The only reason to have a Coke (or similar) fridge in your newsagency is if it is delivering a good return on space, labour and inventory investment. if you have a Coke fridge and don’t know its performance numbers, work them out.
I see too many newsagents hang onto their Coke fridge because customers like the convenience of it. That’s no reason to keep it.
Your Coke fridge must make you more money than you could otherwise make from the space.
Your Coke fridge must make more than not having it and the associated assumptions that come with it.
People seeing a Coke fridge do make assumptions in my view. I think they will see it and register the business as a convenience business. If you sell higher end gifts, the assumptions flowing from seeing the Coke fridge may not fit what you want for the business. Coke is a banner brand like that. See it in the front of a local independent shop and you do think convenience.
I was in a newsagency a couple of days ago that had a Coke fridge right near their entrance, in prime position. From the front door of their shop I could see four other shops with a Coke fridge. The newsagency having a Coke fridge did not make sense. The owner said they keep it because it works. They could not explain that in terms of financial performance or their profit and loss statement tho.
I bought a newsagency two and a half years ago that had a Coke fridge. The staff said customers would complain if we got rid of it. No one complained. We are surrounded by cafes and take away food outlets with Coke and other drinks. The fridge had no commercial value in our newsagency.
None of this matters. If you’re making a good profit, more than you would otherwise make from the space, stick with it.
If you don’t know your numbers, go work them out, now.
I worked them out for the shop I was in a couple of days ago and the Coke fridge was losing money. It was not paying for the square metre of space it was taking let alone the labour and capital tied up in inventory. This is a beautiful newsagency by the way, one offering excellent gifts. I think by removing the Come fridge they can remove some shopper assumptions and expect more shopper traffic as a result.
Sometimes we find ourselves doing the same thing over an over because no one has stopped in front of us and asked why we do that.
I have nothing against Coke by the way. Some newsagencies, though, do not need to offer the product, they can make better use of the space.
If you have a Coke fridge, please go work out your numbers and let them guide what you do.