Cadbury

The target market

It is essential to have a clear picture of the type of people that make up your core target market. Armed with this information you can then select how to best reach and appeal to this market. Following Cadbury’s research into the Gifting market, the company analysed market research into the coffee bar and café markets. Cadbury’s then carried out its own research which confirmed that the café concept would particularly attract ABC1 women aged 25-45. This research has been confirmed by experience.

Currently, 75% of customers are female and 74% of customers are ABC1.

Choosing the right location

Knowing the target market, Cadbury was then able to research the right locations to attract 25-45 year old females with high disposable incomes who were regular café users.

In addition, it was necessary to take into account a number of business and practical criteria the location must have:

a prime site location in the main shopping area of a city with 100,000 people and an upmarket populative mix

a double shop frontage for maximum visibility

a high number of shoppers all year round - average weekly footfall of 50,000, peaking 5,000 per hour during the week and 10,000 per hour on Saturdays

a size between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet

planning permission for catering and retailing.

The building required a prestigious location and character to support the luxury and indulgence of the experience.

Getting this right was vital because retailing and catering support each other, for example:

the customer’s experience of high quality, indulgent catering reinforces the premium image of the retail products they buy

restaurant-quality cakes and chocolates can be sold at higher prices in this atmosphere

when customers try products in the café’s seating area or Cadbury Lounge, they may wish to buy them as gifts and take home purchases.

Cadbury’s aim is for customers to aspire to eat and shop in Café Cadbury, so the view of the shop frontage is important. A double frontage is ideal so that people can see, at a glance from the street, the range of products and services by looking in. Outside seating also draws attention to the food and drink offer.

Design guidelines

Design is always important. The design of Café Cadbury seeks to make sure that customers enjoy a unique, shopping and catering experience as they make their journey around it from entrance to departure:

Efficient links between back of house facilities, support and the front of house are needed to service the needs of customers.

Once the customer enters the retail area, the counter and its displays are clearly visible serving both the retail and takeaway products. The counter is designed to appeal to adults and is sophisticated and modern, made of warm cherry timber and trimmed in clean stainless steel. As the customer walks over the timber floor, their footsteps add to the hard-edged, busy sound in this part of the Café Cadbury. The customer moves on to browse the retail display fixtures. These show premium chocolate and non-chocolate offers.

From the retail area, clear signage encourages a visit to the café area upstairs. A recording of café noise is played at the foot of the stairs to reassure customers that there is activity on the first floor. A range of music plays in the café including jazz and soul to reflect the tastes of the target market.

At the counter the customers choose from a tempting range of cakes, savoury food, ice- cream and drinks, served by friendly employees. Most customers stay in the café area for 15-20 minutes.

When the customer wants an even more indulgent experience, signal points are to the lounge area. The furniture is the strongest demonstration of the lounge’s distinctive identity. A combination of the soft chairs and low tables creates a special, related feeling of being in someone’s lounge at home.

When the customer leaves Café Cadbury, their purchases are packed in branded bags as a lasting reminder of the experience.