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Christchurch Premier store claims Retailer of the Year Award
A family run Premier store in Christchurch in Dorset has been named Retailer of the Year by The Daily Echo newspaper.
INBRIEF YOUNGER SHOPPERS EMBRACE DATA A new report from data
A Premier Store on The Grove in Christchurch, near Bournemouth, has been named as the winner of The Daily Echo newspaper’s Retailer of the Year award. The store is run by the Gunduz family who bought the store 11 years ago and has been praised by the local community as the “champion’s league of shops” after supporting elderly residents and young families in the area during the pandemic. When the first lockdown started, the family chose to focus on supporting their local community in whatever way they could. Huseyin, the eldest brother, said: “During the lockdown we were pushed to the limits and one of our fundamentals during that time was that the prices of the items were selling would not change, lockdown or no lockdown. “At the height of the pandemic, business was not the number one priority. It was about providing value for money because, due to people being on furlough, everyone was feeling the squeeze.”
and digital experts TWC has revealed that two thirds of 18-34 year old shoppers are “happy for retailers to collect data about their spending and purchasing habits if they personalise offers better in return”. The TWC Savvy Shopping report also highlights how almost half of younger shoppers are struggling to make ends meet financially and are therefore more likely to be seeking out deals or
The store helped to source specific items for customers, as well as launching a delivery service, free of charge, to shoppers who were forced to isolate. Huseyin added: “We had to be especially warm and welcoming to our shopper because for some of them, we might have been the first person or the only person they might see all day.”
shopping in better value stores. Overall, 35% of shoppers claim to be opting for better value stores to save money on groceries, whilst the same proportion are hunting around for the best deals on everyday food items. Deal hunting was highest for Millennials at 40%.
Essential spending ‘up 11.1% in 2021’ The latest data from Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card
transactions, has revealed that spending on ‘essential’ items like food and drink rose 11.1% in 2021. Consumer spending in total increased 5.9% in 2021 compared to 2019, fuelled by growing demand for convenience. Online food and drink spend also continued to grow substantially, peaking in March as it rose 119.7% as many households continued
to rely on home deliveries for food shopping. Jose Carvalho, Head of Consumer Products at Barclaycard, said: “2021 was another challenging year. However, categories such as local food retailers, continued to do well, thanks to demand for convenient, local, and athome shopping experiences. Local shops continue to be supported by communityspirited shoppers.”
Sarah Coleman, Communications Director at TWC comments: “Given that younger shoppers are more likely to be struggling financially and are also more likely to be hunting for deals, surely there is an opportunity to create a loyalty proposition that resonates with these shoppers. Understanding the purchasing behaviour of these shoppers is critical but their loyalty is not likely to be easily won, so there must be clear benefits for participating.”
February 2022 TalkingShop
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