Renowned for being the quietest month of the year, January is a curious time for the FMCG sector, especially for brand’s and their stock categories.

Following the ‘Golden Quarter’ at the end of the previous year, with sales peaking in December, the start of the New Year brings with it endless new opportunities and possibilities, and it also acts as a benchmark for what the rest of the year will look like.

The consumers’ mind has now moved, focusing on a health kick and choosing the healthy, nutritious options than compared to the previous months. Therefore this is the opportune time to get those new health conscious lines out on the shelves.

Brands and retailers need to see this as a time to create new lines, promotions and opportunities for their consumer. People still want to make a purchase, but this time it is more specific and targeted. Therefore a brand must create a level of interest and noise in each store to ensure its product is visible and seen by the potential customer.

This can be achieved in several ways, but some of the most tactically wise ways are the following. First of all, your brand ambassadors need to be hitting the shop floors come January 2; from a field sales perspective we increase our weekly visits.

A brand needs to drive more product stock into the store. By increasing your cases on the shop floor, straight away you have created more availability and interest for the consumer.

At IFM we see January as a month of really driving this element and pushing forward on increasing awareness. It’s about understanding your customer, so when they are shouting for health based product, we’ll do everything in our power to ensure it’s our brands healthy options that are getting into the consumer’s hands.

Consumers always like the new Beginning, so, grab their attention as of Jan 2.