Bananas and oranges came out top in the ECR On-Shelf Availability survey this quarter, while fresh produce as a category held onto second place.
The fruit, along with beef mince, tinned chopped tomatoes and whole milk all scored 100 per cent availability across the 350 stores that are included in the study, which is managed by IGD.
The study, which measures on-shelf availability from the consumers' viewpoint to provide a benchmark for retailers and suppliers, found that out of the total lines 53 achieved above 99 per cent (the best performance since the survey began), 97 scored between 95 and 99 per cent, 32 from 90 to 95 per cent and 18 fell below 90 per cent.
Fresh produce availability hit 98.9 per cent this month and achieved the second highest score for the third quarter running.
The survey also analysed availability by day. This quarter, on-shelf availability has improved mid-week as Wednesday moves from the worst day of the week to the best (95.9 per cent to 96.5 per cent). Monday ties with Wednesday as the best day to go shopping and Friday’s shelves slip nearly 2 points to become the worst stocked day of the week.
Diane Carter, newly appointed ECR On-shelf Availability group co-shair and director of supply chain operations with Sainsbury’s, said: “As new co-chairs it is great for us to start our tenure with good news. The highest number of products in the life of the survey has scored over 99 per cent and five products have achieved the optimum 100 per cent.
“Own label is performing well and I hope to see more work between retailers and branded manufacturers to share the learnings from this success.”
Justin Cook, Kraft’s supply chain director - UK and Ireland, and fellow co-chair, said: “It’s good to start on a high and to see another branded product hit 100 per cent is great news. There is some fantastic work going on in the industry to address the issue of availability. We hope to build on the work of our predecessors and see the results being achieved in the cigarette and produce categories carried through to improve the other categories.”
