

Heineken said the scheme had helped contribute £49m to the beer and cider category since its launch four years ago.

Stuart Chaffey, from Red Convenience in Roysten, said: “By following the scheme’s advice, we’ve added bottles into the chiller and improved the layout of each category, making it easier for shoppers to find what they are looking for. We saw our beer and cider sales increase by 19% in the first month alone!”

Amit Patel, of Belvedere Food and Wine, in South East London, added: “We work with Heineken on their Star Retailer programme and find their insight into category management very useful. When we had our relay done a few years ago we saw a 15% uplift in sales immediately.”

Heineken category development manager Steven Gifford said: “We are thrilled to confirm that through the Star Retailer scheme, Heineken has helped customers across the UK contribute an additional £49m to the beer and cider category. The category advice provided through the scheme is designed to be easy to follow and implement, and the feedback that we’ve had from retailers has been fantastic.

“We plan to continue developing Star Retailer so that Heineken can help even more customers make the most of the beer and cider category and the various opportunities for incremental sales.”

HIM research has shown that 96% of Star Retailers believe their beer and cider range has improved since becoming a Star Retailer and 83% of Star Retailers have seen sales increases across the store as a whole since joining the scheme. 

For more information and advice on how to increase their own beer and cider sales, retailers can visit www.starretailer.co.uk or follow @StarRetailer on Twitter.