A new study shows that while two-thirds of convenience stores have seen sales increase in the last two months, a third have seen a fall in sales with 26% reporting that sales have fallen significantly.
The Covid-19 Impact Survey by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) found that forecourts, city centre stores and those near transport hubs were the most likely to have been negatively affected by the lockdown, with neighbourhood and rural stores likely to have seen an increase in sales.
The ACS survey also highlighted the work that retailers have done to adapt their businesses since the start of the lockdown. Home delivery has been a huge growth area for the sector, with 62% of stores now providing some form of delivery service. Convenience stores now completing over 600,000 deliveries a week.
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “Local shops have done a phenomenal job in adapting their businesses to support their communities during the lockdown. Retailers have introduced social distancing measures to keep customers and colleagues safe on very short notice, and new services like home delivery have ensured that vulnerable people, especially those in rural and isolated areas, can still get essential groceries
“There are however two sides to the story in our sector. There are thousands of stores that have seen business drop significantly because of where they are, so it’s essential that those businesses take advantage of all of the Government support that is available to them.”
NAM Implications:
- Location, location, location…
- i.e. the c-store universe will adjust to the new post Lockdown normal in terms of location…
- …whilst add-on services like delivery will become a permanent part of the repertoire.
- Ready to make appropriate adjustments to your trade strategies?
