BIG Announcement | All Prices Slashed Forever | Please Read
We’ve made some big changes to the way you shop on realnutritionco.com
The sports nutrition industry is constantly changing and so are we. As you will be aware we run great offers and promotions each week on our website, but many customers have commented that they would prefer an everyday low price across the range. This way you can stock up when convenient and always get a great deal on our premium quality products. So this is what we’re doing, we won’t be able to run certain promotions anymore but the everyday value will be even better.
Will the products be the same premium quality? Simply yes, we will never compromise on our quality or legendary taste.
Why the change now? We want to remain competitive with rival online companies even when promotions are not running.
Will you still offer FREE delivery? Yes on orders £40 or more, Delivery below now starts from just £1.99
Voucher code TAKE5 valid on any purchase but cannot be used in conjunction with any other voucher code. expires Monday 6th October 2014
If you are interested to read more on the factors that lead to this change, one of the RNC founders Kevin explains about the industry and how it has changed over the years. Read on if you dare, grab a drink and make sure you have a spare ten minutes.
The current pricing structure in the sports and active nutrition industry is quite simply a mess in my opinion. For me it’s understandable how this has happened but that doesn’t help you the end user. I have been involved in this industry for over 14 years only the last 3 have been with Real Nutrition Co, before this I managed 2 global brands that shall remain nameless. A great deal has changed in this period of time, the biggest change has been how people shop with the internet of course being at the top of the list. Additionally there are many more brands competing in this sector (they seem to pop up every day and go just as quick) and this alone can make it hard to decipher what is good value versus what is cheap and poor quality. A point to note is the bigger the brand doesn’t necessarily mean you are guaranteed good quality or value for money.
The rise of the internet
If we go back 10 years fewer products where sold via the internet in comparison to now. With the emergence of ecommerce came the practice of cutting out the middle man and selling direct to end users, thus cutting out the overheads of bricks and mortar retailing to sell branded and commoditised products at lower margins. This wasn’t specific to sports nutrition industry but ultimately resulted in the decline of the independent retailer on the high street, but that’s not the discussion point here. You would see a price on a no frills website and compare that to the bricks and mortar specialty stores selling a branded product and see a big difference. Understandably when you cut out the middle man the saving is passed to the end user, in both scenarios no frills direct brands and branded product sold on discount websites. Great for the end user, better value all round. That part I don’t have a problem with, I’m all for great value. Now packaging, ingredient quality and flavours I do have a problem with and will come to later.
Recommended Suggested Selling Retail Prices - The RSSRP
The problem comes with setting RRP’s, SRP’,RSP’s or whatever phrase you want to use that is the most politically correct they all mean the same. The price in which the brand states as the end selling price recommendation, it should be explained that ultimately only the end re-seller can decide the selling price and is against the law to force a retailer to sell a product at a given price (there are a few exceptions like fixed price marking but these can only run for very limited periods). The online only companies don’t have to worry about this as they only sell to one person, you! Brands that set out to sell via retail outlets and sell to retail outlets via wholesalers and distributors have more of a complex task here.
Everyone likes a discount
This statement is true and me too! Now it wasn’t too much of a problem back then if you discounted an RRP by 20% and ended up at a realistic end price. So other than absorbing the 20% in your pricing structure there wasn’t too much of an issue, everyone expects to be able to promote a product. The problem starts with managing the biggest fish in the water and their expectations. By biggest fish I mean the big national retailers and the national wholesalers (this is by no means an attack on this business’s I am merely pointing out the facts). They have margin expectations for their systems to work and also want to offer a discount to re-sellers and end users. The problem is that as time progressed 20% became 30% and 30% became 40% and higher! So where end prices just dropping? No of course not otherwise none of us would be in business, RRP’s where just rising to make the system work and manage the increasing discount demands. This is what I referred to in my first line as “a mess”. Trade prices (generally set at 33% off the RRP) have ended up as the highest selling prices on the internet never mind many discounting much lower, so the entire structure has become a joke.
Supporting the bricks and mortar retailers
The problem for a brand trying to compete in online and offline is there has to be a reference point on the brands website, this is where the RRP comes back in. I believe that In order to support retailers who are the educators and faces of our industry we should be singing from the same sheet. By this I mean the RRPs you show on your website, again brands who are only focused online don’t have this problem as they don’t support the industry in this way. The issue is the pricing structure for the retailer looks confusing/un-realistic and customers online will only shop when we send out an offer or voucher code to get the value.
This is where we have been as a business until today. It has frustrated me for some time but finding the right approach to deliver everyday value to you the end user and support our retailers/ wholesalers take a bit of time to research and put in to action. Not to mention it’s a bold move so a little faith is required at the same time!
Our changes in conclusion
I think the new pricing structure we have just launched will be the happy medium. We will continue support the retailers and wholesalers we work with on even stronger pricing structures, but with RRP’s that mean something and with trade prices that are trade prices. This will mean across all of our business channels the perceived discount offers from now on will be less aggressive. However I think that if the everyday price is more accessible you will be more likely to use a wider range of our products on a more regular basis. Our objective is to deliver the very high premium grade products you are accustomed to but with credible RRP’s unlike the majority of our branded rivals. However don’t worry, we haven’t forgot that everyone loves a discount, we will still have plenty of promotions both online and offline for end users and retailers. Just don’t expect buy 1 get 1 free to pop up anytime soon.
To finish with a few points on quality
Quality to us is a blend of 4 factors
The best ingredients – a bit like top chefs if you work with the best ingredients half the job is done. From the best quality cold processed whey proteins that taste neutral to creatines that dissolve instantly. Sourcing the best ingredients is the foundation for any RNC product. For us it’s about delivering the results and it starts with the best ingredients. Whey protein are not all the same regardless of what some people may say and as with anything in life you get what you pay for. We will never be the cheapest brand because our products aren’t cheap.
Advanced flavouring – Anyone who says it’s not about the taste should up their expectations. Years ago I would agree as it is ultimately about results, but with the advancements in food technology there is no excuse now to have poor tasting formulations. To develop formulations that taste as good as they perform is a skill and its takes time. I see many companies churning out a plethora of products each week and question the R&D that’s has gone into these. Flavourings are an area where many companies cut costs as they are a big part of the cost, I’ve tried many highly sweet products that if you close your eye don’t taste of much. A little insight for you our pre-workout drink RAW has a blend of 4 different flavours in each formulation to achieve the mask of the awkward base ingredients. The natural Lemon in Raspberry lemonade comes direct from Italy.
Results versus the numbers – 5kg of whey protein for £30 really? I saw this advertised on Facebook the other day as an example, simply Impossible something not right there more like soy protein with a pinch of Whey. My point is it’s not all about the total amount of protein on the label but the availability of the protein and quality are much more important. The whey concentrates we use wipe the floor with many isolates on the market and cost more per KG. Again you get what you pay for.
Packaging – cheap plastic bags, not for me. Don’t get me wrong you can get some nice flexible packaging now but unfortunately many products are put into the cheaper sealed PE bags. I don’t think the barrier properties are that great on these unless they are foil lined, but as these cost more most don’t use them. We prefer to use good quality HDPE containers that have excellent barrier properties in order to protect the sensitive ingredients throughout the shelf life. They cost 5 times as much as the bag approach but worth every penny. They look better too in my opinion. We now use induction heat sealing on all our jars to give a rigid foil sealed closure under the lid.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read this, I hope it shed some light on our industry and gave you a little more confidence in our company. Thanks for your support and feel free to get in contact with any feedback or suggestions.
Keep pushing
Kevin
PS if you got this far here’s a sneaky little discount code for you: 15%* off for the rest of the year KM15 (proper discount :>)
*Valid on all products except offers section and can’t be used with any other code.
