INFRA Blogs

Article provided by SPINS.

As the year winds down for consumers, the shopping season ramps up considerably for retailers as they prepare for the inevitable holiday rush. According to the National Retail Federation, U.S. shoppers will spend close to $960 billion between November and December – meaning the holiday season is vitally important when making product mix decisions for your store. Here are some quick data-supported tips from SPINS to help ensure your shelves are primed and prepped for the holiday season. 

Celebration Selections 

With New Year’s comes many social gatherings, and a review of SPINS data from the final week of 2022 shows that savvy hosts were stocking up on more than just champagne. Consumers leaned toward Natural Sodas in the week leading up to New Year’s 2022 with brands like Olipop and Poppi driving unit growth +39% from the year prior.  As consumers made purchases for their New Year’s charcuterie boards, they tended to reach for more Natural Cheeses. Montchevre and Vermont Creamery helped unit growth reach +6% in this segment.  Finally, Hummus stands out as an excellent choice for party food as consumers increasingly gravitate toward more natural options, as evidenced by brands like Cedars and Esti pushing this category up +14%.  

From East to West 

Lunar New Year is a time of celebration observed by many Asian cultures & Asian diasporas where families gather and share a large meal with those they love. Though the traditional dishes served during this time vary between cultures, some of these dishes have a symbolic meaning tied to prosperity and are staples consumed year-round.  Related segments with a high seasonality index in January include Dumplings ($31M annual sales), Soy Sauce ($27M), Spring Rolls ($19M) and Green Tea ($17M). 

Embracing New Year’s Resolutions 

As the new year commences, products bearing a health halo invariably experience strong initial performance, and this holds true for plant-based meats. Despite this category’s recent challenges, there are noteworthy areas of optimism.   Several  promising subcategories are showing strong sales growth year-over-year and are poised to grace the frozen aisle as we step into 2024: Frozen Plant-Based Meatballs (+16%), Other Frozen Plant-Based Meat e.g. fillets, steaks, wings (+16%), Frozen Plant-Based Dinner Sausage (+32%), and Plant-Based Meat Snacks e.g. jerky (+35%).    

Keep these categories in mind when planning your end-of-year promotions and know that this SPINS data and so much more is always just a few clicks away. May you all have a productive holiday season and a prosperous new year! 

If you would like to view a PDF version of this report, you can find it here. 

Have questions about how your store can work with SPINS?  Email Jim Olson or Jordan Ferchill.