The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is set to present its expanding sweet and savory product lineup, as well as its retail capabilities and merchandising strategies, at the 2024 Sweets & Snacks Expo hosted by the National Confectioners Association from May 14-16 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Innovation
Attendees visiting The Hershey Company’s booth (#11802) will have the opportunity to sample a diverse selection of products from several beloved brands, including Reese’s, Hershey’s, KIT KAT®, Ice Breakers, ONE™ Bars, FULFIL, Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels, SkinnyPop, and Twizzlers. The showcase will feature exciting new offerings such as:
- Reese’s Caramel Big Cup
- KIT KAT® Pink Lemonade and KIT KAT® Vanilla
- Hershey’s Crunchy Waffle Cone Bars
- Ice Breakers Sparkling Mints in Pineapple Mango Seltzer Flavor
- Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels in Parmesan Garlic Flavor
- SkinnyPop Cheddar Jalapeño
Moreover, Reese’s, renowned for its iconic chocolate and peanut butter combination, is launching a seasonal novelty called Reese’s Medals in celebration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. This limited-time offering underscores Hershey’s ongoing support for Team USA.
Chuck Raup, President of U.S. Confection at The Hershey Company, expressed enthusiasm for these new releases, especially the Reese’s Caramel Big Cup, which has been a standout innovation in the confectionary, mint, and gum (CMG) market. Raup noted that Reese’s Medals represent the brand’s inaugural summer shape, highlighting Reese’s continued expansion and potential for category growth .
Capabilities & Strategies
The Hershey Company has leveraged cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality (AR) and image recognition (IR) to support the launch of Reese’s Caramel Big Cup. These tools empower retailers to make informed decisions about product placement and optimize sales. By visualizing product displays using AR and tracking merchandise locations with IR, retailers gain valuable insights into how placement influences consumer behavior and purchasing decisions.
Additionally, Hershey’s emphasizes the growing importance of foodservice in retail. Research conducted by the company reveals that a significant portion of consumers regularly utilize foodservice options, either through online ordering for pickup or delivery from fast-food establishments. To capitalize on this trend, Hershey recommends integrating mobile ordering, pickup services, and third-party delivery apps, alongside promoting foodservice offerings at the store’s front end .
Checkout Experience
The research conducted by Hershey underscores the impact of effective merchandising and queuing strategies on consumer behavior at checkout. While assisted lanes tend to drive higher unit sales compared to self-checkouts, the latter allows retailers to redeploy staff for better service elsewhere in the store. To optimize the checkout experience, Hershey advises proper merchandising at self-checkout terminals to avoid suboptimal consumer experiences and loss of impulse purchases.
Moreover, retailers can enhance unplanned purchases by expanding product assortments and employing effective display merchandising, capitalizing on the “second basket” trend where consumers make additional purchases when picking up online orders in-store. Hershey’s suggests that strategic queuing can significantly increase conversion rates for unplanned purchases, highlighting the importance of engaging shoppers during the checkout process .
