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NEWS DIGEST
SPAR CAMPAIGN URGES SHOPPERS ‘NOT TO RETURN TO THEIR OLD WAYS’
SPAR HAS LAUNCHED A NEW DIGITAL CAMPAIGN CELEBRATINGINDEPENDENT RETAILERS AND ENCOURAGING SHOPPERS TOCONTINUE TO BUY LOCALLY.
Spar has unveiled a digital campaign to encourage consumers to continue supporting local independent retailers. The campaign sees a video featured on Facebook and Instagram and includes advice on how stores can continue to support their local communities. The video has ready been viewed over 2.2 million times and urges customers not to go back to their old ways and explains how Spar retailers and stores are there for communities.
“Family-owned stores on your doorstep or at the end of the phone, doing what they can to help because you’re not just customers, you’re neighbours and these days we’re more of a community than ever and we will keep being there for each other,” it says.
The second part of the campaign features 50 independent Spar retailers from all over the UK and will run until September on all major social media channels.
ZERO FACE MASK FINES ON FIRST WEEKEND
NOT A SINGLE FINE ISSUED FOR FAILING TO WEAR FACECOVERINGS IN STORES IN SCOTLAND ON FIRST WEEKEND AFTERNEW RULES INTRODUCED.
Last Friday saw it become a criminal offence for consumers to enter a Scottish convenience store without a face covering but it has emerged that not a single fine was issued by the police in Scotland over the weekend.
Enforcing the new law is the responsibility of the police, with retailers not obliged to enforce it or refuse entry to shoppers who fail to comply.
It is not clear whether the lack of fines is dues to a tolerant approach by the police on the first weekend or whether it indicates an inability to police the new law in around 5,000 stores spread right across the country.
SCOTMID EXTENDS SNAPPY SNAPPY PARTNERSHIP
Snappy Shopper is launching with Scotmid in Edinburgh following pilots in West Lothian, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire. Around onefifth of Scotland’s population can now take advantage of the service.
Scotmid will offer over 1,000 product lines via the Snappy Shopper app and website which are picked, packed and delivered within an hour.
Delivery slots are made available every 24 hours and booked on a firstcome, first-served basis. The concept gives Scotmid a point of difference over other larger retailers, whose online home delivery services are often booked up days in advance.
Scotmid’s Stewart Dobbie said: “The positive feedback we receive daily from customers in areas where Snappy Shopper is in place supported our decision to expand the offering.”
UK SHOP FOOTFALL CONTINUES TO FREE FALL
UK shop footfall continues to plummet, despite three weeks having passed since non-essential stores could re-open. The latest ShopperTrak data shows that footfall fell by almost 50% year-on-year in the third week with many consumers reluctant to return to physical shopping amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This follows a decline of 53.4% in the previous week.
Slightly more encouragingly, total retail footfall went up 15.3% weekon-week in this period although the much-touted ‘super Saturday’ on 4 July – when pubs and restaurants reopened – turned out to be something of a damp squib with UK footfall up only 9.2% week-on-week.
NEWS LETTER
The NFRN and ACS have raised concerns about the future of the newspaper supply chain in a joint letter to the Minister of State for Media and Data, John Whittingdale MP. The letter outlined areas that need to be addressed for the supply chain to operate more efficiently and effectively, including carriage service charges, requested delivery times, territorial protection and coupon redemption processes.
LIDL EXPANDS
Lidl plans to open four new stores in Scotland over the next 12 months including stores in Rosyth, Finnieston and Robroyston. It has also revealed a list of 28 ‘sites of interest’ across the country.
NISA ’APPY
More than 1,000 retailers have signed up for the new Nisa mobile app since it launched two weeks ago. The app has been downloaded and registered on almost 2,000 devices as retailers make use of both mobile phones and tablets to benefit from the new technology. Around 2,200 standard orders have been placed directly via the app.
BORDERS £1M DEAL
Independent biscuit makerBorder Biscuits has secured£1m of private investmentto expand its operations,helping it to secure a listingwith Morrisons. 182 Morrisonsstores will now carry the newlylaunched Dark ChocolateGinger Biscuit Bars.
ALDI DELIVEROO TRIAL
Aldi is doubling its trial ofa grocery delivery servicewith Deliveroo into 11 furtherstores including five more inLondon as well as stores inManchester and Cambridge.Customers can choose fromaround 200 grocery items,delivered in as little as 30minutes.
SPAR SANITISER
Spar has developed anautomatic hand sanitiser unitto be rolled out to stores inEngland, Scotland and Wales.The sturdy unit and highlightssupport for the NHS. InNorthern Ireland, HendersonGroup has invested over £1min health and safety measuresincluding hands-free sanitiserdispensers to help keephygiene levels as a top priority.
