Waldo Spies, head of buying and marketing shares the success of the FreshStop buying and marketing department in 2023. The department’s core focus for this year was to increase store sales, with a strong focus on strategic category growth with increased promotional margins to have an overall growth in in-store gross margin. This was to be achieved through aggressive promotional campaigns on categories that set the business apart from competitors. It has been an exceptional year marked by groundbreaking campaigns that generated positive buzz for the FreshStop brand.
- We introduced the STAY LIT campaign, the first of its kind in the convenience store industry and it was a resounding success. This campaign addressed the needs of South Africans, bringing light back to their homes. Customers could stand a chance to win one of ten inverters valued at R50,000 each by spending R100 or more in-store. The campaign ran from April to August 2023, and we successfully brightened up 50 South African homes.
- Additionally, we launched the first cashier incentive, offering a reward of R1500 to bring excitement to our staff.
- From October to December, a multi-brand collaboration campaign with our suppliers took centre-stage, giving away a total of R500,000 in cash to 100 lucky customers simply by buying any of the participating products and you could win.
We are thrilled to announce exclusive launch deals with major brands, exclusive to FreshStop convenience stores:
- Prime Energy. FreshStop made history as the first convenience store within the petroleum industry to launch the Prime Energy Drink to the market
- Big Deal Pies – FreshStop was the first to market the Big Deal Pies within the forecourt space
- Vape Station— We launched a game-changing category enhancer, which we have seen our competitors replicating
- Retailer Incentive
- Tiger Brand Grocery launch
The support from the business, retailers, and customers has been incredible. As we look ahead to 2024, we are poised to be the best in convenience again. In 2024, we are ready to reach for the stars.
