The Challenge

Tesco is the biggest supermarket chain in the UK.

For a specialist book publisher like Mayfield, there were 2 main obstacles to getting their books sold within the Tesco store network:

1. in the largest Tesco ‘extra’ stores, the range of books is so enormous as illustrated on the right, that you risk your titles blending into the mass of choice, and

2. in the smaller stores, high competition for every available square foot of floor space means Tesco will only accept items it believes will sell fast on its shelves.

Mayfield’s range of local interest books are very much impulse-buy items, they offer a wide range of titles focussed around local interests in the area where offered for sale, such as local walks, local history, local accents, local cultures, etc…

Like most book shops, Tesco don’t have a section on their shelves titled ‘local interest books’, so if they were to accept the books on their shelves at all, there would be little chance of a shopper noticing them.

Our client’s solution

After a few unsuccessful attempts to get their books placed on the Tesco shelves, Mayfield finally hit on the perfect solution – every Tesco store seemed to have a few vacant awkward spaces and if Mayfield could offer a tailor-made FSDU book stand to fit these spaces, Tesco would be only too happy to accept them.

It was a true win-win solution – Tesco could fill an ugly blank space with a smart range of interesting books, and Mayfield could put their full range into each store along with a catchy stand header to draw the attention of passing shoppers to the titles below.

Envoprint’s approach

Having experienced poor customer service levels and poor quality stands previously from alternative suppliers, Mayfield approached Envoprint this time for the Tesco stands. Andy Smith, Managing Director at Mayfield said:

“Envoprint brought us a refreshing combination of helpful service along with and creative design and an fsdu mockup service. Previously we had tried using mass-produced low quality stands and were shocked at the poor customer service levels we received. Envoprint’s stands are designed to fit both the store space and the books that go on the stand, and they are truly built to last and still look great after many months on the shop floor.” View his video testimonial here

Before Mayfield could order their displays, we produced a prototype FSDU mock up giving them a physical sample of the design to evaluate.

This FSDU prototype went through the Tesco testing procedure (the cardboard stand gets put in a “mock” shop and it is subjected to rigorous retail testing), and was duly approved for use in Tesco stores.

Success!

Mayfield now have their stands on display in more than 300 Tesco stores throughout the UK, and both Tesco and Mayfield are very pleased with the huge volumes of local interest books now sold daily.
Bill, Tesco’s Key Account Manager at Mayfield said:

“The stand solution from Envoprint has enabled us to get our product out in front of the customer rather than getting lost on the shelves. This enables Tesco to give a high profile to local books, meeting their key objective of linking their stores with the local community”

Would you like to know more about how we have helped Tesco – the largest retail in the country? Have a look at the completed projects 360 degree tours on the links shown below:

Funko Tesco Pallet Unit

Tesco Funko Starwars FSDU