The Week In Retail Issue 17

RETAIL

THE WEEK IN

THE ECONOMY

UK ENTERS RECESSION

FIRST SINCE 2009

LOCAL LOCKDOWN PREDICTOR HOW TO GET SOCIAL ANNUAL GREEN LOCKDOWN

RETAILER PROFILE

SCAN AND GO IN ACTION

FIRST JISP RETAILER REACTION

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DELIVERY DRIVERS’ HEROIC ACTIONS Commercial Partner:

Brought to you by:

Issue 17 Wednesday 12 August 2020

ENERGY IS GROWING 6 X FASTER THAN SOFT DRINKS & DELIVERS THE HIGHEST PROFIT PER LITRE FOR RETAILERS*

NEARLY 1 IN 2 DRINKS SOLD IS AN ENERGY DRINK*

FLAVOURS NOW ACCOUNT FOR 30% OF MAINSTREAM ENERGY PRODUCTS*

FLAVOURED ENERGY IS GROWING FASTER THAN ORIGINAL ENERGY*

MERCHANDISE CHILLED, NEXT TO OTHER SLIM CAN ENERGY PRODUCTS! *1: IRI MARKETPLACE, VALUE SALES, MAT TO 19/04/2020, TOTAL SCOTLAND. *2: IRI MARKETPLACE, PPL & AVERAGE MARGINS, MAT TO 19/04/2020, SCOTLAND CONVENIENCE *3: IRI MARKETPLACE, VALUE ESALES, DRINK NOW, MAT TO 19/04/2020, SCOTLAND SYMBOLS & INDEPENDENTS. *4: IRI MARKETPLACE, VALUE SALES, MAINSTREAM DRINK NOW ENERGY EXCL. ORIGINAL, MAT TO 19/04/2020, TOTAL COVERAGE

THE WEEK IN RETAIL

EDITOR’S COMMENT SHARE YOUR NEWS AND VIEWS WITH ME AT ABEGLEY@55NORTH.COM

IF ONLY EVERY RECESSION FELT LIKE THIS...

It’s a strange feeling to be learning today that the UK economy is now officially in recession, recession being technically defined as a fall in GDP in two successive quarters. As a general rule, recessions tend to be exceptionally painful for the vast majority of those in the business community. Think back to 2009 when the global banking system collapsed and disappeared up its own bailout, for instance. But this recession feels different, certainly if you’re a convenience retailer. You may not agree if you run a pub or a restaurant or pretty much any other type of business for that matter. But this recession has been bizarrely kind to local retailers – and maybe that’s just a karma thing.

After all, the sector has been getting it tight for years and has been squeezed from all corners for just about as long as we’ve been producing SLR. Only a year or so ago we were openly pondering whether the convenience retailing sector even had a future. Margins plummeting, competition proliferating like coronavirus in an Aberdeen pub and costs rocketing across the board. What a difference a few months can make.

It goes without saying that we wouldn’t have wished the coronavirus pandemic on anyone – but very, very, very occasionally the world conspires to give our sector a break and a chance to let everyone know that we’re still here for them, just as we always have been – even if they choose not to notice most of the time. It’s given our sector a chance to prove itself invaluable to every community on this island of ours – and make a few quid into the bargain. I’ve spoken to so many retailers who feel guilty about this bizarre sequence of events. And that’s understandable.

Making money out of a crisis is a tough thing to come to terms with for most, I suspect. But at the end of the day, retailers didn’t bring this about; all they did was provide invaluable help and support to their communities when they really needed it. In a sense, the financial gains are merely a byproduct of being there for everyone in their hours and months of need. That’s not something to feel guilty about.

And if recessions must happen, as they inevitably must, then let‘s just hope that more of them feel like this one.

ANTONYBEGLEY ANTONYBEGLEY ANTONYBEGLEY

ANTONY BEGLEY, EDITOR

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 / ISSUE 17 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 3

REENCIT GWHOLEFOODSY

Suppliers to the trade in vegan, vegetarian, Organic and Fairtrade food & drink. Specialists in zero waste, local artisan products, healthy snacks, and chilled food, with over 5000 retail and catering lines.

Greencity is Scotland’s premier ethical wholesaler, our success built on developing local and ethical supply chains for a loyal customer base.

NOURISHING CHANGE SINCE 1978 visit us at www.greencity.coop

Social Media Icons

Social Media Icons tel: 0141 554 7633 2017 Updated Social Media Icons 2017 Updated email: sales@greencity.coop 2017 Updated

/greencitywholefoods @greencitycoop @greencitywholefoods

CONTENTS

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 / ISSUE 17 WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK

6

14

THIS WEEK’S NEWS IN BRIEF

18 HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN… STEVE ARCHER?

Cash faces a ‘death spiral’ and the UK economy moves into recession for the first time in 11 years.

OPINION: JOHN LEE As the UK moves into recession, the post-coronavirus economy will be based on the small and local, says SGF’s Head of Public Affairs.

The new Jisp app is proving a hit with both Steve and his customers.

8 COVID-19 UPDATE

12 BARCLAYCARD REPORT: JULY

25 OUT THE BOX: ANNUAL GREEN LOCKDOWN

10 COVID HOTSPOT TRACKER

FIND OUT WHICH ENGLISH REGIONS ARE MOST AT RISK OF A LOCAL LOCKDOWN.

CONSUMER SPENDING SEES ITS SMALLEST DECLINE SINCE LOCKDOWN STARTS.

A RADICAL IDEA TO GIVE THE PLANET A REGULAR CHANCE TO RECOVER.

17 PICKS OF THE WEEK

27 BEFORE YOU GO...

11 HOME DELIVERY HEROES

18 A RETAILER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA

TWO JJ FOODSERVICE DRIVERS STEP UP AT A CRASH SCENE.

TWITTER.COM/SLRMAG

THE GREGGS MARKETING DEPARTMENT

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT NEEDN’T BE

BAGS ITS BEST PR COUP YET AND WE MEET

COMPLICATED OR TIME CONSUMING.

THE ‘CHILLEST GUY IN RETAIL’.

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SLRMAG

WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 / ISSUE 17 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 5

NEWS DIGEST

THIS WEEK’S NEWS FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/

LIDL UK APP Lidl is now introducing its ‘Lidl Plus’ mobile app to stores in the UK following the introduction of the app in the Republic of Ireland last month.

CASH

LOOMIS REDUNDANCIES LEAVE CASH FACING ‘DEATH SPIRAL‘

The mobile payment option

TRADE UNION GMB IS WARNING THAT THE UK CASH INDUSTRY IS

allows customers to pay in-app

FACING A ‘DEATH SPIRAL’ AS LOOMIS ANNOUNCES MORE THAN 300

and collect loyalty points, whilst

REDUNDANCIES.

granting access to partner offers.

FAIRER DELIVERIES The Scottish Government launched a new website this week to combat “shocking” charges for deliveries to rural and island communities. The site offers a parcel delivery pricing map to help residents find the best deals from a number of delivery companies including DPD, UPS, TNT, Parcelforce, MyHermes and

The UK cash industry faces a “death spiral”, according to the GMB union, after the news of 312 redundancies at cash-in-transit security and ATM servicing company Loomis.

The Nottingham-based UK arm of Loomis AB, which is headquartered in Stockholm, announced the jobs across the country – over a fifth of its UK workforce – will go from next month.

Loomis provides service to thousands of ATMs and stores across the UK for clients including Tesco.

The news comes after G4S announced a restructure last month

that would put 1,150 jobs at risk, mostly among cash handlers following reductions in cash payments during the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdown.

Roger Jenkins, GMB National Officer, said: “Our country’s cash infrastructure is facing a death spiral.

The collapse of the cash industry could have a terrible impact on the elderly and most vulnerable and wreak havoc on a whole host of businesses that rely on cash transactions. There is a real risk of the UK sleepwalking into a cashless society.”

Menzies.

NEW ZEALAND COVID CASES New Zealand has confirmed its first cases of Covid-19 outside managed isolation for the first time in 102 days.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern scheduled an impromptu press conference with virtually no notice to announce that four new cases have been identified.

SPAR LAUNCHES £30K COMMUNITY CASHBACK Spar Scotland has launched its first Community Cashback campaign, with over £30,000 to give away to community groups and charities around the country. Customers, store staff and HQ employees can nominate a local charity or community group to win cash. There are 21 cash prizes up for grabs, ranging from £800 to £2,000.

The campaign is running in all 109 CJ Lang company-owned Spar stores, with the winning groups being

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announced in November. It is being supported with in-store POS, social media, online website content and Spar Live radio.

Colin McLean, CEO of Spar Scotland, said: “During the pandemic local community groups and charities have suffered as they rely so much on donations from the general public. We hope a number of organisations will benefit from a share of the Community Cashback campaign.”

NEWS DIGEST

THIS WEEK’S NEWS FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/

ATHLETICS SUPPORT

ECONOMY

UK IN RECESSION FOR FIRST TIME IN 11 YEARS

Spar is to honour its agreement to support the rescheduled British Athletics

LOCKDOWN HAS CAUSED THE BIGGEST SLUMP ON RECORD WITH

Championships, which will be

THE COUNTRY NOW OFFICIALLY IN RECESSION.

held on 4-5 September behind closed doors in Manchester.

The UK economy suffered its biggest slump on record – 20.4% – between April and June compared with the first quarter of the year, as the Covid-19 lockdown pushed the country officially into recession.

Defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline, the recession is the first since 2009’s banking collapse.

Commenting on the grim news, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the

government was “grappling with something that is unprecedented”.

There are some positive signs however, with Office for National Statistics data showing that the economy bounced back in June, growing by 8.7% month-on-month, after month-on-month growth of 1.8% in May. Gross Domestic Product for June, however, remained a sixth below the pre-coronavirus level in February.

The support is part of a threeyear sponsorship deal signed with British Athletics in 2018.

PLASTIC BAG CALLS NFRN has welcomed new statistics from the government that show that sales of plastic carrier bags have fallen by 95% since the carrier bag levy was introduced, but has called on the government to follow through with its promise to extend the scheme to independent retailers in England.

DON’T WASTE SAVINGS

JULY 2020 SALES GROWTH OUTSTRIPS JULY 2019 The latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for July 2020 has revealed that total UK retail sales increased by 3.2%, compared with sales growth of 0.5% in July 2019.

This is the second consecutive month of growth since the start of the pandemic.

Zero Waste Scotland is urging local retailers to take

Retail sales grew 4.3% on a like-forlike basis from July 2019, when they had increased 0.3% from the preceding year. This figure excludes temporarily closed stores but includes online sales.

Over the three months to July, food sales increased 8.2% on a like-for-like basis and 6.1% on a total basis.

advantage of adaptations to its Food Waste Reduction Business Support that now provides free online virtual assessments. Almost 280 businesses have already been supported with typical annual cost savings of around £5,000.

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NEWS SPECIAL

COVID-19 UPDATE FOR ALL THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/

Loans totalling £5.9bn has

FACE VISOR ADVICE UPDATED IN SCOTLAND

been lent to wholesale and

SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER NICOLA STURGEON LAST WEEK

retail businesses under the

ANNOUNCED THAT FACE VISORS WORN ON THEIR OWN DO NOT

Bounce Bank Loans Scheme,

PROVIDE “SUFFICIENT PROTECTION” SO IF VISORS ARE WORN,

according to new data from

THEY MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY ANOTHER TYPE OF COVERING.

LENDING HITS £8BN

the British Business Bank. A further £2.1bn in loans has been made to wholesale and retail businesses under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme.

MILLION MEALS Salad and vegetable producer G’s has diverted more than 450 tonnes of surplus veg to food charity FareShare, enough to create more than one million meals for

Nicola Sturgeon updated the Scottish Government’s advice on face visors on Friday, stating that “based on the latest scientific evidence” the government is “not convinced that a face visor on its own provides sufficient protection – to the wearer or to others“.

Consequently, the official advice from Saturday 8 August was that, if a visor is worn, it must be accompanied by another type of face covering.

The First Minister made the announcement after confirming that an additional 43 positive cases were

confirmed in Scotland last Thursday, representing 0.9% of the people who were newly tested and taking the total number of cases in Scotland to 18,890.

She also confirmed that the number of positive cases confirmed as part of the new cluster of Covid-19 cases in Aberdeen had risen by 22 to 101.

Among those were two players from Aberdeen Football Club.

Sturgeon said that the government now intended to make it mandatory from this Friday for a range of settings to collect customer details.

vulnerable people. Since partnering with FareShare four years ago, five G’s sites are

CALLS FOR CONTACTLESS INCREASE

now regularly diverting surplus fresh food to communities who need it most.

NI COVERS UP The Northern Ireland Executive joined the rest of the UK in making face coverings mandatory in-store from Monday. The announcement was made last week and was supported by a public information campaign entitled ‘Wear One For Everyone’.

Around one in three shoppers in UK would be keen to see a further increase in the £45 contactless spending limit, with 40% of that group wanting the limit to be raised to £100.

The survey, carried out by YouGov among more than 2,000 people, found that 39% of respondents wanted retailers to remove minimum spend limits.

Home delivery and click and collect was also covered by the survey, with 42% of respondents calling for a greater range of delivery options with

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more time slots and 31% seeking more click & collect options. Some 30% would like more shop staff available to help process transactions.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has been a massive accelerator and has led to behavioural change among consumers that normally would take years,” says Andrew Quartermaine,” Vice President, Merchant Solutions at ACI Worldwide, who commissioned the survey. “As shopping habits have changed, so have the attitudes toward alternative payments.”

NEWS SPECIAL

COVID-19 UPDATE FOR ALL THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/

GOVERNMENT URGES SHOPPERS TO GO LOCAL

ASDA TRIALS TROLLEY WASH

THE UK GOVERNMENT IS URGING CONSUMERS TO SHOP LOCALLY THIS WEEK AS PART ITS ‘ENJOY SUMMER SAFELY’ CAMPAIGN TO HELP RETAILERS REBUILD AFTER CORONAVIRUS.

Vodafone, Boots, Carex, O2, Dove, McDonald’s and Mastercard.

The government believes that encouraging more people to spend locally is a key driver in boosting the economy, protecting jobs and preserving communities. Shopping locally also has the added bonus of offering a number of environmental benefits.

Business secretary Alok Sharma said: “Business owners have done an incredible job so far to welcome shoppers back safely, and I hope people across the country will do their bit this week to help our high streets bounce back to protect jobs and support local communities.“

TWO THIRDS ‘NERVOUS ABOUT EATING OUT’ Two thirds of consumers (63%) remain nervous about the idea of eating out, despite restrictions easing, according to the latest shopper insight from IGD. The newest report from the ‘Shoppers of Our Time’ research, a series following 30 households through Covid-19 and beyond, explores the changing attitudes towards eating out and shopping post-lockdown.

Concerns surrounding the health and safety aspects of eating out are the biggest barrier for nervous diners, with 81% saying they’ll need to be confident about hygiene measures in restaurants before they consider this option.

Among those who are nervous about eating out, 71% say they will wait a few weeks before going to a restaurant.

Asda has become the first UK supermarket to trial a permanent ‘trolley wash’. Trolleys are sanitised in 10-15 seconds and the process eliminates 99.99% of known bacteria, viruses and pollutants.

TECH SOLUTIONS

T

he UK Government launched a multichannel six-day campaign on Monday urging UK shoppers to use local businesses to help local retailers and other businesses rebuild after the traumas of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ‘Shop Local Week’ drive runs until Sunday and is part of the government’s wider ’Enjoy Summer Safely’ campaign that is geared to encouraging consumers back to something much closer to a prepandemic normality, while adhering to safety guidelines.

The Enjoy Summer Safely campaign is active across TV, radio, online and outdoor advertising and is backed by several large brands including

The unit, at Asda’s Morley store, uses an electrostatically charged mist to coat trolleys in fine particles containing an anti-microbial solution – leaving them clean and dry to the touch in seconds.

The unit is positioned to allow staff to pass nests of trolleys through and put them straight back into the bay, ready for use. The system was developed

by UK company The WasteCare Group.

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COVID-19 SPECIAL

COVID HOTSPOT TRACKER BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM

MORE ‘LOCAL LOCKDOWNS’ ON THE HORIZON? THE BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM HAS PUBLISHED ITS LATEST COVID HOTSPOT TRACKER USING DATA FROM PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND, OFFERING AN UP-TO-DATE PICTURE OF THE REGIONS IN ENGLAND

T

AND OFFERING SOME SENSE OF THE RISK OF A LOCAL LOCKDOWN IN ANY SPECIFIC AREAS.

he British Retail Consortium has published the latest version of its Covid Hotspot Tracker, covering the week from 27 July. The analysis is produced using data available via Public Health England (PHE) and is sourced from PHE’s Second Generation Surveillance System. Data is only currently available for England and its regions.

This report uses three measures to give some sense of the risk of a local lockdown in any one area: Currently measures included are: NEW CASES: TOTAL NEW CASES DIAGNOSED THAT WEEK.

WEEK-ON-WEEK (WOW) VARIANCE: THE WEEK-ON-WEEK CHANGE BETWEEN THE CURRENT WEEK AND PRIOR WEEK. ABSOLUTE WOW VARIANCE: THE DIFFERENCE IN CASE NUMBERS BETWEEN THE CURRENT AND PRIOR WEEK. CURRENT PERIOD: WEEK 31, STARTING 27 JULY. PRIOR PERIOD: WEEK 30, STARTING THE 20 JULY.

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View new case data as an interactive map Additional sub-region data is available by emailing insight@brc.org.uk

VIDEO SPECIAL

HOME DELIVERY TAKES A DISTURBING TURN JJ FOODSERVICE

HOME DELIVERY HEROES ON WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A NORMAL DAY OF DELIVERING GROCERIES TO CUSTOMERS’ HOMES, TWO JJ FOODSERVICE DRIVERS ENDED UP HELPING PREVENT A POTENTIALLY FATAL ROAD ACCIDENT.

L

ast week saw what should have been a routine day for two home delivery drivers for JJ Foodservice turn into a dramatic episode as they ended up helping prevent a potentially fatal road accident after a driver’s brakes failed on a busy motorway in Leicester.

On their way to delivering groceries to homes in the area, Florin Wolf (pictured left) and Daniel Samoluk (pictured right) were shocked to see the front wheel of the motorist in front of them shearing off, tearing the brake cables and leaving the driver unable to stop. Controlling the vehicle with just three wheels, the driver managed to deliberately crash the car into bushes at the side of the road.

Daniel and Florin quickly stopped and leapt out of their van to help, blocking traffic to keep the driver safe and even helping him get his wheel back!

The daughter of the motorist then put an appeal out on Facebook to track down the drivers and thank them for their bravery. She eventually found them and extended her gratitude.

Commenting on the incident, JJ Foodservice Chief Executive Officer Mustafa Kiamil said: “We are so proud of our drivers.”

He added: “Florin and Daniel are a great demonstration of the first-class service we always strive for at JJ Foodservice.”

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RESEARCH

CONSUMER SPENDING - JULY BARCLAYCARD CONSUMER SPENDING REPORT

LOCAL SHOPPING UP 43% AS CONSUMER SPENDING FLATTENS OUT THE LATEST MONTHLY BARCLAYCARD’S CONSUMER SPENDING REPORT FOUND THAT SPENDING DECLINED BY JUST 2.6% IN JULY, THE SMALLEST FALL SINCE LOCKDOWN BEGAN – AND SHOPPING LOCAL SAW ANOTHER HUGE INCREASE OF OVER 43%.

J

BY ANTONY BEGLEY

uly saw a continued improvement in consumer spending, thanks in part to the hot weather and in part to the further easing of lockdown restrictions, according to the latest Barclaycard’s Consumer Spending Report. Total consumer spending declined just 2.6% year-on-year in July, the smallest fall since lockdown.

Shopping locally was a major contributor to this recovery, with food and drink specialist stores – including off licences, greengrocers, and independent convenience stores – up 43.3% and takeaway and fast food up by 20.4%. These figures are a reflection of 45% of Brits choosing to support nearby businesses, with a fifth (20%) visiting local stores more often with 19% spending more than usual.

The Report has offered valuable insight since the start of the year and is exceptionally robust as

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RESEARCH

CONSUMER SPENDING - JULY BARCLAYCARD CONSUMER SPENDING REPORT

Barclaycard sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions which provides the company with unique insight into UK consumer spending.

Spending on essential items grew 3.2% year-on-year in July, largely driven by supermarket shopping, which rose by 15%, helping to offset a continued significant drop in fuel spend of 22%.

While spending on non-essential items declined by 4.7%, this was actually a solid improvement from the 22.3% drop seen in June.

Restaurants, bars and pubs also saw some positive signs, relatively speaking, with overall declines of 64.2% and 43%.

While these look like fairly disastrous year-on-year declines, they are marked improvements on June’s figures when the declines were 86% and 93.0% respectively.

In good news for the hospitality sector, one in three consumers (31%) is looking to support the industry where they can. Of this group, 36% are now dining at restaurants, 28% are going out for drinks and 34% intend on taking advantage of initiatives like ‘Eat Out to Help Out’.

A positive sign for high street retailers can also be seen in the survey’s finding that close to four in 10 (37%) UK adults are now unconcerned about visiting shops. Perhaps unexpectedly, shoppers aged over 55 are most likely to say they aren’t concerned, with 18-34-year-olds the least likely to feel this way. Of those who are comfortable heading in-store, 46% are reassured by the requirement to wear face coverings and 45% by the presence of antibacterial hand gel at many retail entrances.

Meanwhile, overall travel spend fell by 60.4% as a boost in staycation spending failed to offset continued restrictions on, and consumer reservations about, international travel. Nearly one in six (58%) Brits is concerned about travelling overseas, and half (50%) are hesitant to use public transport.

Brits are, however, feeling more positive about their personal finances, with confidence in household finances (72%) and ability to spend on non-essential items (58%) returning to levels not seen in the UK since January 2020. Nonetheless, a feeling of cautiousness remains, as trust in the UK economy remains low at 23%, and job security at 43%.

Q The consumer confidence survey cited above was carried out between 24 July and 27 July 2020 by Longitude Research on behalf of Barclaycard among 2,001 respondents providing a representative sample of UK consumers by age, gender, region, and income group.

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RETAILER PROFILE

STEVE ARCHER PREMIER HIGHTOWN CONVENIENCE STORE, CONGLETON

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN...

STEVE ARCHER?

THIS WEEK, WE CATCH UP WITH CHESHIRE RETAILER STEVE ARCHER, THE FIRST RETAILER TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW JISP APP, TO FIND OUT HOW IT’S WORKING IN-STORE.

HOW’S YOUR WEEK BEEN, STEVE? It’s been quite positive, mainly because we’re finally starting to see the local area come back to life. We have a big mill and a manufacturing plant near us, as well as a school, a railway station and offices and so on but they’ve all been empty since lockdown. It’s only now that we’re starting to see them start to fill up again, so that should help footfall.

HAS LOCKDOWN BEEN DIFFICULT FOR YOU THEN? Well, it’s definitely been challenging but at a sales level we can’t complain. From March to May our sales were up 53% on the same period last year, so the store’s been doing well. We’re quite significantly down on footfall but our sales are way up, as is basket spend. It’s great to see the local area coming back to life though. Pre-coronavirus, for example, we would see 30 or 40 commuters in the store in the morning. We have a little coffee and snack bar in the shop, and it was really popular. At lunch we would get countless workies, office staff and school kids. Coronavirus put a prompt end to that, but I hope that things are starting to improve now.

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE THE FIRST RETAILER TO LAUNCH THE JISP APP? I’m on the Business Development Committee of the NFRN so I became aware of Jisp quite early on and I really liked the look of it, so when they were looking for stores to trial it I was more than happy to do so.

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RETAILER PROFILE

STEVE ARCHER PREMIER HIGHTOWN CONVENIENCE STORE, CONGLETON

WHAT DOES JISP DO FOR YOU? The thing I liked about it, apart from the fantastic pricing, was that it didn’t involve much work at all for the retailer. It allowed me to set up a home delivery service very quickly, a click and collect service and a scan and go service pretty much overnight with a minimum of fuss.

WERE YOU DOING HOME DELIVERY BEFORE YOU STARTED WITH JISP? We’ve long done home news delivery. When coronavirus kicked in we picked up over 60 new accounts in a matter of days with no marketing.

Probably 30% of my demographic is over-60s and it’s a reasonably affluent area. We now deliver to about 250 customers a day and we realised that we might as well start trying to tack on deliveries of other products. It was a pretty basic offer but it was growing. Jisp let us take home delivery to the next level, as well as adding a click and collect service. We’ve also recently added the scan and go solution and when footfall starts to get back to more normal levels I can see that being very popular. It also lets me compete with the likes of Sainsbury’s by offering what I think is an even better solution.

HOW EASY WAS SET JISP UP? You have to remember that I was a trial store, a bit of a guinea pig. So when we first set it up we had to provide Jisp with a list of the products we wanted to sell via home delivery or click and collect. We settled on about 500 to 600 lines and we had to

provide Jisp with the barcodes and prices. That took me – or to be more accurate, my wife! – a day or so, then Jisp added pack shots, pack sizes and so on. It was done in a couple of days. Now Jisp has its own product file and new retailers joining can literally be up and selling within an hour. All retailers have to do is choose the products they want from the file Jisp hold and they’re off and running. As the guinea pig, it took us a little bit longer but it was no problem at all.

HOW DID IT WORK WITH SCAN AND GO? Obviously with scan and go you need every product in your store to be in the app but Jisp did a great job of sorting that out by basically getting hold of my PLOF, the Premier one, and adding it into the system so that every product I stock will scan on the app. They hold all the product photographs, pack sizes, barcodes and the like so it’s very slick and it’s one of the things that makes working with them a pleasure. It’s all very intuitive and quick and easy to use, even for someone like me who’s not exactly a techie!

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RETAILER PROFILE

STEVE ARCHER PREMIER HIGHTOWN CONVENIENCE STORE, CONGLETON

DOES THE APP NEED MUCH WORK ON AN ONGOING BASIS?

HAVE YOU BEEN RUNNING THE WEEKLY QUIZZES ON THE APP?

No, it runs merrily along and powers home delivery, click and collect and scan and go.

We’ve recently been trying out the promotions capabilities though, to communicate the best of our three-weekly Premier promotions. Again, Jisp pulls them all into the back office and all I have to do is click the promotions I want to use on the app and they appear. It only costs £1 a week but I can see that being a powerful tool.

Yes, we run them every Sunday and they are surprisingly popular. We offer some little prizes, but I think shoppers just do it because they like the quiz! It’s really popular and generates engagement with the store and again, we don’t have to do anything. Jisp do it all for us.

HOW ARE THE HOME DELIVERY AND CLICK AND COLLECT SERVICES PERFORMING? We saw an instant impact with the home delivery side, adding around 20 deliveries a week in no time. It’s still growing but it will take time until things get back to something a little more normal.

We’re at that stage where we need to grow volume so that we can commit to taking on a full-time driver and perhaps get a little van. Click and collect has also been hugely popular. The fact that customers can pay at the till with cash or by card, or they can even pay via the Jisp app, means that they can have as much or as little interaction with staff as they want. We get a lot of mums with screaming kids who love it because they get a message telling them when to collect and they can be literally in and back out in just a few seconds.

AND NO SERVICE CHARGE ON PAYMENTS? That’s right. One of the nicer touches with Jisp is that they don’t pass the service charges on for payments made through the app, so it suits us fine if shoppers prefer to pay through the app. We do maybe 300 to 350 credit or debit card transaction a day in the store and all those little charges certainly add up.

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SO IT’S BEEN A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE ALL ROUND? Very much so. It’s obviously a very difficult time to be doing new things but I think Jisp can help us be ready for when life returns to normal. I think the scan and go technology is a real game-changer and when footfall returns it will be massive asset for us. I can only see the delivery and click and collect side growing too. The team at Jisp are just great to work with too. Very responsive and proactive and friendly and nothing is too much effort.

AND THE STORE IS STILL DOING WELL GENERALLY? We’ve been up by more than 50% on last year’s numbers and we’ve got a really good sales mix, so margins are decent. We did 23.7% GP last year and I expect that to grow this year. We’re not over reliant on tobacco, which is less than 20% of the turnover and we do well in categories like fresh and chilled, which is about 15% of sales, newspapers (10-12%) and we’ve seen alcohol grow strongly in the last few months. It means we’re not over reliant on very low margin categories.

GOOD TIMES AHEAD THEN? I certainly hope so! If we can grow our footfall as the area returns to normal but retain that basket spend and leverage everything that Jisp allows us to offer our customers – and the sun keeps shining – there could be a decent few months ahead of us.

Click & Collect, Home Delivery Activate your store within 1 hour.

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RETAILER SUPPORT

USING SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVELY AMY WILLIAMS, HEAD OF DIGITAL, HANOVER COMMUNICATIONS

SOCIAL MEDIA: A RETAILER’S GUIDE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO GROW REACH, FOOTFALL AND SALES IS MORE VITAL THAN EVER FOR LOCAL RETAILERS DURING THE PANDEMIC, AND GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT

I

NEEDN’T BE COMPLICATED OR TIME-CONSUMING, SAYS HANOVER COMMUNICATIONS’ AMY WILLIAMS.

n a time of long supermarket queues and empty shelves, social media is awash with people saying they’ve found products they didn’t know were available in locations they wouldn’t previously have tried looking for them.

Consumer behaviour is much changed, and retailers need to better communicate to potential customers and shout about how they are the perfect location for a quick-and-easy visit.

Social media is ideal for this, so here we will look at the What, When, Why and How for retailers thinking about using social media to increase their reach, footfall and sales.

WHY? Social media allows retailers to communicate with customers and suppliers quickly, easily and without a high price tag.

Different channels have different purposes and can serve retailers in varying ways.

We know many independent retailers use Twitter to engage with their peers or suppliers. We also know retailers, like @PremierSinghs in Sheffield, who use Twitter brilliantly to push offers to customers. The key is to understand why you want to use it, and act accordingly.

Facebook, on the other hand, is about building communities and engagement.

Customers are more likely to return if they see their store adding value to their local community, like Amrit Pahal at Nisa Local Walsall. Retailers can keep shoppers updated on changes in store and show they care by letting their personality shine through, to build trust and familiarity.

18 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 17 / WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020

TOP FOUR TIPS FOR RETAILERS TO GET THE MOST FROM SOCIAL MEDIA: Q Take advantage of content posted by suppliers to promote new offers and products in store Q Embrace social media as a platform for engaging with customers by responding to comments, handling feedback and keeping an open line of communication Q Communicate changes made in store to reassure customers that retailers are maintaining a safe and supportive environment Q Use analytics provided by Facebook and Twitter to understand the online audience and know when the page and its content is the most effective.

A Facebook business page, specifically, allows a retailer to access and make use of specific features that are ideal for their business activities – including opening hours, chat function, contact details and page moderation.

WHAT? Retailers should take advantage of supplier content, including infographics, videos and images of new products, and share these via their own channels. We have seen retailers promote new products to customers by making their own tongue-in-

RETAILER SUPPORT

USING SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVELY AMY WILLIAMS, HEAD OF DIGITAL, HANOVER COMMUNICATIONS

cheek or informative videos; tailored content like this adds a personal touch to retailers’ social media pages and keeps audiences engaged.

Competitions work well on Facebook to expand reach, by getting shoppers to ‘share’ or ‘comment’ on posts to enter.

Twitter tends to be a faster platform. Users expect a little more content, as the Twitter timeline moves faster. Users also expect Twitter to be the place to get real-time updates and to potentially engage in two-way dialogue. For example, a user may want to quickly check if a store stocks a product, turning to Twitter using the @ handle to engage with a retailer.

happens, the more likely it is customers will continue to shop in their stores post-pandemic.

Retailers should be responsive to customers and pay attention to the range of offers and products they promote to ensure they are sharing a variety to reach different types of customers. Of course, retailers can use their own sales data to determine who their customers are and which products they’re most likely to respond to, and tailoring posts to suit their customer base will make their Twitter page more relevant and useful.

WHEN?

Social media allows retailers to communicate with customers quickly, easily and without a high price tag. Paid promotion can be used on Twitter with careful targeting (using postcode, location and demographic targeting to name a few) to promote key moments such as new products or launches or competitions. However, we always advise clients and retailers to use paid promotion sparingly and when appropriate to avoid ‘spamming’ followers or sharing content with people to whom it is not relevant.

Promoting posts or activity via ‘Paid For’ campaigns on Facebook can help to expand the reach of the page. Putting just a small amount of money (as little as £5) into ‘boosting’ posts can go a long way on Facebook, and it also allows direct and smart targeting using factors such as location, postcode, interests, gender, age or other page connections. Creating an audience to target is as simple as selecting options from a drop-down menu.

In the short-term this can help to achieve specific goals, and this will in turn boost organic page and post performance.

In the longer term, building paid support into any strategy can help to grow business, reach specific communities and ensure a steady level of engagement.

Facebook doesn’t need to be updated as frequently as other social channels to perform effectively. If using Facebook primarily to share organic content (content that isn’t promoted or paid for), then reach will be relatively limited, and retailers need to ensure the community they build is engaged. Therefore, producing strong content and using it sparingly is more likely to ensure potential shoppers see it.

By using analytics, retailers can schedule and post content when users are most likely to see it, and ensure the type of content (for example, short posts with hashtags and videos or photographs) is one that will land best with the community.

If retailers are using Twitter in a customer-facing manner, we recommend they look to post as often as is needed to share up-to-date and timely information on the channel, as well as being ‘available’ to customers when possible to ensure they feel they can engage with them.

HOW? We’ve seen retailers making incredible changes in-store such as fitting shields over the counter, rationing essential products so there is enough to go around, prioritising vulnerable people by offering home delivery and limiting the number of shoppers allowed in store. These changes can be communicated easily through social media and go a long way to developing a loyal customer base. Retailers can position themselves as the pillars of the community by providing regular updates and messages of good faith; the more this

…AND FOR HOW MUCH?

Q Hanover Communications is an award-winning communications consultancy that advises on building recognition and enhancing reputation. It has particular expertise in FMCG and retail.

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 / ISSUE 17 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 19

New Rich Tobacco JUULpods are now available.

Rich Tobacco JUULpods deliver the rich flavour of Virginia tobacco with earthy notes and a smooth finish.

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WARNING: This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance.

NOW THAT’S A GOOD IDEA…

OUT THE BOX ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL LOCKDOWN

ANNUAL GREEN LOCKDOWN MONTH, ANYONE? A BUSINESS WASTE FIRM IS CALLING FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL LOCKDOWN PERIOD FOR ONE MONTH OF EVERY YEAR MOVING FORWARD TO GIVE THE PLANET A REGULAR OPPORTUNITY TO RECOVER.

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?

WOULD IT INVOLVE SOCIAL DISTANCING?

An annual month-long environmental lockdown.

No. As the environmental lockdown won’t be for medical or personal safety purposes there would be fewer restrictions on seeing and being in close contact with loved ones, as the primary focus will be to globally restrict movement and waste.

A WHAT? A company called BusinessWaste.co.uk is calling for the UK Government to consider introducing a special one-month environmental lockdown period every year for the sake of the planet.

HOW WOULD THAT WORK? People would be asked to stay and work from home, and travel restrictions would be introduced worldwide.

WHAT’S THE LOGIC? The company cites an array of statistics a demonstrating that the human impact on the planet has been massively reduced since the introduction of lockdown back in March. It argues that giving the planet an annual chance to recover in this way would be an eminently sensible idea.

STATISTICS LIKE? Global carbon dioxide emissions for 2020 are expected to fall by up to 8% due to global shutdowns. In the UK, the amount of household recycling being processed has increased by 30% during the lockdown period, including an 80% increase in plastic recycling in May. Further afield, people living in Northern India were apparently able to see the Himalayan mountains for the first time in their lifetimes, due to the drop in air pollution because of the country’s lockdown measures.

WHAT ARE BUSINESSWASTE.CO.UK SAYING? Company spokesman Mark Hall says: “The Covid-19 global pandemic has been challenging for everyone around the world, but if we can take anything positive from it, it has to be the enormous drop in pollution levels around the world.

We’ve had wildlife returning to populated areas, increased recycling, fewer emissions from vehicles – and all we had to do was stay at home.

“Lockdowns all over the world have helped to encourage the environment to thrive, so having an annual lockdown period would have huge benefits for the planet. We could promote it as a ‘work from home month’ type thing, where businesses shut up shop and people get to spend time at home with their families. This will be beneficial for both the planet and the mental health of workers who feel they don’t spend enough time at home.

“We would still need to make sure that for the other 11 months we are still doing as much as we can for the environment – such as reducing emissions and increasing recycling – but if the last few months are anything to go by, nature can bounce back if we give it a chance.”

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 / ISSUE 17 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 21

Generate additional revenue with high quality face masks As face masks become mandatory in a lot of settings across the country, smart retailers are turning to Funky Face Mask to offer high-quality, low-cost face masks to their customers and staff.

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Order from 100 to 100,000+ masks Exclusive designs for your business at no extra cost 3 different products available all offering superior protection and style Retail packs available, ideal for point of sale purchase Fast delivery CE Marked Available as individual or multi packs Visit www.funkyfacemask.co.uk/retail or email sales@funkyfacemask.co.uk to get a quote or place your order

NPD AND MEDIA

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national TV and the return

back in the UK this month

new variant replicates the taste

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supporting campaign. The lines

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sprays, hand wash, soap, hand

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Quorn Crispy Nuggets, as part

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of a £5m investment for 2020.

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FREDDO EXPANDS

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CRUSHBALL CIGARILLO

Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo

Echo Falls has unveiled its

Imperial Tobacco launched a

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new JPS Players Crushball

in two new variants: a Space

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series and a White variant, with

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in Blueberry & Hibiscus,

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the filter and comes in packs

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of 10.

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 / ISSUE 17 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 23

OPINION

ECONOMIC RECOVERY JOHN LEE, HEAD OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SGF

MORE HASTE, LESS SPEED

THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO THE RECENT ECONOMIC ADVISORY GROUP REPORT ON CHARTING A WAY FORWARD POST-PANDEMIC WAS CERTAINLY SPEEDY, BUT THAT’S ABOUT THE ONLY

T

POSITIVE COMMENT THAT CAN BE MADE ABOUT IT, SAYS JOHN LEE.

he slogan ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ was at the front and centre of Bill Clinton’s successful campaigns for the US presidency in the 1990s. That message cut to the heart of the matter: businesses and the jobs they provide are of fundamental importance to everyone and are the cornerstones of national prosperity.

Unfortunately the economy is always at risk of a severe shock to the system – the financial crisis of 2007/8 being a classic example – and there is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic is yet another of these shocks, potentially the most severe we have ever seen.

To give credit where its due, the Scottish (and the UK) government moved quickly to put a range of business support measures in place; these measures now amount to some £50bn worth of support.

The Scottish government also realised that new approaches to managing the economy would be required and, with commendable speed, set up an expert panel to analyse the impact of Covid-19 on the

24 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 17 / WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020

economy and chart a way forward. The subsequent report from the Economic Advisory Group (EAG) contained a series of recommendations which had a strong focus on a ‘green recovery’. The report was criticised by some as being insufficiently bold and underestimating the size of the fiscal stimulus which would be actually required to deal with the Covid-19 shock.

The Scottish government has now published its response to the EAG report. Again, this was done with a speed that deserves a lot of praise. Unfortunately, that is where the praise begins and ends. Much of the report is essentially a list of what the Scottish government is currently doing. While there is surely some great stuff going on, the list also reveals a bewildering range of programmes, projects, frameworks, strategies, plans, schemes, and funding streams. The modern economy is a complex entity and it is probably inevitable that the policy landscape will also be a complex one. However, not only is it massively challenging to try to map out this landscape and

OPINION

ECONOMIC RECOVERY JOHN LEE, HEAD OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SGF

make sense of it but there must surely be a significant danger of a lack of joinedup activity, duplication, and built-in inefficiencies.

The main thrust of the government response is that there will be a key focus on jobs: both sustaining jobs and creating jobs. There is also an explicit recognition that it is business which will deliver the economic recovery.

This cannot be argued with, but one thing that is missing – from a convenience retailing point of view – is that too often government policy (from both Holyrood and Westminster) can make things worse. A good starting point for recovery would be to ensure an end to policy and legislation which piles more unnecessary cost and restrictions on retailers.

Perhaps the elephant(s) in the room as far as both the original ERG report and the response are concerned are the real constraints on government: the Scottish government is not permitted to borrow money to invest in the kind of ‘fiscal stimulus’ which the scale of the pandemic demands. Meanwhile Westminster is constrained by the fact that UK national debt now equates to more than 100% of GDP and is creeping slowly towards an eye-watering £3tn.

The economic winter might be coming but it seems certain that the post-coronavirus economy will be based on the small and local. There is no doubt that convenience retailing can benefit from this.

“The economic winter might be coming but it seems certain that the post-coronavirus economy will be based on the small and local.”

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 / ISSUE 17 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 25

Learn more at tomra.com/uk

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BEFORE YOU GO...

VIDEOS OF THE WEEK GREGGS BAG / LUCOZADE ENERGY

THE MARKETING TEAM AT GREGGS SEEM TO

IF IT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE ‘CHILLEST GUY IN RETAIL’...

HAVE PULLED OFF ANOTHER BELTER.

UXBRIDGE LONDIS RETAILER ATUL SODHA WAS

GREGGS’ MARKETING TEAM DOES IT AGAIN...

AFTER A SERIES OF CHEEKY ADS AND PR STUNTS,

HONOURED TO DISCOVER THAT THE LATEST ADDITION TO THE LUCOZADE ENERGY RANGE CITRUS CHILL - WAS APPARENTLY CREATED JUST FOR HIM, THE ‘CHILLEST GUY IN CONVENIENCE RETAIL’. AND IF IT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ATUL...

WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 / ISSUE 17 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 27

R o f Y ENERg F F U T S L A E E R TH th the i w k n i r d y g r e n e e n i u e r f b f a n r i f o high c e t s a t e l b a b i r indesc

FROM THE NO.1 SCOTTISH GROCERY BRAND *Kantar World Panel, Value Sales, Take Home Non-Alcohol Brands, MAT to 08/09/19, Total Scotland

*