HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN...

RETAILER INTERVIEW

AVTAR SIDHU?

THINGS ARE FINALLY BEGINNING TO SETTLE DOWN A LITTLE FOR KENILWORTH BUDGENS RETAILERAVTAR SIDHU BUT SALES REMAIN STELLAR, IN NO SMALL PART DUE TO HIS HOME DELIVERY SERVICEAND VAPING OFFER.

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN SID?

It’s been very busy, as you’d imagine, but it’s probably the first week where I’ve started to see things settling down a little. That’s not say volumes have dropped but they’ve levelled off a little. Stock availability is also getting back to much better levels and it all seems to be a bit more under control.

BUT SALES ARE STILL STELLAR?

Oh, absolutely. The numbers we’re doing at the moment are just not even comparable with what we were doing before the pandemic and the storeto-door side of the business is flying.

HOW MANY HOME DELIVERIES ARE YOU DOING?

We probably average between 40 and 50 a day and the basket spend is around £45. It’s pretty incredible really. We use Snappy Shopper – it works really well. We first heard of them at SLR’s #ThinkSmart event years ago, actually. I always thought home delivery was something the convenience sector could really get hold but I suppose coronavirus has simply accelerated that process. The solutions from companies like Snappy Shopper make home delivery a commercially viable option for retailers.

AND YOU’VE PINCHED SOME BUSINESS FROM WAITROSE?

Ha ha! Yes, we’re involved in the local Covid-19 Community Group which is supported by the Local Authority and Council. It basically exists to support everyone in our community that needs help. Part of what they do relates to ensuring people get access to the food and drink they need. They have a small call centre that takes orders from people in the community that need some help. They used to buy the stock from Waitrose but for some reason that didn’t work out, so they moved to us which is fantastic. The call centre takes the orders, passes them on to us and we get them ready. Then they get collected for delivery by the Community Group’s ‘Street Champions’ who look after three or four streets each. It’s a really vital service for vulnerable members of our community.

DO YOU TREAT HOME DELIVERY AS A SEPARATE DIVISION OF THE COMPANY?

Yes, we pretty much do. We have four people who are dedicated to the home delivery side and we have one full-time driver and one part-time driver.

WILL IT OUTLAST CORONAVIRUS?

I believe so. We didn’t get involved in home delivery just because of coronavirus. We saw it as a real, long-term solution to grow the business. Yes, we’ll lose some customers to supermarkets and so on once coronavirus goes, but I think we’ll retain a lot of them. We’re getting orders from 10 and 15 miles away and as long as we keep offering a great range at good prices there’s no reason why they would stop ordering in the longer term.

IS A LONG-TERM APPROACH KEY THEN?

It’s more than key, it’s absolutely mission critical. You’ve always got to be planning ahead and keeping one eye on what the future will bring. Coronavirus has effectively shone a spotlight on our sector and given us a chance to demonstrate our value to communities. The retailers who can turn that into long term growth will be the ones who are responding quickly to changing shopper needs and listening to their customers. You’ve got to keep investing in the future, in terms of both money and time.

SPEAKING OF WHICH…

Yes, we’re doing a mini-refit in a month’s time. I know it seems like a strange time to be doing a refit but what shoppers want from the store has changed dramatically so we want to make sure that the space devoted to each category in-store is in relation to that new demand. I believe this is the perfect time for retailers to invest. Stores are doing well and there’s some money around to move things along and demonstrate to shoppers that you’re investing and improving the store for them all the time.

HOW’S THE VAPING SECTION OF THE STORE DOING?

Again, it’s another category that we’ve long believed will make a huge difference to the longterm future of the store. We built a very large ‘store within a store’ vapeshop with a big range, touch-screen ordering and so on. Coronavirus has meant lots of specialist vapeshops have closed so the big growth we were already seeing has just sky rocketed. We see customers from miles and miles away and it all helps grow sales, footfall and profits.

ANYTHING ELSE IN BIG GROWTH?

Fresh and chilled is just exploding, presumably because customers don’t want to go to supermarkets. But I think coronavirus has given us a huge chance to showcase our range and value to new shoppers who might never have thought of visiting us before. Hopefully now that they’ve been in and seen the store’s standards, the big range, the great value and experienced the customer service they’ll stay with us for the longer term.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE LEGACY OF CORONAVIRUS WILL BE?

In a funny way, it’s taken us back to the values of 50 or 60 years ago. Community spirit, helping each other out and realising what’s actually important. It’s obviously a horrendous situation but in some ways this whole crisis could end up being a good thing for humanity to help us all reset a little – and you’ve got to look for the positives, haven’t you?