A very warm welcome to the latest packed issue of Talking Shop as we move towards the all-important summer season, and what a season of opportunity it promises to be. This summer is crammed full of fantastic sporting events like the Euro Finals 24 and the Olympics, which are sure to drive footfall, sales and profits as shoppers stock up to enjoy the action with friends and family.
The Euro Finals 24 will be here very soon with the opening match on 14th June set to be a cracker as Scotland face hosts Germany. It’s a tough challenge for Scotland but it’s a huge opportunity for retailers both in Scotland and across the country as the tournament gets off with a bang. Then it’s back-to-back matches for a full month with England also involved and hoping to progress to the latter stages.
To help you make the most of the festival of football, we’ve organised this year’s Premier Beer & Cider Festival to coincide with the Euro Finals 24, meaning you’ll have a whole array of NPD and Group Exclusive products to tempt your shoppers with, as well as a host of fantastic beer and cider promotions.
We also take a look back at our recent hugely successful Trade Shows in this issue and update you on the latest developments on some great solutions to help you save money on waste management with Collect My Waste and make money through more efficient social media planning with SocioConnect.
And if you haven’t yet invested in digital SELs, there’s news inside of a brilliant Group Exclusive discount deal on solutions from Avery Berkel that make adding digital shelf labels in your store more cost-effective than ever.
It’s set to be a cracking summer for Premier retailers and I wish you all the very best of trading over the next couple of months – and the best of luck to England and Scotland at the Euro Finals 24!
Martyn Parkinson, Sales Director – Booker Wholesale
COVER STORY
The Thompson family have invested in an innovationpacked next-gen store refit in Southampton
THE THREE BIG STORIES
9 Shelf help! Exclusive ESL deal for Premier stores.
52 Time to party! Premier’s Beer and Cider festival is back.
56 Back of the net Score with the Euros this June.
your shop news
If you’ve got news, tips or feature ideas, please get in touch with Talking Shop:
7
wins big!
Premier has scooped two major accolades at the Convenience Awards 2024.
9 Exclusive ESL deal
Premier retailers have access to a new Group Exclusive deal on ESLs.
11 Community News
The latest round up of community news from Premier stores.
15 Own brand opportunity
73% of shoppers are looking to cut the cost of their weekly shops.
23 GroceryAid update
Industry charity GroceryAid has committed £1m to the School Essentials Grant.
24 Sweet success
Phil Thompson is helping to breathe new life into his family business.
30 Numbers game
Young retailer Harman Puni’s first store is on track for great success.
38 Beach party
The Isle of Wight’s new Premier concept store boasts buckets of choice.
44 Net profits
A football-themed Premier store in is netting impressive results in Southampton.
52 Time to party
Premier’s Beer and Cider Festival is back!
56 Get set to score
69 Jack’s update
The latest developments to hit Booker’s great value Jack’s brand.
73 New Product Round up
The hottest new products to hit the shelves.
79 Meet The Team
Say hello to Danny Shore, of Booker partner Collect My Waste.
84 Get social
SocioConnect makes social media management a breeze.
89 Green buzz
Booker's bees are going from strength to strength.
The Euro Finals 24 offers stacks of opportunities to net profits.
63 Jolly Good Show
Innovations and excitement aplenty at the Booker Retail Trade Shows.
103 ACS Viewpoint
James Lowman shares insights gained at the recent ACS Conference.
Premier was the pick of the bunch at the recent Convenience Awards 2024, as shoppers named it their favourite convenience group and their favourite symbol store group.
Premier has cemented its position at the head of the convenience sector by claiming two of the most coveted trophies at the recent Convenience Awards 2024.
Premier was named both the Shoppers' Favourite Convenience Group and the Shoppers' Favourite Convenience Symbol Store Group.
The awards are made doubly important by the fact that it was shoppers themselves who cast the votes.
The Convenience Awards 2024 took place at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on 21 March and celebrated the entire convenience industry and the people who work in it.
Martyn Parkinson, Sales Director – Booker Wholesale, commented: “Premier is the biggest
and, in our opinion, the best symbol group in the UK for a reason. Our retailers work extremely hard to make thousands of Premier stores up and down the country so special, so it’s great to have those efforts acknowledged and rewarded publicly at the Convenience Awards 2024.
“What makes these two awards so important is that they were voted for by shoppers. It’s clear our shoppers love our stores and that’s down to the fantastic way that Premier works with its retailers to deliver a unique offering for those shoppers.
“I wish to extend a huge thank you to every Premier retailer for playing their part and helping ensure that we remain the shopper’s favourite place to shop.”
RECORD MONTH FOR POST OFFICE CASH TRANSACTIONS
There was a significant increase in cash transactions at Post Office branches in April, with cash deposits and withdrawals across the counter totalling £3.48bn across 11,500 branches, their highest levels ever.
Total cash deposits (business and personal) stood at £2.62bn in April, marking an increase of 4.7% month on month and a significant 26.5% increase year on year. Total withdrawals amounted to £864.9m, despite a slight monthon-month decrease of 0.77%. However, year on year, withdrawals saw an increase of 20.4%.
What are you doing in-store to stand out in your local market? Share it with us and your Premier retailer colleagues at talkingshop@booker.co.uk
Premier retailers can now benefit from a Group Exclusive deal offering discounted Electronic Shelf Labels to help them take the next step towards the digital future.
Many Premier retailers have already taken advantage of the huge benefits of installing Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs). Thanks to a Booker Group Exclusive deal, all Premier retailers can now gain access to a specially discounted 0% interest package that allows them to kit out their full store for as little as £232 a week.
The deal, with leading provider Avery Berkel, offers Premier retailers an exclusive deal on a package featuring 2,500 ESLs, a mix of 2.6" and 2.4" ESLs, and all networking equipment. The deal also features an additional £100 per year saving on the solution and includes an additional two-year
warranty on top of the standard two-year guarantee, giving retailers complete peace of mind for four years in total.
The ESLs have up to 10 years’ battery life and are available with up to two years interest-free credit. All of this is available for as little as £232 per week.
ESLs have been proven to cut labour costs by up to 70% and can deliver up to 10% additional revenue every year simply by ensuring that prices are always up to date and accurate.
Real-time pricing and promotional updates mean the entire store can be re-priced in seconds with nothing more than the click of a mouse.
l Up to two years’ 0% interest-free credit
l Up to 10 years’ battery life
l Two extra years’ warranty – four years in total
l From only £232 per week
l 2,500 ESLs
l Mix of 2.6" and 2.3"
l Networking equipment
l Software as a Service (SaaS)
l Extra £100 discount on yearly SaaS
l Up to 70% labour savings
l Real-time price and promotion updates
l Manage from any device from anywhere at any time
l Up to 10% additional revenue per year through accurate price updates
Premier RaceTrack has opened its 11th store and maintains its long-standing tradition of spectacular innovation and nextgeneration in-store theatre.
As one of the most progressive retailing families in the industry, the Glasgow-based Sud family has just opened its 11th Premier RaceTrack store. The new store in Wishaw, just outside Glasgow, has been two years in the making and formally opened on Friday 10 May.
Premier Racetrack Wishaw is the family’s largest store to date by retail space and features many of RaceTrack’s existing brands, such as Tubbee’s desserts, but also adds completely new concepts including an internal self-service Speed Queen launderette concession, the first of its kind.
Speed Queen is a much more eco-friendly solution which features
cold washing using ozone treatment to sterilise and clean the laundry alongside detergent and softener.
The store also has the first Hoagies concession in the family’s stores, complete with touchscreen ordering.
Guna Sud told Talking Shop: “This has been a long project which has taken over two years to complete so we’re both relieved and delighted to finally be able to open the doors. It’s our biggest store yet and we’ve added new features alongside our existing solutions. It’s an exciting time and we’re looking forward to seeing how the community responds.”
Premier was back on TV recently with a brand-new ad to help drive awareness and footfall for retailers.
The ad focused on Premier’s market-leading Mega Deals and Everyday Essentials, reminding shoppers that every Premier store is “Independently owned, by local people for local people”.
Barry’s Premier in Halton Moor is raising funds which it will donate to the local Corpus Christi Primary school.
The donation will help to pay for a special school trip for one lucky class later this year. Store owners Kevin and Sam Wilson will also donate a goody bag to each child in the class.
Last year the store donated £3,000 to Meadowfield
Primary – a sum which enabled the school to take a group of year 5 pupils on a trip to Whitby. Commenting on the initiative, Sam said: “As the local community shop, it is important to us that we support the community as much as we can. We hope all the kids enjoy the school trip! Thank you for shopping with us! Your support enables us to do things like this.”
Broadway Convenience Store in Oxgangs, Edinburgh is holding weekly in-store wine tasting sessions to promote its ‘Wine of The Week’.
Shoppers are invited in to sample a drop and can buy the store’s Wine of The Week for a discounted price. The initiative centres around new products and is designed to drive trial. When Talking Shop went to press, the store’s Wine of The Week was Blossom Hill Tempranillo which it was selling for just £4.99 a bottle. Wines of The Week are extensively promoted in-store and on the store’s social media pages with engaging video posts.
Children in Winsford were treated to a visit from the Easter Bunny thanks to an eggscellent initiative from Ken’s Convenience Store.
Local families were invited to visit the store on 29 March and have their pictures taken with the pointy-eared protagonist.
The Premier store also sponsored the town’s local Easter Egg hunt which was held in Winsford Town Park.
Premier retailer Sheraz Awan has continued to support his local community with daily donations of free stock throughout April and May. Sheraz leaves free goods, including fresh bread and vegetables, outside his Westerhope Convenience Store for disadvantaged shoppers to help themselves.
“We service just over 300 people on a good day with our stock outside the shop, mainly pensioners and young mums. Thanks to all our loyal customers we’re able to do this every day,” he says.
STOCK UP NOW FOR SUMMER
IT TAKES 15 YEARS TO FILTER THROUGH THE ROCK, WE BOTTLE IT JUST DOWN THE ROAD
A DIGEST OF NEWS FROM THE INDEPENDENT RETAILING INDUSTRY
The latest monthly Barclays Consumer Spend Report shows a record 73% of shoppers are looking to cut the cost of their weekly shop with many turning to own-brand products.
The opportunity for Premier retailers to leverage the power of the Jack’s and Euro Shopper own-brand ranges is clearer than ever as the latest Barclays Consumer Spend for April showed that a recordhigh of 73% of shoppers are looking to cut the cost of their weekly shop.
One of the key ways many shoppers do this is by switching to trusted own brands like Jack’s and Euro Shopper that deliver great quality products at exceptional value prices.
Almost half of all shoppers (49%) said they worry about how much they spend on food and drink, with the same proportion trying to cut back on discretionary spending. Of this group, 54% are spending less on eating out and takeaways.
Despite falling food price inflation, down from 5.0% to 4.0% in April, grocery spending growth
reached its lowest level (1.0%) since June 2022 (-0.8%), hampered by the cold and wet weather. More broadly, consumer spending on essential food and drink items grew just 1.7% year on year in April, the lowest rise so far this year.
Other opportunities for convenience retailers presented by the findings are that more than a third of shoppers (37%) are stockpiling their go-to products when they are on special offer. In addition, three in 10 shoppers (29%) are now batch cooking to save money.
Total consumer card spend growth slowed to 1.6% in April, down from 1.9% in both March and February, and supermarkets saw the smallest uplift in sales since June 2022.
Despite all of this, consumer confidence in household finances reached a 28-month high at 71%.
The Westminster government has confirmed that the introduction of deposit return schemes (DRS) in the UK will be pushed back two years to October 2027.
In a written ministerial statement, Robbie Moore MP said this was a “stretching” target and that an October 2027 implementation would be required to ensure that the rollout of schemes was effective and efficient.
The revised date has been agreed by the devolved administrations.
Moore also confirmed that the UK government has no intention of including glass within its DRS, with only the Welsh government currently committed to a scheme that includes glass. The statement refers to figures from Keep Britain Tidy which show that just 4% of litter was comprised of glass drinks containers in 2020.
Retailers,
the Home Office and industry groups came together in May to once again support #ShopKind Week urging shoppers to treat shopworkers with consideration.
The retail sector, industry groups and the Home Office worked together in May to support #ShopKind Week, the annual awareness-raising initiative that aims to remind shoppers about the importance of being considerate to shopworkers and each other.
UK-wide polling highlights that 31% of customers are more anxious when they shop and 36% of customers have witnessed violence and abuse towards shop workers while shopping.
Figures from the Association of Convenience Stores’ annual Crime Report also show that almost nine in 10 colleagues working in convenience stores
have experienced verbal abuse over the last year.
The #ShopKind campaign is backed by the Home Office and supported by high street retailers, convenience retailers and trade union Usdaw.
In April, the Government announced that it would be introducing a separate offence in England and Wales for assaulting a retail worker, building on previous sentencing guidelines that made assaulting someone working in a store an aggravated offence.
#ShopKind Week ran from 6-10 May and gave retailers a platform to remind shoppers of the important role of shopworkers to communities.
Westminster MPs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the ‘generational smoking ban’, passing the Tobacco and Vapes Bill by 383 votes to 67.
The bill still has to clear several legislative hurdles but it is possible it could pass into law as soon as the second half of this year.
It means anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never legally be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco in the UK.
While health is a devolved matter, agreement has been reached for a four-nation approach to tackling smoking. Scotland will be given the appropriate powers needed to enact the bill, but the Scottish Parliament will then need to give its consent via a vote in Holyrood.
The bill also includes measures to tackle underage vaping, with new restrictions on the display of vapes, packaging and flavours.
The minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in Scotland is set to rise by 30% from 50p to 65p per unit from 30 September after the Scottish parliament voted to back the proposal. MUP has been set at 50p since Scotland became the first country in the world to implement such a policy in May 2018. The increase is intended to counteract the effect of price inflation. It means the minimum price for a 70cl bottle of 37.5% ABV spirits will increase from £13.13 to £17.06.
A sunset clause in the MUP legislation meant the current rules would have expired at the end of April but MSPs voted by 88 to 28 in favour of extending them – with the increase thrown in.
The illicit trade in disposable vapes will see a £645m boost if the Government proceeds with a ban on the products next year, warns ACS.
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called on the Government to focus on effective enforcement to deal with the huge illicit trade in vapes that it says will receive a £645m boost if disposable vapes are banned next year.
In response to the Government’s short consultation on the proposals to ban disposable vape devices from April 2025, ACS has highlighted a number of fundamental issues with DEFRA’s own impact assessment on the ban, warning that it has significantly underestimated the losses that will be felt by retailers.
The impact assessment fails also to recognise the significant illicit trade that already exists and will receive a huge boost when disposables are banned.
Consumer polling conducted by Yonder for ACS of existing vape users suggests that almost one in four (24%) will continue to use disposables after a ban is introduced. The only way they’ll be able to obtain those products is from illicit sources, resulting in a £645m annual loss to the convenience sector.
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “Banning something does not mean it ceases to exist. If the Government were really committed to stopping children getting their hands on disposable vapes, then they would focus on cracking down on the illicit trade and enforcing the laws that already exist to prevent children from accessing these products.”
Royal Mail customers can now drop off parcels in convenience stores around the UK using the Collect+ network. More than 700 locations are already live in shops with 5,000 planned by the summer. Royal Mail customers are able to drop off packages up to large parcel size using 1st and 2nd class and Tracked 24 and Tracked 48. This applies to both returns and items that someone has paid for the postage for online and either printed a label or generated a QR code. In the future, the service will be expanded to enable customers to collect online purchases.
Nick Wiles, CEO of PayPoint, said: “Today marks an important step in the roll-out of our Royal Mail partnership, with customers now officially able to use Collect+ on a nationwide basis."
STOCK UP NOW!
GroceryAid is set to provide £1m of support to retailing industry colleagues who have children of school age this year to help buy the essentials they need.
Industry charity GroceryAid has announced that its School Essentials Grant will make £1m of support available to convenience and grocery colleagues who have school-aged children this year.
The support has been made possible after GroceryAid secured funding from The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust.
Now in its fourth year, the fund provides a £150 non-repayable grant for every child of school age, up to a maximum of three children per eligible household, up to the fund total.
This year, it is estimated that more than 6,660 children will benefit from the fund, an 11% increase on last year.
Industry colleagues can apply for the School Essentials Grant on the GroceryAid
website from 9am on Tuesday 18 June with an extended application window of three days and a closing date of 5pm on Thursday 20 June.
9AM ON 18 JUNE –5PM ON 20 JUNE
Mandi Leonard, Welfare Director at GroceryAid said: “We are thrilled to be able to offer more children than ever the chance to start school with the essential items they need to have the best start to the school year.
“After listening to valuable feedback from our supporters, we are leaving applications open for three days to enable more people to apply. We want to ensure the application process is fair for shift workers and those who
may not have access to a computer/phone during working hours. We will notify colleagues about the outcome of their application within six weeks,” she added.
Sir Dave Lewis, Adviser to the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust said: “The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust is delighted to support GroceryAid's Schools Essential Grant, providing much-needed assistance to grocery workers and their families during the expensive back-to-school period.”
Successful applicants will be chosen at random from those who meet the criteria and have provided all the information requested.
Fourth-generation retailer Phil Thompson and his partner Teneal Fraser are helping to breathe new life into his family business.
Having grown up in and around shops, fourthgeneration retailer Phil Thompson has many fond childhood memories of stacking shelves and “testing the sweets”.
And now, following a mammoth redevelopment of the family’s Southampton store, Phil, Teneal and Phil's father John, are making many new, even sweeter, memories.
The store, which was originally founded back in 1924 by Phil’s great-grandmother, was previously located in an old 800sq ft unit.
However, as Phil explains, in 2023, an opportunity arose for the family to relocate the store to a larger 2,000sq ft unit, which was
also better-situated, further down the road.
“The old shop was only 800sq ft and well overdue a refit. Coupled with the wage bill increase in April and other cost increases, the decision was made to relocate to a larger premises where we would be able to offer the community an enhanced range, more services and longer opening hours,” Phil says.
“Having seen some of the incredible developments made at other Premier stores in the UK, we knew we had a fantastic opportunity to create a showstopping new store in the new space.”
Work to create the family’s vision began on 29 January 2024. The following five weeks saw the store transformed inside and out –
THE BUSINESS WAS FOUNDED BY PHIL’S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER IN 1924
ahead of a grand re-opening on 9 March.
Large new windows allow natural light to flood in and illuminate the spacious new shop floor and the vibrant new Refresh@Premier bar which greets shoppers upon entering.
Featuring Costa Coffee, Tango Ice Blast, Skwishee, Jolly Rancher slush and Think Fresh Shakes, the Refresh@Premier bar is already proving to be a footfall magnet, pulling new shoppers in from all around.
Other footfall drivers include a 215sq ft Beer Cave and a 193sq ft Soft Drinks Cave to the rear of the store.
Both caves feature striking stone effect walls and hexagonal LED light fittings overhead to create maximum impact.
Local shoppers are also treated to a full 8.7 metres of great quality chilled products including Jack’s branded deli products, meats, ready meals and more.
The chilled offer also includes four doors dedicated to chilled food-to-go products.
There’s also just over six metres of frozen goods.
Gracing the store’s welcoming new counter area is also a brand-new Premier Deli offer –featuring an array of goods from local suppliers.
Products are temptingly displayed inside two chilled Cossiga cabinets – one for sweet treats and one for savoury snacks.
The sweet cabinet features doughy delights such as iced buns, donuts and apple strudels, while on the savoury side, shoppers can choose from a wide range of freshly-baked
pizzas, sausage rolls, pasties and more.
“The deli is proving to be a great success, we bring in new products and we rotate the offering regulaly to keep it exciting. It generates lots of impulse purchases." Teneal adds.
Deli items aren’t the store’s only local lines. In response to shopper demand, Phil has also introduced a range of local breads, eggs and locally made cocktails from 730 Cocktails.
Other top selling categories include confectionery, with the rate of sale of US lines having taken Phil by surprise. “Confectionery is a real hit, and our striking five-bay American sweet section has been doing incredibly well, so much so that we almost sold out in the first few days,” he says.
The store development also included a number of key technological innovations designed to help the business operate more efficiently and sustainably.
“We’ve fitted Electronic Shelf Edge Labels throughout the store and they are proving to be a huge benefit, saving on paper and the time taken to update price changes,” Phil explains.
It’s still early days yet but the initial sales are certainly exceeding our expectations. We’re so pleased with the end result and proud of how the store looks. } {
“It was a big initial investment but it’s something that will clearly end up paying off in the long term.
“We also have energy-efficient refrigeration and lighting throughout, and we might look into adding solar panels,” Phil adds.
In terms of the overall impact, Phil says that shoppers are loving the new store and the increased range, which means that they don’t have to travel as far to find what they need.
“I often stand by the front door to greet shoppers as they enter, and ‘Wow’ is often the first thing that many of them say,” he adds.
“The extended opening hours have also been welcomed by many shoppers who are
pleased that they are now able to stop in and grab an evening meal solution on their way home from work.”
Moving the shop to the other end of the road has increased passing trade. Southampton’s general and maternity hospitals are only 500 metres away and the store is seeing more staff coming in before and after their shifts.
“It’s still early days yet but the initial sales are certainly exceeding our expectations,” Phil concludes. “We’re so pleased with the end result and proud of how the store looks. It has been a long time in the planning and a lot of hard work and long hours to get it to this stage, but it’s all been well worth it.”
Young retailer Harman Puni’s first store is on track for great success.
First-time retailer Harman Puni is living proof that age really is just a number. At just 22, Harman has achieved more than many retailers do in a lifetime – and he’s only just getting started!
The fact that he was born into a retailing family has certainly helped him on his way. His father, a long-standing Premier retailer from Rotherham, has ensured that Harman has grown up with a solid understanding of retailing fundamentals, while his extended family, which includes members of the legendary Singh team from Premier Teynham Road as well as Premier Lowtown, have also provided him with a fantastic support network.
However, when it comes to Harman’s ambitions, plans, investments and achievements – all are of his own making.
He bought his store, a 1,986sq ft unit in the village of Grassmoor in September 2023, just a matter of months after leaving university with a degree in economics.
“I was clear from the start what I wanted to do with the store,” Harman says.
“The previous owner had run the store for more than 40 years, but it had never reached its full potential. It’s in a village location but it’s on the main high street, so there’s lots of passing trade as well as lots of local footfall. There’s also a couple of other villages in very close proximity. However, despite all that, turnover was low. The store was barely doing
£12,000 a week when I bought it and I knew that, with the right offer, it could easily do double that.
“I was always going to go with Premier. I’ve seen first-hand how strong and successful the Premier offer is and I wanted to be a part of that. I was also keen to go big from the start. I wanted to go all out and spend £200,000 on a show-stopping refit. In my opinion, if you’re going to do something then you’ve got to do it right. It was a big investment and a fairly big risk, but I was confident that it would be worth it.”
And he certainly seems to have been right. The store re-opened with Harman’s initials and the Premier fascia above the door in March 2024, following a colossal five-week refit.
“We absolutely gutted it,” Harman explains. “The old store hadn’t been invested in for more than 30 years, so everything had to go to make way for the new.”
Harman’s new-look HP Premier wows from the get-go. Opening day saw crowds of expectant shoppers flood the store – all eager to experience its fresh new offer and many novel features, not seen anywhere else locally. Chief among these are custom-designed Beer and Soft Drinks Caves, both of which boast attractive stone-effect cladding on the exterior.
Existing pillars at the rear of the store were cleverly worked into the Beer Cave’s design
TURNOVER HAS DOUBLED SINCE THE REFIT.
and give it a unique look. The cave itself features 20 bays which showcase Premier’s winning range of beer, cider, RTD and wine brands.
Sited just next door, the separate 15-bay soft drinks cave creates a further pull to the rear of the store.
“A few retailers tried to put me off a soft drinks cave, and dad wasn’t that keen on the idea, but I thought it would provide a really unique selling point and I think I’ve been proved right,” says Harman. “A lot of their fears were based around shoplifting, but we
I’m offering shoppers a different kind of shopping experience from what they are used to and they are responding really well to that.
Harman Puni
have excellent security cameras in both caves and a great team of staff and so far, the benefits are by far outweighing any risks.
“No other store in this area has a beer cave or a soft drinks cave and shoppers are raving about both. I’m offering them a different kind of shopping experience from what they are used to, and they are responding really well to that.”
A striking Refresh@Premier bar offering Think Fresh Shakes, Jolly Rancher slush and Lavazza coffee adds to the thrill.
“The milkshakes and Jolly Rancher are
already rocketing,” Harman says. “We’re already selling well over 50 cups of each a day and growing. The Refresh offer is even attracting shoppers in from other villages, which is incredible.”
Harman is also hoping to fuel the store’s hype with a strong and engaging social media presence.
“We only launched our Facebook page a month ago and we’ve gone from zero to more than 1,000 followers in that time. It’s a strong start and we’ll keep on building that. Social media has got to be done right.
#3 FUNCTIONAL DRINKS BRAND * HIGH % CASH MARGIN RRP’S BRAND NEW LOOK, SAME TASTE AND BIGGEST EVER INVESTMENT!
Our accounts are really professional, and they showcase our amazing new products and standout features such as our American range, which is already doing so well.”
Harman’s American range includes two metres of US confectionery and snacks, plus a dedicated bay of American soft drinks.
“When we first opened the store, I’d put in £3,500 of American stock and by the third day I’d sold well over half of it already! Its success has blown me away.”
The store also features an eight-door freezer and a quality range of fresh and chilled products which are also propelling footfall and sales.
“Fresh and chilled is proving to be a significant category,” Harman says. “Grassmoor is, after all, a village and many local shoppers are now coming here to top up, which they never did before.
“Premier’s promotional package is another big footfall and sales driver. I see so many shoppers walking around the whole store, looking at all the great deals and adding products to their baskets as they go round.”
Shoppers are also responding well to Harman’s range of locally sourced products, which includes local wines, ales, breads, and fresh cakes and sandwiches from Claire’s Café.
“The café is a brilliant family-run business but it’s only open from 9am till 1pm, so us selling their products works really well, as shoppers can get lovely cheesecakes and fresh sandwiches even when they are closed. It’s a win-win for everyone and it’s nice to be supporting another local business.”
Harman also plans to support the local community even further by donating £100 a month to local good causes.
“This shop may look very futuristic but it’s definitely a local shop at heart
and I’m really looking forward to becoming a central part of this community,” Harman adds.
Something else that Harman is no doubt looking forward to, is a good night’s sleep.
“I’ve been working 16-hour days every day since we opened! I’m totally knackered but I’m also so proud of it all. There’s still lots to do, and I need to be here all the time. It’s important that shoppers get used to seeing me behind the till and out on the shop floor.
“A lot of shoppers didn’t know me at first and because I’m so young, quite a few would ask me who the new owner was and always seemed quite surprised when I told them it was me!”
Their surprise is certainly proving to be a happy one, with sales having doubled since opening. "On average, weekly sales are ringing in at £24,000 a week, with plenty more to come," Harman adds.
“It’s been so wonderful to see so many new faces and feel so welcomed by the local community. I can’t wait to serve Grassmoor for many years to come,” he concludes.
Size: 1,986sq ft
Services:
Staff: 3
Opening hours: 7am-10pm
The Isle of Wight’s new Premier concept store boasts buckets of choice and spades of innovation.
With its striking shorelines, pristine sandy beaches and chocolate box villages, the Isle of Wight has a lot going for it – both as a place to live and to holiday. And now, following the opening of the island’s first Premier concept store, it’s got bucketloads more.
Owned by experienced convenience retailer Kumar Sivalingam, the 1,000sq ft seaside store had been trading under another brand for the last 16 years.
However, in late 2023 and following a defining meeting with Premier RDM Pawel Burdzy, Kumar knew that the time was right to close that chapter of the store’s history and begin a new and much more profitable one.
“The store is located in the small coastal village of Totland which is an affluent area with a lot of very loyal local shoppers. It’s also the last stop before the famous Needles landmark which makes us a real hotspot for tourists all year round,” he explains.
“The store had traded successfully for a number of years but by the autumn of 2023 it
Average basket spend is £15 and growing
was looking quite run down, dull and dark. I wanted a new challenge and to grow the business and I knew that doing that would require a complete refit.
That was when Kumar decided to join Premier, as he explains: “A lot of my friends and family members were already Premier retailers and once I had met with Pawel and seen his knowledge and expertise, it was a very easy decision to make. I knew that with Premier I could transform my store into something truly special.
“I wanted to offer something completely different to my local community and to thank my shoppers for their loyalty by creating the first Premier concept store on the island.
“The process of designing the new concept store was so exciting and I couldn’t wait for work to begin.”
Fortunately, Kumar didn’t have long to
wait. The refit began at the beginning of November 2023 and took just five weeks to complete.
The first, and certainly the messiest job, was to excavate the back of the store to create a larger-feeling and level shop floor. “The old store used to be on two levels, with a platform towards the end of the store,” Kumar explains.
“The aisles in the old store were also very tight so the new store was cleverly created with a new layout and design that featured much more space between the aisles.
“We also raised the ceiling to make the store look even bigger.”
The space was further transformed with the introduction of a large Beer Cave. With space for a full 10 bays of stock, the new Beer Cave not only provides a unique shopping experience for Totland Bay’s locals – it has also allowed Kumar to more than double his
range.
The store’s soft drinks range has also been doubled thanks to a brand-new soft drinks cave which also holds 10 bays.
Out on the shop floor, the store’s fresh offer has also been doubled from just 2.5 metres to five.
The large new range features an array of products from Booker’s Jack’s own-label brand which local shoppers and holidaymakers alike can’t speak highly enough of. In fact, the store’s Facebook page plays host to an array of positive comments from local shoppers raving about the quality of Jack’s products and value-for-money price points.
Premier Totland Bay’s new range also includes an array of local goods, including fresh sandwiches, milk, eggs, meat and delicatessen products from small suppliers. The range also includes meat products from
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WW Woodford Butchers, whose quality sausage rolls were praised by celebrity chef James Martin during his Great British Adventure TV series.
A footfall-driving fresh cake and pastries offer from a local bakery has also been introduced. Products are delivered fresh four days a week and stocked in an eye-catching Cossiga cabinet at the front of the store. From iced buns to Danish pastries and chocolate chip shortbreads, the range is proving to be a hit with local shoppers and holidaymakers alike. In fact – along with soft drinks, BWS and fresh – Kumar says that products from the new Cossiga cabinet are among the store’s key sales categories, a significant driver of profit driver too.
Shoppers keen to wash their local delights down with a hot or cold drink to go can quench their thirst or caffeine cravings up at
THE STORE’S FRESH RANGE HAS DOUBLED TO FIVE METRES.
Name: Premier Broadway, Totland Bay, Isle of Wight
Retailer: Kumar Sivalingam
Size: 1,000sq ft
Opening hours: 6.30am-10pm
Services: National Lottery, ATM
Staff: 5
Plan your shelves the right way to increase SALES
The recommended 1 shelf range for Mex ican
Old El Paso is the biggest brand in World Foods FOR £1 spent in Mexican another £3-4 are spent in other foods and drinks
Fajita Kits are the most popular products for the typical convenience shopper who wants a quick & easy meal solution
Tortillas & spice mixes sell faster for the Mexican food lovers!
the store’s new Refresh@Premier bar which boasts Costa Coffee, Think Fresh Shakes, Jolly Rancher Slush and Squishee.
The store also features a dedicated Big Night In bay complete with candyfloss, popcorn and nachos.
“We re-opened the store on the 9 December 2023 to an incredible local reaction,” Kumar says.
“Our local shoppers were amazed by the store’s transformation. The Grand Opening Day was so busy and all anyone could say was ‘Wow!’ Shoppers just love the Beer Cave, the Soft Drinks Cave and the new range of fresh cakes available.”
I wanted to offer something completely different to my local community and to thank my shoppers for their loyalty by creating the first Premier concept store on the island. Kumar Sivalingam } {
Total store sales have risen by more than 20% since the refit, with sales led by soft drinks, BWS and fresh, which are all up 25%, 20% and 18% respectively.
“I never imagined that we could have achieved all this,” Kumar concludes. “It was a massive task but with strong determination and great support from my RDM, we have been able to launch this fantastic store and I am over the moon.”
Raj Poobalasingam’s football-themed Premier concept store is netting impressive results.
With its prime location just a kick away from Southampton Football Club, Raj Poobalasingam was confident that his newest Premier store would offer a winning opportunity to score high sales and profits.
“I have two other Premier stores in Southampton and one Premier in Portsmouth, so I know the local area well,” Raj explains.
“In the summer of 2023, the previous
owners of this store contacted me to see if I would be interested in buying it. It’s the closest store to Southampton Football Club and is well known in the area, having been established for more than 20 years.
“It’s also surrounded by industrial units and very close to Southampton university, meaning that footfall is always quite high, especially at peak times. There’s also lots of new development happening in the area, including new student accommodation.
“Given all that, I knew that I could build on
the old store’s success by introducing a new Southampton FC theme and a new range that would better meet the needs of local shoppers – and the crowds of supporters who come down on match days.
“The old store was quite run down so I knew I would have to do a full store refit. I put my faith into my RDM Stuart King to help me design a great new store and we used RK Store fitters who did a fantastic job.”
Work to create Raj’s football-themed dream began in earnest in November 2023. Just over
a month, and £85,000 later, the 800sq ft store was reborn as Saint’s Premier, Southampton.
“We decided to call the shop 'Saints' after Southampton FC’s nickname,” Raj explains.
And the store’s homage to the local team doesn’t end there. With the help of RDM Stuart, Raj was able to create a striking Southampton FC-themed wall opposite the counter at its entrance.
“We found a great picture of Itchen Bridge which is a well-known local landmark, and we added the club’s badge on top of it, along with the slogan 'We March On' in reference to the song ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’.
“The wall looks incredible and as soon as we opened, shoppers poured in to have their photos taken in front of it.”
The themed wall also acts as a pictureperfect backdrop for the many ‘Like and Share’ competitions and prize-winner announcements which Raj posts on the store’s growing social media pages.
Once inside, shoppers are treated to even more surprises in the form of a Beer Cave
which holds nine metres of range, including a match-ready mix of multi-packs and topselling brands.
Products are well supported by Premier’s strong suite of promotions, all of which help to drive further footfall, sales and profits.
Despite its compact 800sq ft size, the store has also been fitted with a Refresh@Premier bar featuring a bean to cup coffee machine, Jolly Rancher slush and milkshakes from Think Fresh Shakes.
There’s also a dedicated Vaping@Premier display and up at the counter, shoppers can choose from a tasty selection of fresh locally made cakes and pastries from a new Premier Deli cabinet.
The range of chilled ready-to-eat products also includes a mouthwatering selection of samosas with a variety of fillings including lamb and vegetable. Made by a local family, Raj sells the samosas for £1.10 each and says that they fly out of the door.
A comprehensive new 3.75 metre soft drinks offer was also introduced – including a
number of US lines, which the store had never sold before.
Despite the old store having only ever stocked a very limited fresh range, Raj was also keen to bring in 3.75 metres of fresh and chilled foods, including dairy, ready meals and chilled food to go.
Shelving throughout the store was also raised to 2.2 metres, allowing Raj to introduce a greater range of groceries, confectionery and household goods.
A variety of convenient services such as PayPoint, Payzone, and parcel services, including Post Office Drop and Collect, have also been brought in and Raj plans to launch a home delivery offer in the near future.
Raj Poobalasingam
“Shoppers’ reaction to the new store has been amazing,” Raj says. “From the Refresh@Premier bar to the Beer Cave and the Southampton FC-themed wall, shoppers love it all.
“The Beer Cave is fantastic, with a full nine metres of range it’s popular all week but it really comes into its own on weekends and match days. BWS is a key sales driver.
“Fresh has also surprised me. Fresh food sales are great. We have created the perfect range for the store and there is only very limited wastage. Fresh food to go, in particular, is proving to be very popular, driven by chilled sandwiches and lunch solutions.”
The store’s sales have more than doubled since it re-opened, with average weekly sales now hitting £15,000 a week – up from just £7,000 previously.
“I’m extremely proud of what we have achieved,” Raj adds. “The community loves the store and we’re on the right track to drive and grow further. Bring it on!”
SALES HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED SINCE THE STORE RE-OPENED.
SHELVING HEIGHTS WERE RAISED TO 2.2 METRES TO WIDEN THE STORE’S RANGE.
THE STORE FEATURES A BESPOKE SOUTHAMPTON FCTHEMED WALL.
Name: Saints Premier, Southampton
Retailer: Raj Poobalasingam
Size: 800sq ft
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 5.30am10.30pm, Sun 8am-10pm
Services: PayPoint, Payzone, Post Office Drop & Collect Staff: 4
Mix it up!
Mixed packs which offer a range of different flavours and formats are a popular choice for shoppers over the summer season. Premier retailers can offer their shoppers a great deal on Brewdog Mixed Cans with an RSP of just £11 for an 8x330ml pack.
THE PREMIER BEER AND CIDER FESTIVAL RUNS FROM 22 MAY UNTIL 16 OF JULY – THROUGHOUT THE NP4 AND NP5 PROMOTIONAL PERIODS.
The Premier Beer and Cider festival is back and brimming with a barrel-load of opportunities to drive sales and profits this summer.
Summer’s almost here and bringing with it the promise of long sunny days and warm evenings – perfect for picnics in the park, garden get-togethers and a multitude of fun-filled outdoor sporting occasions and events including the not to be missed Euro Finals 24 held from 14th June to 14th July in Germany.
And thanks to the return of the Premier Beer and Cider Festival, Premier stores will be able to offer their shoppers a refreshing array of perfect pairings to their summer festivities.
Running from 22 May until 16 July, the Premier Beer and Cider festival features an extensive array of Group Exclusive products, NPD, first-to-market packs, outstanding deals and more.
As always, the activity will be supported by a comprehensive programme of high-quality in-store POS and digital support to make sure the festival is unmissable for your shoppers.
It’s the perfect opportunity to bring more shoppers to your door more often and to encourage them to spend more on each trip.
As all Premier retailers will be aware, there’s nothing quite like Group Exclusive products for driving footfall and sales. Stocking products that are not available in your competitors’ stores is a powerful way to generate fresh footfall, particularly if you shout about the exclusive products on your social media channels.
The Premier Beer and Cider Festival will feature a range of fantastic Group Exclusive products that will help you set yourself apart from the competition.
Group Exclusives include Brewdog’s new Cold Beer, which is available to retailers in multipacks of 10x440ml. Featuring the fantastic-value RSP of £7.99, new Cold Beer is made with a combination of pale and light Munich malts. The crisp-tasting lager has an AVB of 3.4% and each multipack of 10 offers retailers a POR of 17.55%.
As well as bringing your shoppers exclusive and first-to-market products, the Beer & Cider Festival will also deliver footfall and salesdriving deals throughout the duration of the event.
These deals include fantastic value RSPs of only £11 on a range of big-brand multipacks including Cruzcampo, Hobgoblin Session
The power of four Four-packs continue to be a hugely popular format for convenience shoppers and once again the Premier Beer and Cider Festival has you covered with a plethora of great deals on 4-packs from leading brands. Deals include a special offer of £5.99 on 4x440ml packs of Madri, Staropramen, Brewdog Wingman and Peroni – all of which offer PORs of more than 20%!
Running from 22 May until 16 of July, the Premier Beer and Cider Festival lends retailers a refreshing opportunity to create attractive off shelf displays.
If space allows why not try creating a picnic-themed display in store using hampers, picnic cloth and apples to highlight some of the great deals on offer?
Themed off-shelf displays not only create an attractive point of difference in-store but also look great online too, so be sure to post pictures on your social media pages.
The Premier Beer and Cider Festival will be supported with a wide array of eye-catching point of sale material to help retailers make the most of the event and create engaging displays both on- and off-shelf.
Cider sales are growing by 4.5% year on year in Great Britain driven by Everyday, Flavoured and Premium ciders. In Scotland, the Cider Category is also experiencing growth of 1.8% year on year. [SmartView Convenience MAT Oct 23]
WITHIN LAGER, LOW AND NO PRODUCTS ARE SEEING GROWTH OF JUST UNDER 30% YEAR ON YEAR. [SMARTVIEW CONVENIENCE MAT OCT 23]
IPA, Thatchers Gold and many more! In addition, 10-packs of Stella Artois have moved to an incredible price point of just £10!
This year’s suite of materials for Premier retailer includes header boards, barkers, shelf strips and pennants. Corona Extra, Amstel, San Miguel, 1664 and
The Beer and Cider Festival also includes a striking ‘only £12’ deal on multipacks of Corona Extra, Amstel, San Miguel, 1664 and Budweiser.
The low and no category also continues to grow its share of the total market and this summer will prove no exception as shoppers seek out light and refreshing options to accompany their summertime festivities.
When it comes to cider, fresh and fruity flavours look set to continue dominating the NPD agenda and shopper demand this summer. In-fact, cider sales are currently growing by 4.5% year on year in Great Britain and 1.8% in Scotland, driven by Flavoured and Premium ciders.
Within independent convenience, the low to no alcohol category is now rapidly growing and worth more than £7.7m in sales a year.
Within lager specifically, low and no products are seeing growth of just under year on year. In-fact, low and no is one of only two sub-categories seeing growth in the channel – the other being craft. [SmartView Convenience MAT Oct 23]
Once again, Premier’s Beer and Cider Festival has everything you need to make the most of the trend with a jam-packed array of fruity fusions including an ‘Any 2 for £5’ deal on Kopparberg Mixed Fruit, Old Mout Pineapple and Raspberry, Rekorderlig Wild Berries and many more.
The Premier Beer and Cider Festival also includes an array of great deals on low and no beer and cider brands including 10-packs of Bud Light, which are on special offer for an RSP of just £7.99. Also on offer is Corona Ligera for an RSP of just £5.99 for 6x330ml. The newly launched light beer has an ABV of 3.2% and is designed to appeal to mid-week drinkers and those looking to cut down.
This summer has the makings of a cracker for retailers across the country, particularly if the sun shines for extended periods, but what is most likely to drive footfall and sales is a packed calendar of amazing sport. From the FA and Scottish Cup Finals, the Champions League Final to Wimbledon and the Olympics, there’s a backto-back calendar of top-class sport to drive shoppers to your door more often.
The undoubted key opportunity, however, is the Euro Finals 24 held from 14th June to 14th July in Germany. It’s the first Euro Finals
since the pandemic pushed the 2020 event back to 2021, when Italy beat England in the final at Wembley. With both England and Scotland having qualified this time around, it’s sure to be a massive opportunity for stores.
Both home nations will play in three matches each in the first round, guaranteeing at least six huge chances to cash in across a range of categories.
Additionally, Scotland have the unenviable task of facing hosts Germany in the opening match on 14 June. It may be a tough start to the campaign for the Scotland team, but it’s likely to be a great start to the footballing
14th Jun – 14th July
festival for stores with so much interest in the tournament.
The event features back-to-back matches for a full month and has the potential to provide retailers with an unbelievably strong start to the key summer trading period.
With the effects of the cost-of-living crisis still being felt, it also looks likely that many people will choose to watch the matches at home with family and friends, rather than venturing out to the pub. Indeed, the latest monthly Barclaycard Consumer Spending Report for April which combines hundreds of millions of customer transactions with
A fantastic summer of top-class sport is set to create endless opportunities for retailers to maximise footfall, sales and profits with the Euro Finals 24 in Germany set to be the pick of the sporting bunch.
consumer research, shows that almost half (49%) of shoppers are concerned about how much money they spend on food and drink. They are managing that challenge by reducing discretionary spending, with more than half of respondents (54%) saying they were cutting back on visits to pubs and restaurants.
That is likely to mean a wave of Big Nights In over the month of the tournament, representing a massive opportunity for retailers to grow sales in all key categories from soft drinks, snacks and confectionery to vapes, wine and spirits.
The biggest opportunity, however, is likely to come in the critical beer and cider categories.
As luck – and careful planning – would have it, the annual Premier Beer and Cider Festival coincides with the Euro Finals 24 this year, guaranteeing retailers a host of market-leading deals to drive up footfall, revenues and profits.
The Premier Beer and Cider Festival runs all the way through the Finals and features a huge selection of Group Exclusive products, NPD, first-to-market packs and fantastic deals. The Festival is also being supported as usual by a full POS and digital support pack to help you build the excitement in the run up to the opening match and make the tournament unmissable for your shoppers all the way through to the final on July 14th.
Friday 14th June OPENING MATCH
Germany v SCOTLAND – 8pm
SUNDAY 16TH JUNE
Serbia v ENGLAND – 8pm WEDNESDAY 19TH JUNE
SCOTLAND v Switzerland – 8pm
THURSDAY 20TH JUNE
Denmark v ENGLAND – 5pm
SUNDAY 23RD JUNE
SCOTLAND v Hungary – 8pm
TUESDAY 25TH JUNE
ENGLAND v Slovenia
SATURDAY 29TH JUNE
Round of 16 Matches – 5pm and 8pm
SUNDAY 30TH JUNE
Round of 16 Matches – 5pm and 8pm MONDAY 1ST JULY
Round of 16 Matches – 5pm and 8pm
TUESDAY 2ND JULY
Round of 16 Matches – 5pm and 8pm FRIDAY 5TH JULY
Quarter Finals – 5pm and 8pm
SATURDAY 6TH JULY
Quarter Finals – 5pm and 8pm
TUESDAY 9TH JULY
Semi Final – 8pm WEDNESDAY 10TH JULY
Semi Final – 8pm
SUNDAY 14TH JULY
Final – 8pm
Among the many exceptional offers available is a range of 8-, 10- and 12-pack deals on big brand beers and ciders like Cruzcampo, Stella Artois, Corona Extra, Amstel, San Miguel, 1664 and Budweiser as well as Hobgoblin Session IPA, Thatchers Gold and more.
Ranging from only £10 to £13 a pack, these multipack deals are sure to drive basket spend, especially if you are able to offer them chilled, something that the supermarkets can’t match.
If you don’t have sufficient chilled space, why not create visually-arresting floorstacks with these deals to grab customers’ attention and get them in the mood to start shopping for an exciting night in watching the match?
Cider comes into its own during the warmer summer months so expect sales to spike during the Euro Finals 24. Premier’s Beer and Cider Festival has a selection of deals and products to help you cash in.
From multipacks of Strongbow and Thatchers lines at just £11 to ‘Any 2 for £5’ deals on Kopparberg and Rekorderlig 500ml bottles, there’s a fantastic deal for every ciderloving football fan in June and July.
Last but not least, a simple way of adding excitement and driving sales during the Euro Finals 24 is to add some theatre in-store to
really bring the tournament to life for your shoppers.
Why not invest in some football strips for your team and hand out scarves to your shoppers? It’s quick and inexpensive and it can help elevate the whole experience.
All Premier retailers know the power of the many exclusive deals that Booker has been able to deliver. Exclusive and first-to-market products are proven winners when it comes to driving footfall, especially when retailers use social media effectively to reach as wide an audience as possible.
The Premier Beer and Cider Festival will feature a range of fantastic Group Exclusive products that will help you set yourself apart from the competition. These include Brewdog’s new Cold Beer in 10x440ml multipacks – the perfect product to light up your social media channels and stand apart from the competition.
If you don’t already take advantage of the SocioConnect solution that’s available, it’s certainly worth looking it – see our feature on p82. SocioConnect is an innovative solution that lets retailers manage all of their social media content across all popular platforms all from a single, easy-to-use app. Importantly, the app also makes it easier than ever to access Booker’s centrally produced posts and then copy them across to your own social media pages in minutes with a minimum of fuss.
This could help save time around the Euro Finals 24 when Premier will be providing a wave of professionally created content to help grow footfall and sales around the tournament.
UK’S NO. 1 ENERGY BRAND
82% WOULD BUY A FOREST FRUIT FLAVOURED ENERGY DRINK IF AVAILABLE2 RED BULL FLAVOURS GROW 3X FASTER THAN MARKET FLAVOURS1
Retailers from across the country raced to the Booker 2024 Retail Trade Shows in their droves, keen to grab a slice of the many fantastic deals on offer and see the best of Booker’s choice, price and service.
Live at Doncaster Racecourse on 14 March and at Sandown on 20 March, both shows offered retailers the chance to take advantage of a great mix of exclusive trade show-only deals.
Representatives from hundreds of leading suppliers were on hand to talk retailers through their key initiatives and developments for 2024 – and of course to offer bags of tasty treats to take away.
Retailers could also enjoy a range of cookery demonstrations and the chance to see and sample some of the very latest new
product developments and deals about to hit the shelves at the NPD and Exclusives stand.
They were also treated to a showcase of key brand initiatives, including the opportunity to get up close and personal with interactive food-to-go zones.
Premier retailers could touch, taste and talk all about Premier’s vibrant Refresh@Premier concept, including the many drinks solutions available.
Retailers also had a fantastic opportunity to learn more about Booker’s Exclusive ownbrand ranges including latest innovations from the Jack’s and Euroshopper brands.
And of course, with ample seating, great views and food and drinks aplenty, both shows also provided the perfect place for Premier retailers to meet, greet and exchange ideas with each other – as well as key Booker team members.
Booker’s sterling sustainability efforts were also on display at the Booker Planet stand where Booker’s sustainability manager Cath Marsdon and her team were on hand to talk to retailers about the five pillars of its ‘Better Trolley For A Better Planet’ initiative and the many ways in which Booker is working to better serve its customers, communities and the planet. On display were new Jack's milk chocolate covered peanuts and raisins which are coated in Rainforest Alliance certified chocolate and plastic-free Euroshopper baby wipes.
M286314 24pk M286315 4pk
M286316 24pk M286317 4pk
M286327 28pk M286329 4pk
RETAILER VIEW
Premier Ryde, Isle of Wight
“This is the first time I’ve been to one of the Booker shows and I’m really enjoying the experience. It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet key suppliers, sample new products and see so many of Premier’s new concepts such as the Refresh bar and the Cossiga units up close.”
RETAILER VIEW
PIRATHEEPAN THILGARAJAH
Premier St Vincents, Isle of Wight
“It’s great to be here and get the opportunity to meet so many fellow Premier retailers and key suppliers all under one roof. There’s also some great new products to sample and some very good trade showonly deals which we’ve been making the most of.”
The shows are always a fantastic opportunity to talk to retailers about new products and latest initiatives and we’ve been delighted to see such a great crowd today. Driving value is a key focus for the market at the moment and because of that the big focus for us today is our new Jack Daniels PMP packs. 70cl bottles now come with a PMP of £23.49 and our 30cl bottles with a PMP of £12.99.
Will Old, Brown Forman“The canned wine market is in massive growth right now so it’s fantastic to be here and be able to speak with so many retailers at the start of what should be a fantastic summer festival season. We’ve had a lot of interest in our newest launch for Most Wanted cans which is a 0.5% sparkling Sauvignon Blanc. With its canned format, low ABV and just 28 calories per serve, its hitting all the key trends of the moment.”
David Mooney, Off-Piste Wines
“The better for you and protein bars categories are continuing to report strong growth and we’ve had a lot of interest in our new Fulfil Chocolate and Salted Caramel Protein and Vitamin bar today. We have a range of seven flavours with more in the pipeline and a great trade showonly deal offering retailers a POR of 40%.”
Marco Querci Della Rovere, Ferrero“The Booker shows always provide the best opportunity for us to talk to retailers and let them get up close and personal with new products as we head into the crucial summer ice cream season. This year the Walls brand has some fantastic new products that we are shouting about, including Magnum Euphoria Pink Lemonade and Magnum Chill Blueberry Cookie.”
Jo Briggs, Unilever
Despite some light appearing at the end of the cost-of-living tunnel, the latest market data shows clearly that shoppers are prioritising cutting the cost of their weekly shop more than ever – creating a huge opportunity for great quality, great value ranges like Jack’s and Euro Shopper.
The latest monthly Barclays Consumer Spend Report for April shows a record 73% of shoppers are looking to cut the cost of their shop with many turning to own-brand products to help them achieve that goal.
Encouragingly, consumer confidence in their own household finances reached a 28-month high at 71% in April as food price inflation fell from 5.0% to 4.0%, but it remains clear that the data, which combines hundreds of millions of customer transactions with consumer research, shows that shoppers remain committed to cutting what they spend each week.
Premier has quickly recognised this opportunity and is helping retailers boost their profits by increasing the PORs available on key everyday lines like the Jack’s cheese range.
The Jack’s cheese range features 11 different products from Jack’s Mature Cheddar and Jack’s Red Leicester to Jack’s Grated Mozzarella and Jack’s Grated Mature Cheddar.
All 11 of the products are price marked at just £2.49 providing shoppers with the reassurance they need they are getting the best possible value as well as the exceptional quality they have come to expect of the Jack’s range.
Just as important, until 16th July retailers can now secure huge PORs of 43.8% on every product in the Jack’s cheese range when sold individually. The range is available to shoppers on an ‘Any 2 for £4’ deal to drive basket spend but even when sold in this deal, retailers still make 30.0% POR.
Also available until 16th July is a special deal offering retailers £1.80 off a case of Euro Shopper bacon. Available in both Unsmoked Rindless Back Bacon and Smoked Rindless Back Bacon variants, the products cost just £9.00 a case and deliver PORs of 41.9%.
43.8% POR
and available to order now
Mallows are worth £30m, growing at +20% in the market
Source: Circana,Confectionery category, Value Sales 52wks to 21/01/2024, Symbols & Independents
Case size: 7x330g WSP: £13.69
£2.50
21.8%
Case size: 12x500ml
WSP: £6.75 RSP: £1.25 POR: 46%
Case size: 1x800g
£0.72
£0.89
19.1%
Case size: 1x6pk WSP: £0.75
£0.99
24.2%
Case size: 1x800g WSP: £1.15
£1.69
32%
Case size: 15x500ml
£1.50
22%
BREWDOG
Case size: 10x440ml
WSP: £6.99
RSP: £11
POR: 23.8%
Case size: 6x75cl
WSP: £39.99
RSP: £10.49
POR: 23.8%
Case size: 4x330ml
WSP: £17.99
RSP: £5.99
POR: 39.9%
Case size: 10x180g
WSP: £24.35
RSP: £3.99
POR: 39%
Case size: 6x75cl WSP: £39.99
£10.49 POR: 23.8%
FROM THE NUMBER 1 UK CIDER BRAND*
TAKE A BOW.
Danny Shore is Business Development Manager with Collect My Waste, a Booker partner business that makes arranging regular trade waste and recycling collections quick, easy and cost effective.
Danny has been with the business for almost seven years having started initially with sister company ACM, a fullservice waste and recycling business focused on helping large-scale businesses achieve their ‘zero waste to landfill’ ambitions. Last year, just 0.03% of the waste managed by ACM and Collect My Waste in the UK went to landfill.
ACM works primarily with large-scale organisations such as shopping centres, pub chains and even zoos.
Danny spent around two years with ACM before joining Collect My Waste in July 2019 as a Sales Consultant. Collect My Waste had been established to service smaller businesses and, in his very first year, Danny grew the customer base from just 10 customers to over 300.
He was subsequently promoted to Business Development Manager, the role he holds today.
This issue we catch up with Danny Shore of Booker partner Collect My Waste, which offers specially discounted deals to Premier retailers on its waste management services.
Absolutely! Collect My Waste was created in 2017 as a sister company to ACM, who focus on servicing large sites such as shopping centres, hospitals, food manufacturers and distributors and zoo’s. It was clear that smaller businesses could benefit from our services, infrastructure and experience and that’s where the idea for Collect My Waste came from.
We offer all of the standard waste services to Premier retailers including general waste, recycling, glass and food. We don’t deal with some of the more complex waste categories like hazardous waste because our focus is very simple: we want it to be as quick and easy as possible for retailers. Essentially, Premier retailers can manage their entire waste and recycling goals from their phone or PC. It couldn’t be simpler.
We offer both a website – collectmywaste. com – and an app. All that retailers have to do is visit the website or download the app then quickly set up an account with an email address and a password.
Once they have an account set up, they can access everything they need in one place, from anywhere. They can view their collection schedules, view waste analytics for their store, see their invoice history and, of course, download and print invoices.
When retailers first create an account with us, we work with them to establish their precise needs and the quote they then get will reflect their specific requirements. Typically in a Premier store, we’d be doing weekly collections but we can do them more or less frequently than that if necessary. The minimum collection cycle is a fortnight and we do have some stores with three or four collections a week but generally speaking, a weekly cycle suits most retailers.
Yes, we are usually able to accommodate requested days. We work with a number of major, trusted specialist partners to handle the collections, but we can usually find a day that works for the retailer. To be honest, it tends not to be a big issue on a weekly schedule, but we can be pretty flexible.
Of course. We understand that things change fast in retail. So if a retailer needs more bins, or fewer bins, or they want to add other services that weren’t in the original agreement, all we need is a couple of weeks’ notice and we can sort that out for them without having to start a whole new contract.
As I said, we aim to be a quick and easy service for retailers so everything they need is included in the price. The bins, the rental fees and the collections are all included. Even if a wheel falls off a bin or the lid breaks, we’ll sort that too. All bin maintenance is free.
Not very much is the honest answer! Depending upon which services they need, we provide the relevant bins. All they have to do is put the waste or recycling in the correct bins and it will all be collected and the empty bins returned ready for action.
All they have to do is meet some very basic criteria: for dry mixed recycling bins they can simply load the waste straight into the bin or in clear plastic bags. With glass recycling, the glass waste can be dropped loose into the bin and with general waste, all waste should be in black bags.
On food waste we work with two big collection partners so, depending upon where the retailer’s store is, they’ll either just put the food waste loose into the bin provided or they’ll be given a lined bin which has a biodegradable bin liner fitted. The collection trucks for the loose bins have jetwashes built into them so the bins go through a proper cleaning cycle before being returned to the store.
Yes, we agreed a discounted deal with Booker for Premier retailers which allows them to save around 3% on every collection, which quickly mounts up over a year. We already work with a number of Premier retailers and have been regular attendees at the Booker Trade Shows.
All they have to do is quote their Booker customer number when requesting an instant quote on the app or the website and the discount will automatically be applied.
The costs obviously depend upon the size and number of bins that retailers require and the frequency of collection they need. To give you an example, however, our glass and food bins come in 240ltr size, very similar to household wheelie bins and they cost £5.72 for glass and £9.25 for food. Typical prices for our largest bin, a 1100 ltr bin, start at £15.91 for general waste and £10.76 for dry mixed recycling. We also offer a mid-sized 660ltr bin where prices start at £14.30 for general waste and £10.14 for dry mixed recycling.
Yes, and by quite a margin! It’s one of the things that I always point out to retailers: it’s always cheaper to have recycling collected than general waste, so it makes sense to sort your waste than just sticking it all in the general waste bin as you can save a lot of money over a year that way.
In April 2024, it became a requirement for all businesses in Wales who create more than 5kg of food waste a week, to segregate the food waste and have it collected separately from other waste. At the same time, Mixed Recycling services were mandated to be split into Paper & Card as one waste stream and Plastics, Cans & Cartons as a second waste stream.
In Scotland, the above requirement for food waste has been in place for many years, with the same 5kg threshold of needing a food waste service.
In England, similar food waste regulations will be enforced as of April 2025 but the threshold is business with 10 or more employees.
They just have to visit collectmywaste.com or download the app. Like I said, quick and easy!
Social media is, as most retailers will be well aware, one of the most powerful tools available to help drive footfall, reach new potential shoppers, highlight promotions and engage with the local community.
Finding the time, however, to manage social media channels, create regular posts and answer any queries or comments from shoppers can be difficult with so much going on in a busy store.
That’s why Booker has recently relaunched a fantastic solution that can make posting regular, high-quality content to multiple social media networks quicker and easier than ever before – and it’s entirely free.
Relaunched at the recent Booker Trade Shows, SocioConnect is an innovative solution that lets retailers manage all of their social media content across all popular networks
More than 300 Premier stores have now started making use of Booker’s exciting free service which takes the stress and hard work out of efficiently managing all of your social media networks in once place.
all from a single app. No more having to log into each social media network individually, SocioConnect allows you to manage all of your networks from one place.
All you have to do is register, then download the SocioConnect app to your phone or, if you prefer, you can do it all from your desktop.
So it’s easy to understand why more than 300 Premier retailers have now signed up to use the completely free service and take their social media activity to an entirely new level.
Once you've signed up and connected your channels, you are ready to start turbocharging your social media output, driving more footfall, attracting new shoppers and engaging more effectively with your local community.
Did you know that so far in 2024, Premier stores that are signed up to SocioConnect have received an average reach of 2.8k people per month? They also have an average of 22 posts going out onto their social media per month!
The app even makes responding to comments on your pages a piece of cake. Again, you can do it all, across every network, all from within the SocioConnect app.
Additionally, the app has some powerful functionality that allows retailers to track the performance of every post, helping them work out which posts are most popular and allowing them to continually tailor their new posts to achieve maximum reach and engagement.
On top of all that, the app allows you to access Booker’s centrally produced videos and images. The solution provides you with a full bank of easily accessible content that has been professionally designed and will help you enhance your own pages.
A varied range of promotional posts are available, as well as engaging content to entertain your social media followers.
The app allows retailers to plan posts in advance to ensure that they appear on
{We only had about 200 followers on Facebook and within 10 weeks we were up to more than 1,200 and it’s growing all the time. I can thoroughly recommend it to other Premier retailers. SocioConnect is a game-changer!
Anila Ali, Premier Ali’s Convenience Store, Tranent
the network at exactly the right time. That could be to coincide with the launch of a new promotional period, for instance, or to highlight new products that are being listed in-store.
The SocioConnect solution was initially trialled in a 30-store pilot and resulted in a mammoth 180% increase in posts and a 179% increase in followers!
One retailer who has been thrilled with the success of SocioConnect is Anila Ali who runs Premier Ali’s Convenience Store in Tranent, just outside Edinburgh. Ali’s was the 500th Premier store to open in Scotland.
As part of the re-opening, Anila was keen to improve her social media presence, as she explains: “Social media is really important for us but, as many retailers find, it can be difficult to make time to manage our pages, create new posts regularly and respond to comments.
“When we heard about SocioConnect we
were really keen to try it out – and it works like a dream. It’s so easy to use and it saves so much time, it’s unbelievable. We re-share many of the Booker central posts and we also add our own bespoke posts and I have to say it has worked really well.
Sign up to use Booker’s centrally created posts and copy onto your social pages for FREE!
l You can opt in to use Booker’s centrally produced posts on your own social pages – either all posts, or just cherry pick those that relate to your store.
l Manage all your social networks from one place –no more having to log into each social media network individually.
l Track each post's performance.
l Message shoppers directly and respond to their messages.
l Plan promotional posts in advance, or let the app do it for you.
l Compatible with phone and/or desktop.
l It’s super easy and it’s FREE!
re-opened the store and within up than 1,200 and it’s growing all saw store every week and a lot of that media presence. I can thoroughly
“We only had about 200 followers on Facebook when we re-opened the store and within 10 weeks we were up to more than 1,200 and it’s growing all the time. We saw around 1,000 more customers coming to the store every week and a lot of that is down to our upweighted social media presence. I can thoroughly recommend it to other Premier retailers. It’s a game-changer!”
1 Visit https://www. socioimplementation. com/booker-stores-signup or scan the QR code below, then enter your email address and store number. You will then be sent an email to allow you to create a password.
2 Download the SocioConnect phone app and log-in. Or you can use your desktop.
3 Link your social media pages to access branded content and scheduled posts from Booker. You’re good to go!
{Socio Connect relieves all of my headaches. It’s very easy to setup and it gives me peace of mind knowing that it is there. Even if I don’t do anything, posts are still going out on my social media. It’s brilliant!
Jalil Ali, AM2PM Premier, Liverpool
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Booker’s pioneering project to introduce bee hives to its sites has continued to flourish in recent months with apiaries now thriving at its Hatfield, Eccles and Haydock sites.
Booker’s commitment to helping make the planet a little better every day is by now extremely familiar to retailers and there have been many fantastic initiatives and projects along the way. And there is one unusual project that perfectly demonstrates the creativity, commitment and passion of the outstanding team at Booker: the famous Booker Bees!
Keen readers of Talking Shop will recall that back in 2018 a group of willing colleague volunteers set out a plan to start an apiary at Hatfield Distribution Centre. The volunteer beekeepers, with the help of the local beekeepers association (BBKA), soon had three hives set up on an unused area of the site and filled with colonies of bees.
While this was clearly an interesting and fun project for everyone involved at Booker, there was a serious and important point to it. Bees play a crucial role in pollinating plants which then contributes to the production of various fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds that are essential in human and animal diets.
Neonicotinoids, or ‘neonics,’ are a group of pesticides that were once widely used in the UK until a growing body of scientific evidence highlighted the damaging impact that they were having on our pollinators. After years of campaigning and public pressure, these chemicals were banned for outdoor use in 2018. A single teaspoon of this type of chemical can kill 1.25 billion honeybees, enough to fill four lorry loads.
Even tiny traces of these toxic chemicals play havoc with bees’ ability to forage and navigate, with catastrophic consequences for the survival of their colony. Sadly, for the fourth year in a row, the government has temporarily lifted this ban again instead of embracing solutions that work with nature. (Source: Bumblebee Conservation Trust)
Their overall role in pollination helps ensure a stable and diverse food supply, so it is important we look after the bees.
Like many animals, bees are greatly affected by climate change. Warmer weather and changes in the environment cause some flowers to bloom earlier or later than usual, leaving bees with fewer food sources at the start of the season. Bees also suffer habitat loss from development, abandoned farms, and the lack of bee-friendly flowers, so we need to protect and manage bee-friendly habitats such as grasslands, coastal areas, brownfield sites and farmland to help save the bees.
This is precisely where the Booker bees project comes into its own. Thanks to the dedicated volunteers, Hatfield has managed to maintain the apiary ever since. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, as some hives were lost during harsh winters, but the team of volunteer
beekeepers worked hard and managed to replace the lost bees with swarms from the local BBKA. The team even rehomed a swarm to the apiary that decided to settle on the gatehouse entrance!
In 2022, the Booker Bees success at Hatfield was shared on the ‘OurBooker’ intranet site that all Booker colleagues use as a source of news, information, support and advice.
The Booker Bees project was also shared with the many Booker ‘Planet Champions’ at sites across the country. As a result, two further Booker sites – Eccles and Haydock –got in touch to say that they too were keen to introduce apiaries.
The teams at Eccles and Haydock then set about finding and preparing suitable areas for hosting an apiary, recruiting colleague volunteers and learning new skills from the local beekeeping communities.
Sara Summers-Muir is a Commercial Analyst within the Commercial Finance team at Booker Eccles and was heavily involved in setting up an apiary at the site. She explains: “I'd seen an article in one of the Planet Updates that we receive about the apiaries at Hatfield which suggested contacting the Sustainability Team if you wanted to set up an apiary at the site you work at. I replied and that's where it all began! I was quickly introduced to a colleague who worked in a nearby branch, Ertan Demir, who as luck would have it is actually a beekeeper. Having absolutely no experience myself, this gave me the confidence to move forward and see that this could be a reality.”
Sara reached out to different teams in the business and contacted Douglas Waight who was involved in the original Hatfield apiary to get lots of great advice. She also spoke to the
property team to ensure that they were on board.
“Luckily everyone was very positive about the idea and once we picked a suitable area for the bees, we could start ordering all the equipment and the bees themselves,” says Sara. “Ertan provided a list of everything we needed and even suggested local suppliers. The property team arranged with our gardeners to prepare the area as we needed fencing and some concrete bases for the hives to sit on. The area looks brilliant now, with two wooden hives in place!”
That whole process began in August last year and the bees arrived this April. “Although that is a relatively small timeframe, it felt like forever!” laughs Sara. “I find bees fascinating and knowing how important they are to our planet drives me to keep going.”
Ertan, a Catering Development Manager and the expert behind the project, adds: “I am a beekeeper in my spare time and have 15 colonies of my own. When I saw that our colleagues in Hatfield had an apiary of their own, Sara and I thought it would be great to reach out to see if we could replicate this at Eccles. The first two colonies were introduced to the site in April and seem to be settling in well.”
Wendy Pennington has worked at Booker’s Haydock Regional Distribution Centre as a Warehouse Administrator for 11 years. Here she tells the story of how she has helped bring an apiary to the site.
“I first got interested when I found an article on the OurBooker intranet site about the apiary at Hatfield and I thought this would be a great idea for Haydock. I contacted the Sustainability Team to ask about the possibility and, as a result, we got a visit from Douglas Waight who had been instrumental in setting up the Hatfield apiary. We had a walk around site and Douglas found us the perfect spot for an apiary!
“We began preparing the area, removing some tree stumps and laying down some tree bark, we then ordered some fencing to create a boundary, along with a shed to store all the equipment. I was introduced to a local beekeeper who kindly agreed to be our mentor here and he invited me to visit some of his hives on a local farm close to where I live.
“During the visits I was given so much information and had the experience of opening the hives and learning about what to look out for in preparation for when our bees arrive. Eddie, our mentor, agreed to take me to collect the bees when they were ready for us, to guide us through the following weeks, and to visit the site as and when we need any advice or help.
“We plan to continue working on the area around the apiary in the coming months, planting flowers to supply our bees with as much pollen and nectar as we can. Wild flower seeds will be planted, and we have someone who is starting some sunflowers for us to plant. We will only start to see the real benefits next year, but we plan to create a natural environment for our bees to thrive in.
“Going forward, we are confident our hives will be successful and provide us with a good supply of honey! Hopefully we can add another hive in the near future but for now we are just enjoying working on this fascinating project, gaining some new skills and contributing to protecting our environment.
“And after all that work, I’m delighted to confirm that we finally took delivery of our bees during the May Bank Holiday. They appear to be settling in well and happy in their new hives – and the team at Booker Haydock is buzzing too!”
Booker’s successful partnership with Yext has been extended, helping Premier retailers to improve their all-important web search results and boost sales into the bargain.
The world wide web has been revolutionary in its ability to help customers quickly find what they want and help retailers grow footfall and sales. Now, thanks to a new partnership between Booker and online data management platform Yext, Premier retailers have a meaningful and significant opportunity to drive even more shoppers and spend to their door.
If you’ve ever spent time trying to ensure that all your various online listings and data are correct and up to date, you’ll know how time consuming that process can be. Regularly updating every listing on every major search engine as well as various relevant directories is clearly important, but it’s a huge task – and that’s precisely where Yext comes in.
Available to all Premier retailers absolutely free, Yext enables stores to keep all their online information in one place and update all major search engines and directories with just one simple click.
Booker has recently announced that it has now extended its partnership with Yext, representing a significant investment but it is forecast to be money well spent. It is estimated that Yext could help generate a £20m retail sales opportunity across the group.
Yext is an online data management platform where you can update your business information once in just one place and it then updates it everywhere for you.
It helps you to manage key information about your business, such as its address, phone number, opening hours, products, menus, services and more, across all search engines and social media platforms. No more inaccurate opening times or out-of-date information!
Critically, Yext also helps to improve your store’s visibility and ranking in web searches. In other words, ‘you’ appear much closer to the top of the page in online searches.
77% increase in ‘Get Directions’ searches on Google Maps £20m Sales increase forecast
Yext will help Premier store owners to ensure that Google and all other major search engines have your most up-todate information on their platforms.
In trials, a 77% increase in ‘Get Directions’ searches was seen for stores on Google Maps – proving that Yext really can help to drive footfall to your store.
Nothing! Booker is providing access to Yext for all Premier retailers free of charge.
If you haven’t claimed your Google business listing, then you don’t have to do anything.
If you have claimed your business on Google, then follow the guidance below:
If you have already claimed ownership of your Google business listing, you will have received an email from Google with the subject line: ‘You’ve received an ownership request’.
l Click on the blue ‘Respond’ button.
l Click on the link to accept Booker as an owner of the profile.
l If you don’t respond to your Google Listings Permissions Email, Google will send a postcard in the post.
l The postcard will contain a five-digit code and link to complete your registration.
l Following launch, you will receive an email from Yext, inviting you to register with the platform.
l Click on the link at the bottom of the email.
l Set up your account and password.
l Your store information can be updated in the Knowledge Graph panel and Entities sub menu. All amendable information is indicated using a pen icon.
l You can also enable SMS updates to make changes using your mobile phone.
Harnessing the power of Yext, Premier retailers really do have the opportunity to be at their digital bests, improving their web search results and ultimately boosting footfall and sales into their stores.
Talk to your Premier RDM or visit help.yext.com for more details and extra help on how to use Yext.
James Lowman shares some of the insight he gained from the recent ACS Conference in Birmingham.
Our annual conference is always a fantastic way to pick up nuggets of information and insight that will be useful to retailers and suppliers in upcoming discussions about their businesses and this year I was really impressed with the learnings that our speakers and panellists shared on the day. Here are some of the highlights of what was discussed, insights that I hope will resonate with many of you reading this.
First, we heard the idea that space constraints are a driver of innovation. When stores have space constraints, retailers need to adapt, prioritise, and embrace technology that can make their stores more efficient. For example, Zabka stores in Poland utilise fully automated food-to-go offers and day part marketing through the use of technology to boost profits. Paul Stone, who operates as a multi-site Spar retailer, ensures that he
The recent ACS Conference gave delegates the opportunity to share insight, views, news and innovations from across the sector.
cuts space from underperforming categories when needed to ensure profits can remain maximised.
Next up, we heard about being measured with change – essentially taking a ‘two steps forward, one step back’ approach. It was highlighted that it is important and often quite normal to drop failed initiatives, as this is a part of natural innovation and will ultimately lead to growth.
Thirdly, it was clear during the day that the rate of change is speeding up. While retailers may not always find themselves being able to adopt every new trend, they can benefit from embracing innovative new products and making space for them to shine.
In the first of our panel sessions with independents and large retailers, we heard about the importance of a loyal customer base and not just a loyalty card offer. While loyalty cards can be powerful engagement tools, retailers should always prioritise building a
loyal customer base, which many retailers have managed to do despite having no loyalty card scheme in their stores.
Getting maximum value from every colleague in store is more important than valuing space. Retailers should consider using technology to remove unnecessary tasks for colleagues and protect them from the rise of retail crime, and this will ultimately help retailers keep the employees they cannot afford to lose.
Finally, we were all inspired by the stories of care-experienced people and the employment opportunities that have improved their lives. Retailers can work harder to find new colleagues in places that might be overlooked, such as care-experienced people, refugees, exoffenders, and ex-forces personnel. With the core value of the convenience sector being to treat every customer and colleague with respect, this is a natural place for all to feel welcome regardless of their background.
