Easter grew in Independent and Symbol stores in 2022* and there is an opportunity to grow further in 2023 with the right range and by creating eye catching displays
º Buying a brand they recognise is the most important factor for a shopper at Easter and Cadbury is the No.1 Brand.***
º 68% of shoppers buy Easter confectionery from a secondary location.***
º 66% of shoppers buy both Easter Seasonal and Standard Confectionery so highlight both in store.**
9th April ’23
º Get creative with your displays around your store.
º Make sure you have a value offering for last minute purchases, but also encourage tradeup to larger eggs.
º Stocking new products can really engage shoppers.
stocK up on the best selling core lines and ensure aVailability up to easter sunday.
stocK the cadbury Must stocKeggs
eXcIteyour shopperswIth shelleggs FIlled wIth theIrcadbury FaVourItes
Easter is one week earlier in 2023 so it is even more important to get a fast start. Stock up early and create great displays to engage shoppers.
º Over half of Easter Confectionery is consumed before Easter!**
º 70% of early Easter sales are Mini Eggs, Self Eat Eggs and Easter Block.
º Easter Confectionery shoppers have a 43% higher basket spend than average!***
º Signpost the Season early in-store and make your customers aware on social media.
º Focus on Self Eat, Mini Eggs and Sharing Block during the fast start.
º As 40% of Easter products are bought impulsively***, display self eat products in high footfall locations to encourage additional purchases.**
MaKe sure you are stocKing the best selling iMpulse & sharing products wIth strong VIsIbIlIty
A very warm welcome to your first issue of Talking Shop in 2023, with a whole new year and a world of opportunities ahead of us. There’s no doubt that 2023 will be another challenging one for many shoppers but we firmly believe that Premier has the offer to help grow your business.
It was interesting to read the very recent Barclaycard report which found that almost half of all shoppers are turning increasingly to own-brand products in order to secure the very best value from their hard-earned cash in 2023. With utility bills continuing to increase, it’s clear that shoppers will be more focused on value than ever before.
The great news is that in Jack’s and Euro Shopper, Premier retailers have the products to offer outstanding value everyday without shoppers having to sacrifice on quality. The entry-level Euro Shopper range is likely to be in big demand over coming months so it’s worthwhile reviewing your range to ensure that you have everything your shoppers will need.
In this issue you’ll find features on both of these outstanding exclusive own-label ranges and find out more about how you can drive footfall, sales and profits with Jack’s and Euro Shopper while also delivering the fantastic value and quality that today’s shoppers are looking for.
With sustainability more important than ever, Booker has partnered with three great organisations to help Premier retailers completely eliminate food waste –you can read more about that inside too. As well as eradicating food waste, these solutions can also help you recover and minimise costs as well as sending a positive message to your communities.
Besides all that, there’s the usual mix of customer profiles, new product information, news and views.
I hope you enjoy the issue and wish you all fantastic trading in 2023!
COVER STORY
Billy Gatt opens stunning new Premier store in the fishing village of Whitehills in Banffshire.
THE THREE BIG STORIES
7 Booker Trade Shows
Register your place for Booker’s 2023 trade shows
32 Supreme Value
Euroshopper is tailormade for the current times
48 Waste management
How to achieve zero food waste
If you’ve got news, tips or feature ideas, please get in touch with Talking Shop:
EMAIL: talkingshop@booker.co.uk
DISCLAIMER:
Martyn Parkinson, Sales Director – Booker Wholesale
Stunning new Premier store created in the fishing village of Whitehills in Banff. 26 Waste management
Booker has secured a fantastic new deal to help retailers reduce their waste management costs.
28 Eliminate food waste
Booker partnerships let retailers completely eradicate food waste in three easy steps.
30 Maximium value
The Euro Shopper own-brand range is perfect for today’s hard-pressed shoppers.
36 Jack up profits
The initial roll out of the exclusive Jack’s ownbrand range is now complete.
41 New products
Some of the latest new lines to hit the shelves.
42 Time to shine!
A retailer’s guide to entering industry awards.
47 ACS viewpoint
ACS encourages retailers to embrace safer community initiatives.
Booker Trade Shows 2023
Doncaster Racecourse 16 March
Sandown Racecourse 23 March
Shows open from 9.30am to 4.00pm Visit booker.co.uk to register and for
Premier retailers are invited to register now for Booker’s innovation-packed Trade Shows, set to take place in March 2023.
Held at Doncaster Racecourse on 16 March and Sandown Racecourse in Surrey on 23 March, both shows will be packed with top suppliers plus an array of new exhibitors offering retailers the very best in choice, price and service.
Retailers attending the shows will also be able to see and sample new products and take advantage of Exclusive Trade Show-only deals plus marketleading WOW deals.
Free products, inspiring cookery demonstrations and an array of fantastic competitions will also be on offer.
The shows will also give retailers the perfect
l New exhibitors
l Top suppliers and new products
l Mar ket-leading WOW deals
l Meet and greet with Booker Teams
l Cooking demonstrations and sampling sessions
l Free products and competitions
l Exclusive Trade Show-only deals
l Hundreds of Jack’s products exclusively available to Booker Group
opportunity to meet and talk with Booker Teams as well as fellow retailers.
Retailers will also be able to find the latest on the Jack’s own brand range which is exclusively available to the Booker Group.
Please visit booker.co.uk for more information and to register your place.
Total consumer spending grew 10.6% in 2022 compared to 5.9% in 2021, as the lifting of all Covid-19 restrictions encouraged people to shop more in-store and eat on the go more often, according to Barclaycard.
Bricks and mortar retail stores saw spending rise 8.3% while online retail spending fell by a significant 12.2%. Spending on essential items such as food and drink grew 6.3% in 2022.
Unsurprisingly, spending on utilities rocketed by 32.%, with shoppers telling Barclaycard that they were increasingly concerned about rising household bills. There was also a 28.3% rise in fuel spend driven by surging petrol and diesel prices and increased car use.
Some 69% of shoppers said they were actively looking for ways to reduce the cost of their weekly shop with more than half (51%) switching to own brand products.
Unwrap greater choice, price and service at Booker’s 2023 Trade Shows in March.
The 10th annual Veganuary campaign saw a record-breaking sign-up rate of one person every 2.4 seconds, according to new YouGov research. The campaign saw people pledge to go vegan for the whole month of January and represents a clear opportunity for retailers to target this growing market.
YouGov research shows 9% of Brits have taken the pledge at least once since it launched in 2014, with 53% of past participants having done Veganuary more than once, and 21% having done it four times or more.
In total, 85% of nonvegan past participants have reduced their consumption of animal products since doing Veganuary, while 23% of non-vegan participants became vegan.
There has also been a marked increase in plant-based consumption among people who have not taken part in Veganuary, with 37% saying they eat more plant-based food now than 10 years ago.
The government has announced that it will scale back the energy support scheme it provides to UK businesses when the current scheme ends in March. The current scheme effectively controls the wholesale price that is the main component of businesses’ energy bills. After extensive consultation, the government will be moving away from this model on 1 April and instead providing a subsidy to electricity bills of 1.96p per kilowatt hour for all business customers paying over a minimum rate.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “Wholesale energy prices are falling but to provide reassurance against the risk of prices rising again we are launching the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme, giving businesses the certainty they need to plan ahead.”
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman described the new package, however, as “woefully indadequate”. He said: “By moving to a subsidy on energy bills and failing to target specific sectors or those worst affected, the government has spread £5.5bn support over every type of business, the
result being a level of subsidy that is ultimately pointless.
“This policy will have very serious consequences for our members and the customers and communities they serve. Our sector is resilient, plays a vital role in communities, and in fact offers energy bill payment facilities for millions of customers including the most vulnerable. It is not too late for the Chancellor to reconsider the support he is offering, to find practical ways of targeting it more effectively.”
The ACS is encouraging MPs to support its Rural Shops Pledge by recognising the crucial role that rural shops play in their constituencies.
The trade body is calling for more support for rural areas as part of the government’s ongoing levelling up agenda.
The call came as the ACS launched the 2023 Rural Shop Report, which highlights the crucial contribution that the UK’s 17,720 rural shops make. This year it reveals:
l Rural shops provide local, flexible and secure jobs to 142,000 local people.
l More than one in four rural shops provide local grocery deliveries.
l More than three in four rural shops have engaged in community activity over the last year
l Rural shops have invested £214m in their businesses in the past year.
A new scaled-back energy scheme for businesses has been confirmed by the government ahead of the current scheme ending in March.
Retailers can secure stronger PORs on a number of leading tobacco products, by joining the Premier Tobacco Club, which now features new pricing from 9 January and lower WSPs across a number of lines.
The Club has also been bolstered at the start of the new year with two new products: Sovereign King Size Blue and Sovereign Super King Blue - both of which offer retailers PORs of 10% when sold at the Tobacco Club RSP of £10.65.
Premier retailers who join the Tobacco Club can also benefit from PORs of up to 14% on other key brands such as Chesterfield and Marlboro - which also offer the cheapest prices on display.
20 packs of Chesterfield Red and Blue cigarettes have a Tobacco Club RSP of £9.50 while 30g packs of Marlboro Gold Original RYO boast RSPs of £12.90 – offering Premier retailers a POR of 14%. Speak to your RDM now to sign up to Tobacco Club and benefit from lower WSPs and larger PORs. All you have to do is agree to sell qualifying lines at Tobacco Club RSPs or below.
The lower WSP are charged on invoice so there are no credits required.
SOVEREIGN KING SIZE BLUE
Tobacco Track and Trace compliant
Case size: 10X20
WSP: £79.87
RSP: £10.65
POR: 10%
SOVEREIGN SUPER KING BLUE
Tobacco Track and Trace compliant
Case size: 10X20
WSP: £79.87
RSP: £10.65
POR: 10%
Sale price must be at or below the manufacturer’s RSP to comply with the Tobacco Club T&Cs.
The government must provide trading standards with better resources to tackle the UK’s illicit vape trade, the Association of Convenience Stores has said.
The call comes as an ACS survey of trading standards enforcement officers reveals that 61% don’t believe they have the resources to tackle the illicit trade.
ACS has developed comprehensive guidance that includes everything that retailers need to know to recognise legitimate products, as well as the age verification policies that should be in place to ensure that products are only sold to those who are legally allowed to purchase them. View the guidance at www.acs. org.uk/advice/selling-vapes
Premier Wakefield Road in Pontefract, West Yorkshire has kindly donated bags of Haribo to MY Hospitals Charity, the charitable arm of The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. On Christmas Day, each child visiting the trust as a patient or sibling was gifted a bag of confectionery, helping to add a little sparkle to the day.
The charity said: “Premier Wakefield Road has been supporting their local community and local hospitals since way back in the 1980s and still continue to do so today. It is a wonderful business run by a wonderful family and we truly appreciate their support.”
Premier Stores St Just in Penzance, Cornwall has collected more than £120 for two local charities.
The store collected £45 for Cornwall Hospice Care, a charity-funded hospice, through in-store collections.
It also collected £81 for Cornwall Blood Bikes – a service run by volunteers that transports urgently needed blood, drugs, human tissues and other medical requirements between hospitals, clinics, laboratories, doctors – at the till.
Premier Westwood Stores, in Glasgow, has donated a selection of toys to Easy Ayrshire Women’s Aid. The charity, which provides support and refuge for women, children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse, said the donation was “very much appreciated”.
Premier retailer Sag Hussain from The Avenue Convenience Store in Stockton-on-Tees and Premier Norton Road in Middlesborough has been supporting local asylum seekers and refugees.
The retailer helped provide drinks for a festive party hosted by charity Purple Rose Stockton, which runs a weekly dropin for asylum seekers and refugees living in Stockton.
TLT Premier Stores in Ystradgynlais, South Wales, donated refreshments for a charity Santa Paws Grotto organised by dog park Motsi’s Meadow’s.
The event raised £750 which was donated to nearby Ystradgynlais Food Bank.
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
New research into the way shoppers are reducing their outgoings in the new year has found that almost half (49%) are choosing to buy more own-brand products to help them manage their outgoings.
According to Barclaycard, average spending on utility bills increased by 40.6% in December, leading almost two-thirds (65%) of shoppers to proactively seek out ways to get more value from their food and drink spend.
Over one-third of shoppers (34%) say they are planning to prepare healthier or cheaper meals by batch-cooking at the weekends, offering another opportunity for Premier retailers to meet their needs with a strong range of key own-brand ingredients.
The survey also found that around half of all shoppers (52%) plan to cut their discretionary spending on ‘luxury items’ with eating out at restaurants (63%) the most popular way to do so.
This offers another opportunity for retailers, as Esme Harwood, Director at Barclays, said: “When purse strings tighten, the categories which tend to perform well include takeaways as a substitute for meals out, and staycations instead of holidays abroad.”
Booker has been presented with a GroceryAid Gold Award in recognition of its support and fundraising efforts for the industry charity throughout 2022.
In 2022, GroceryAid provided 28,204 instances of support to industry colleagues - a 61% increase on the year before.
With cost-of-living worries set to increase in 2023, GroceryAid expects to see even more colleagues turning to it over the coming months.
The Gold Award has been presented to the companies and organisations which provided the charity with the highest levels of support over 2022, participating in eight activities across all three of its “critical pillars” including: Awareness, Fundraising and Volunteering.
Other companies to have been presented with a Gold Award include SLR Publisher 55 North, M&S, Spar, Diageo, Highland Spring Group, CCE and Premier Foods.
Allwyn AG, which is set to run the National Lottery from 1 February 2024, has reached an agreement to acquire Camelot UK Lotteries.
The Czech-based company was granted the licence to operate the National Lottery earlier this year. It has confirmed that it is working with Camelot and the Gambling Commission to ensure the transition goes smoothly.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals, including from the Gambling Commission.
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
A new report from Barclaycard has found that almost half of all shoppers are choosing ownbrand products to help them save money and balance their budgets.
Jaz Ali has transformed a pub in a residential part of Grangemouth into a state-of-the-art Premier store that’s pulling in the punters.
Jaz Ali is certainly no stranger to change. In fact, as his recent endeavours prove, he embraces it, and no change could be bigger than the one he made in late 2022.
After a number of years operating a large 4,000sq ft store with another symbol group, Jaz made the bold decision to sell up and establish a new business with a different symbol partner at his back.
The business in question was a closeddown public house, primely located on a busy residential road in Grangemouth in Scotland.
Despite the boarded-up windows, Jaz could “immediately” see the potential that the site could offer – if granted a fresh lease of life as a forward-thinking convenience store.
One fruitful initial meeting with Premier RDM Garry Wright and several inspiring visits to new concept Premier stores later, Jaz was “certain” that Premier was the perfect partner for the job.
“I had immediate confidence in Garry and that only increased after he took me to visit some of Premier’s new concept
stores including Premier Shak and Jen’s @ Sauchie. I was so impressed by what they’d achieved there and was keen to offer something similar in Grangemouth,” he explains.
“Because this site was going to be a pub conversion, I knew I needed to go much further than a standard shop refit. I wanted the store to have a real ‘wow factor’ and offer shoppers lots of things they’d never seen before. There are other stores close by, so it was important that we open up with an offer that was totally unique, that would stop shoppers in their tracks.”
Featuring a bespoke Beer Cave and footfall-driving Refresh@Premier zone with six different machines, Jaz’s new 2,000sq ft Premier store certainly does that.
The store opened in early November 2022 following an extensive five-week development project costing in the region of £275,000.
Large new floor to ceiling windows have transformed the former pub’s interior, flooding the space with light and allowing local shoppers to see straight to the heart of its service-packed offer.
What meets their eyes is a bright, bold and welcoming entrance zone complete with three till points all of which are staffed at all times to keep up with already soaring demand.
“Located right next to the till is our bespoke Beer Cave – one of the real stars of the show,” Jaz adds.
“It’s been an absolute revelation, enabling us to elevate our alcohol offer to new heights and become the talk of the town.
“Shoppers around here have never seen anything like it. Our Beer Cave really looks the part with eye-catching exterior signage, smart automatic doors and blue sky light panels in the ceiling. It offers shoppers a really engaging experience that they are keen to keep on repeating.
“From a practical point of view, the Beer Cave also offers a number of operational efficiencies compared to standard refrigeration. It’s easier and more practical for staff to fill shelves in the Beer Cave and we offer a really extensive range of chilled wines, draught kegs, multi-packs of beers, 10 and 12 and a large number of different ales and RTDs.
“It also offers a far more energy-efficient way of chilling down stock. The amount of stock I’ve got in my cave would require around 15-metres of standard refrigeration. In the Beer Cave I can easily and conveniently display the whole range in one attentiongrabbing space that only needs one motor running. The cave is set at around 9-10 degrees which is plenty cold enough and far more efficient than running a whole bank of fridges, an important consideration given the current situation with energy prices.
“Unlike a number of other stores, I’ve chosen to position our Beer Cave right at the front of the store next to the counter where it
has maximum visibility. We have a large glass shopfront and I thought it was important that prospective shoppers could see straight in and immediately grasp all that we have to offer.
“Shoppers just love it, the response has been phenomenal. If I ever open another store, I would definitely include a Beer Cave in the plans and I’d strongly encourage other retailers to think about it too.”
Also grabbing shoppers’ attention from the outset is the store’s comprehensive Refresh@ Premier zone including Tango Ice Blast, Jolly Rancher slush, Fanta and Coca-Cola Frozen and Costa Coffee.
“Refresh has been revolutionary,” Jaz says. “Coffee sales are very strong, but the slush has blown me away. Despite having opened in the depths of winter we were selling upwards of 100 cups a day straight away. The secondary school kids go mad for it! We sold around 90
cups this afternoon and it was -5 outside, so I can’t wait to see what the summer holds.”
The store’s sterling Refresh offer is completed by a strong range of hot and cold food-to-go solutions including a wide range of Booker-supplied sandwiches and snacks plus pastries from local bakery Stephen’s, which are delivered to the store freshly baked every morning.
A Rollover hot dog offer completes the deal.
Also lighting up the shop floor and creating yet more footfall magnetism is an accessible Vaping@Premier zone. The professionallooking display allows adult vapers to browse Jaz’s range of more than 100 lines including best-selling disposable products such as Geek Bar, Elf Bar, Lost Mary and more.
“Vape sales have really taken off,” Jaz says. “The Booker range offers vapers a great choice and the price points are strong too.”
“Fresh also sells very well. We have 20 metres of fresh and chilled and we currently get three deliveries a week with around 100 cases a time just of fresh and chilled.
“The range includes a wide array of meal solutions from Jack’s-branded ready meals to fresh pastas and sauces plus deli and dairy
Lucozade Sport provides carbohydrates and electrolytes to enhance hydration and help maintain performance during prolonged endurance exercise.
Name: Premier Grangemouth
Established: November 2022
Retailer: Jaz Ali
Size:2,000sq ft
Staff: 10
Services: National Lottery, Refresh Zone, local bakery and butchery, vaping
items. We also offer a strong range of fresh meats which are supplemented by products from the local butcher who delivers to me twice a week too.
“The guys at Premier have done such a fantastic job with the range. Literally everything in this store sells! I’d been a retailer for many years prior to opening this site but the learnings that I’ve made about ranging since being with Premier have been some of the most important.
“My previous store was more than 4,000sq ft and I had a vast range with multiple different varieties of the same product: five different varieties of baked beans for example. In this store, you will only find two: Heinz and Euroshopper and that’s all that’s needed. I’ve learned that you really don’t need an enormous range, you just need the right one.
“That approach has allowed me to dedicate crucial space to services and concepts that add meaningful interest and boost footfall, such as the Vape, Refresh and Beer Cave.
“We’ve also got a great range of topselling American Confectionery products that
Premier encouraged me to introduce and they have certainly been proved right with sales growing week on week.”
A generous 13-space car park at the front of the store acts as a further draw for shoppers, allowing them park with ease and bulk up their baskets without fear of a wearisome walk home.
“The store’s range allows shoppers to meet multiple different needs and missions throughout the day and they just can’t get enough of it,” Jaz adds.
“Naturally I was a little apprehensive about opening at the very start. There hadn’t been a store here before so there was no blueprint for how sales might grow.
“However, from the minute we opened, my mind was set at ease. We’ve been flooded with footfall from day one and the numbers keep on growing.
“So far, sales have exceeded all my expectations and they are still climbing strongly week on week. It’s a fantastic position to be in and I’m feeling very optimistic about the year ahead.”
The store sells more than 100 cups of slush a day in the winter
Premier retailer
Billy Gatt and his family have built a stunning new store in the Scottish fishing village of Whitehills, and local shoppers have fallen for it –hook, line and sinker.
Almost a quarter of a century ago, former trawlerman Billy Gatt came ashore and made the bold decision to establish a new career in retail. Twenty-two years on from then, he’s just landed the catch of his dreams: a purposebuilt, cutting-edge 3,000sq ft Premier store laden with all the products, services and amenities that local shoppers in the small fishing village of Whitehills could ever wish for.
“I’ve had two stores over the years, a convenience store in the nearby town of Banff and a small 1,000sq ft Premier store in Whitehills which I’ve run for the past 17 years,” Billy explains.
“Whitehills is a small fishing village with around 1,200 residents and our store has always been the only one in the village.
“As such, it’s always been a real lifeline
for local people and that became even more apparent during the lockdown months,” Billy says.
“The idea of building a new larger store with even more range and facilities for local shoppers had been in my head for a number of years, but the pandemic was what spurred me on to actually do it,” he explains.
Fortuitously, a tract of land just a few hundred metres down the road from his store came up for sale in 2020, giving Billy the opportunity to do just that.
“I knew had a chance to build something really special on that land, something that would not only be a gift to the people of Whitehills but also to my family, something that I would be proud to leave behind for them all one day,” he adds.
Billy’s vision was for a large store of 3,000sq ft, which could offer shoppers a truly comprehensive range.
However, with a local population of just 1,200, Billy knew that the new store would also have to include an array of footfalldriving features to attract trade from even further afield in order to make such a large space commercially successful. “We had to make it a destination,” he says.
“I’ve been an avid reader of Talking Shop for many years and was well aware of how other Premier retailers were developing their stores, so I decided to do a road trip to visit as many as possible,” he explains. The 1,000 mile road-trip took Billy to a number of cutting-edge Premier stores, including the Singh’s in Sheffield, from whom he netted inspiration.
“I didn’t want to re-invent the wheel at Whitehills, but I was keen to take some of the great concepts from other stores and tailor them to own unique demographic,” he explains.
On 3 November 2022, just over two years on from buying the land, Billy’s vision was finally brought to life in the form of a brand new 3,000sq ft Premier, packed to the top of its smart dark rafters with quality products, useful services and innovations.
Chief among those innovations is a large in-store kitchen and café: ‘Aunty Meg’s Kitchen’. Named in honour of Billy’s wife’s aunt, the kitchen serves an array of delicious home-cooked foods including pizzas, burgers, loaded fries and traditional hearty meals, all of which are available for shoppers to take away or enjoy in the 18-seater in-store café.
The café also serves a mouth-watering array of freshly baked cakes, pastries and scones, all of which can also be enjoyed with hot and cold drinks from the ‘Aunty Meg’s Kitchen’ counter or from one of the 10 different drink options in the store’s adjacent Refresh@ Premier zone.
Premier Whitehills produces more than 16 own-brand ready meals under the Aunty Meg’s Kitchen brand
A second production kitchen also allows store staff to cook and prepare its own brand of more than 16 chilled ‘Aunty Meg’s Kitchen’ ready meals, including favourites such as Steak and Ale Pies, Spaghetti Bolognese, Chicken Curry and Scottish Stovies – a traditional Scottish dish made using roast meat and potatoes.
The production kitchen also produces an array of ‘Aunty Meg’s Kitchen’-branded sandwiches, salads and soups, all of which are prepared fresh each day for sale on the shop floor, complementing its large Bookersupplied range.
“The Aunty Meg’s Kitchen brand is a perfect complement to our wider range of chilled foods including products from the Jack’s brand,” Billy explains.
“Aunty Megs Kitchen offers a premium choice with ready meal RSPs typically in the region of £5 to £5.50, whereas a Jack’s ready meal offers great value for money at £3.35 or two for £6, meaning that we have something to suit every shopper,” Billy adds.
In total, Billy’s new fresh and chilled range has quadrupled in size compared to his old store, with products now housed in a bank of eight smart double-door chillers at the front.
His Booker-supplied range is also enhanced with products from local butchers John Stewart, which delivers fresh meat and pies six days a week. Local fish from Downies of Whitehills is also available in the store’s frozen range, which has also tripled in size.
A large array of locally baked cakes, bites and biscuits are also on offer and showcased with Premier’s ‘We Support Local’ shelf strips.
The store also boasts a show-stopping Beer Cave featuring theatrical pendant lightbulbs to
create an upmarket feel.
“No other store in this area has a Beer Cave so it’s very unique and has caused quite a stir,” Billy adds.
As the only store in the village, Premier Whitehills also offers a large range of household goods, grocery products, stationery, cards and even seasonal toys such as sledges in the winter months. There are also four bays dedicated to footfall-driving American Candy and American snacks.
“The fact that we designed and built everything from scratch also allowed me to create a store that would work really well at the back end,” Billy adds.
“I looked long and hard at the logistics, thinking about exactly where I wanted the deliveries to come in, how much space I wanted to devote to spare stock and where to put any waste. As a result, the whole store has a really good flow.”
A large bank of 16 energy-saving solar panels have also been fitted on the new store’s roof.
In-store space was also a key consideration. “Above all I wanted the store to feel light, airy and spacious,” he explains.
“Our old store only had two aisles and they were very tight. It was almost impossible for shoppers with pushchairs or wheelchairs to navigate.
“This new store is totally different, there’s so much space. On our Grand Opening Day, there were seven shoppers in wheelchairs in the store at the same time. It gave me so much satisfaction to see that. A community store needs to be able to accommodate everyone in that community.”
The sense of light and space has been further enhanced with a large double-door
Name: Premier Whitehills, Banff
Established: November 2022
Retailer: Billy Gatt
Size: 3,000sq ft
Staff: 16 staff not including Billy and his family.
Services: Post Office, ATM, Lottery, gift wrapping, local products, in-store café
Shoppers are delighted to have a store like this on their doorstep. It’s so much more than just a store. It’s a space for people to relax, come together and feel at home.
entrance and two substantial floor-toceiling windows. Inside, crisp white flooring and modern energy-efficient lighting also add to the sense of space and light.
A new 12-bay car park immediately outside also allows shoppers to effortlessly wheel their trolleys from till to boot.
“We have trolley shoppers now, which is something I never thought I’d see,” Billy laughs.
“We’ve only been open a matter of weeks but sales are flying. The store is already being so well-supported by local shoppers but also by shoppers from further afield which is exactly what we wanted.
“The feedback has been phenomenal. Shoppers are so delighted to have a store like this on their doorstep. It’s so much more than just a store. It’s a space for
people to relax, come together, enjoy a hot meal and feel at home.”
The store’s already deep connection with the local community could clearly be seen at its well-attended opening day and via the many ‘welcome’ pictures from local school children that adorn its walls.
“I’m so proud of what we have achieved here,” Billy adds. “It’s been a huge team effort from everyone involved, including myself, Premier and the many members of my family who also work in the business.
“I have eight grandchildren and I hope that they will all work here in some capacity or another in the future. This store is my gift to them, as well as to the people of Whitehills.”
We’re sure it’s a gift most gratefully received.
The store boasts an 18-seater café and two in-store kitchens
Premier retailers can entirely eliminate food waste, recover costs and support their local communities by taking advantage of three fantastic partnerships.
Booker is helping Premier retailers completely eradicate food waste, reduce costs and bring major benefits to their local communities with three exciting partnerships.
With the cost-of-living crisis continuing to affect many shoppers in your community and a growing awareness of the need to refocus on sustainability commitments, Booker is helping Premier retailers entirely eliminate food waste in three easy steps:
1
Use Too Good To Go to sell short-dated food and recover costs.
2
Use OLIO to donate surplus food not sold to your local community for free, and save on food disposal costs.
3
Use FareShare to set up a donation box for your shoppers to support local charities with collections provided by FareShare.
By taking advantage of these three partnerships, retailers can ensure that not a single food or drink product is wasted – and getting involved with all three solutions couldn’t be simpler.
What are your views? Email talkingshop@booker.co.uk
Help to sell short-dated food and deliver income.
STEP 2: OLIO
Donate surplus food not sold to your local community and save on food disposal costs.
STEP 3: FARESHARE
Set up a donation box for your shoppers to support local charities with collections provided by FareShare.
l 9,000 Magic Bags sold
l 4,500 unique shoppers
l 23 tonnes of CO2 saved
l 34 stores signed up
Too Good To Go is the world’s largest businessto-consumer app for surplus food and has over 2.5m registered users in the UK.
Retailers sign up on the Too Good To Go website, then download and log in to the app. After that, all they need to do is preload the portions of unsold food as ‘Magic Bags’. Shoppers then buy them through the app and collect in-store at the time set by retailers. Generally, Magic Bags should be sold at around one-third of the cost of the contents.
Too Good To Go lets retailers minimise food waste and win back costs on products that would ordinarily have gone into the food recycling bin. Additionally, it can help you reach new shoppers and increase footfall. Your local community is also sure to appreciate your commitments to reducing food waste and helping the planet.
Each Magic Bag sold through Too Good To Go is subject to a £1.09 fee with a yearly admin cost of £39. This is deducted from what retailers are paid each quarter.
Want to learn more? For more information or to sign up, visit toogoodtogo.co.uk and you can download the app on both Google Play and the Apple app store.
l 5 million Olio app users
l 68,000 food-safety trained volunteers
l 6,000 participating stores
While Too Good To Go is a fantastic way to sell short-dated products, if any products remain unsold, don’t worry – you can use OLIO to ensure that the unsold food doesn’t go to waste. OLIO is a hassle-free way for Premier stores to redistribute more of their unsold food for free. There are 6.5 million OLIO app users in the UK and a team of 68,000 volunteers help ensure OLIO provides a fast, reliable service for retailers.
1 Notify: Your team simply scans a QR code to let OLIO know there’s food to collect.
2 Prepare: Your team prepare unsold food for collection.
3 Collect: An OLIO volunteer arrives at an agreed time to collect unsold food.
4 Share: The volunteer arranges collections with people in their local area.
OLIO will collect all edible food waste including hot, chilled or frozen food, loose ingredients and cooked meals. They will collect
food up to the ‘use by’ date and will collect any volume of unsold food from carrier bags to full pallets. Collections are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can be ad hoc or regular, as specified by the retailer.
Sharing unsold food through OLIO is an easy way to support families in your local area, especially during the cost-of-living crisis.
Cath Marston, Head of Sustainability at Booker, commented: “At Booker, we’re proud to have been working with OLIO for the last two years. During that time we’ve donated over five million meals, and supported 17,000 local families and charities with good, edible food that would have been thrown away.”
Want to learn more? Get in touch today at olioex.com/business or by emailing business@olioex.com. Alternatively, you can call 07729 130 824.
“I’ve really enjoyed OLIO so far and met some really lovely people who are all close friends. We are struggling a bit at the moment, so it’s been a huge help the past couple of weeks. Thank you to everyone who gave to us. Once we are back on our feet we hope to give back to those who need the help too. OLIO is the best!”
You can even help generate additional donations to support vulnerable people by working with FareShare to set up a donation box in your store for your shoppers to support local charities.
FareShare is the UK’s largest charity redistributing surplus food to frontline charities and community groups that support vulnerable people.
Speak to your RDM about having a FareShare dumpbin and relevant POS installed in-store. Once the dumpbins are full, retailers can contact FareShare who will come and collect the donations.
The FareShare scheme allows your community and shoppers to play their part in helping fight food poverty and waste.
FareShare redistributes food to a wide range of charities and community groups across the UK such as drop-in services, lunch clubs for older people, breakfast clubs for disadvantaged children, homeless hostels and domestic violence refuges.
Want to learn more? Simply get in touch with your RDM who will be happy to help.
l Launched over 15 years ago
l More than 90 products in the range
l All products pricemarked with eyecatching yellow band
l Over 50,000 customers buy Euro Shopper products regularly
l Minimum 30% POR – with many lines offering more than 40%
Launched over 15 years ago, the Euro Shopper range now includes over 90 price-marked products and consistently provides a winning combination of exceptional value and excellent quality. Just as important, the entire Euro Shopper range also delivers for retailers: every single product offers a minimum POR of 30% while many products offer PORs in excess of 40%.
Euro Shopper has grown to become one of the bestselling value brands in independent retailing, with over 280,000 shoppers buying Euro Shopper products regularly.
With pressure on household budgets, Euro Shopper is set to play an even more important role moving forward, allowing Premier retailers to offer their shoppers a brilliantquality entry-level own-brand range that doesn’t mean compromising on quality.
The independent proof of that quality can be found in the many industry awards that the range has picked up over the years, including several Quality Food Awards, with a ‘Gold Q’ for Euro Shopper Baked Beans. Other Q winners include Euro Shopper Mild White Cheddar, Classic Ice Creams, Euro Shopper
Bacon and Euro Shopper Jaffa Cakes.
Before launch, every Euro Shopper product is for taste and is tested for quality. These quality tests continue throughout the life of the products, ensuring they always meet the demanding standards of both retailers and shoppers.
In addition, every product must meet stringent own-brand standards around minimum processing, healthier products, transparency and ethical production, labelling regulation and safety standards.
For example, all soft drinks fall under sugar tax levies and FSA salt targets.
which is why the outstanding entrylevel Euro Shopper own brand is more important than ever.
The Euro Shopper soft drinks range offers a great value option for every occasion. The range includes:
RSP: £0.65 POR: 37.3%
Summer Fruits Juice Drink 500ml
Pack Size: 12 x500ml WSP: £4.29 RSP: £0.65 POR: 34.0%
Apple Juice from Concentrate 200ml
Pack Size: 24x200ml WSP: £5.19 RSP: £0.39 POR: 33.1%
Protein Shake Chocolate Flavour 330ml
Pack Size: 8 x 330ml WSP: £5.99 RSP: £1.19 POR: 37.1%
Protein Shake Strawberry Flavour 330ml
Pack Size: 8x330ml WSP: £5.99 RSP: £1.19 POR: 37.1%
“The Euro Shopper range is a vital part of any Premier Store’s offer. The value that the range provides is unlike anything else in the store and it’s a range that matters to a lot of shoppers. We stock 90 lines, and we use all the new ‘value all-year-round’ POS to really draw the shopper’s attention to the lines and it works really well.
“The big yellow price mark also helps catch the eye and more often than not converts to a sale. The quality of the products themselves does the rest and generates the repeat sales we are all looking for.”
The Euro Shopper chocolate range is as popular with retailers as it is with shoppers and includes:
Milk Chocolate 185g
Pack Size: 16 x185g WSP: £9.29 RSP: £1.00 POR: 30.3%
Milk Chocolate 85g
Pack Size: 27x85g WSP: £9.29 RSP: £0.59 POR: 30.0%
Milk Chocolate Fruit & Nut 85g
Pack Size: 26x85g WSP: £8.89 RSP: £0.59 POR: 30.0%
Milk Chocolate Hazelnut 85g
Pack Size: 26x85g WSP: £7.55 RSP: £0.50 POR: 30.3%
Plain Chocolate 85g
Pack Size: 27x85g WSP: £9.29 RSP: £0.59 POR: 30.0%
White Chocolate 85g
Pack Size: 27x85g WSP: £9.29 RSP: £0.59 POR: 30.0%
Perfectly complementing the fast-growing Jack’s range, Euro Shopper was specifically developed for independent retailers and is exclusively available from the Booker Group. The extensive range provides the ideal entry-level offer for retailers, ensuring they can offer their shoppers maximum value every day of the week while also delivering truly excellent quality.
The range covers many key product categories including soft drinks, confectionery, tea, coffee, bacon, homecare, chilled and grocery – with every product priced extremely competitively. All products in the range are price-marked to help reassure shoppers and the iconic yellow price band acts as a signpost in stores, ensuring shoppers can quickly and easily see and appreciate the value delivered by the range.
Additionally, the price-mark is shown on the outer cases in branch to help retailers find products quickly and efficiently.
Now may be the perfect time to take a fresh look at your range instore and see if there is more you can do with Euro Shopper to meet the changing needs of your shoppers.
The Euro Shopper bacon range is among the most popular products in the range, delivering brilliant value and quality:
Smoked Rindless Back Bacon with Added Water 150g
Pack Size: 30 x 150g WSP: £24.99 RSP: £1.19 POR: 30.1%
Smoked Rindless Back Bacon with Added Water 150g
Pack Size: 6 x 150g WSP: £4.99 RSP: £1.19 POR: 30.1%
Smoked Rindless Back Bacon with Added Water 500g
Pack Size: 10 x 500g WSP: £26.25 RSP: £3.75 POR: 30.0%
Smoked Rindless Back Bacon with Added Water 500g
Pack Size: 2 x 500g WSP: £5.25 RSP: £3.75 POR: 30.0%
Unsmoked Rindless Back Bacon with Added Water 500g
Pack Size: 10 x 500g WSP: £26.25 RSP: £3.75 POR: 30.0%
Unsmoked Rindless Back Bacon with Added Water 500g
Pack Size: 2 x 500g WSP: £5.25 RSP: £3.75 POR: 30.0%
Unsmoked Rindless Back Bacon with Added Water 150g
Pack Size: 30 x 150g WSP: £24.99 RSP: £1.19 POR: 30.1%
Unsmoked Rindless Back Bacon with Added Water 150g
Pack Size: 6 x 150g WSP: £4.99 RSP: £1.19 POR: 30.1%
“Value is what the vast majority of shoppers are looking for these days and they want it every day. They don’t just want promotional deals; they want good deals every time they shop and that’s where Euro Shopper really comes into its own.
“The value on offer is outstanding, and what’s more the Euro Shopper products are really good quality too. It also helps that the Euro Shopper range offers such great margins for retailers because we know that we are getting at least 30% POR every time, and it’s often higher than that.”
The general aim is that each product in the range should be approximately half price or less when compared with the leading brand.
Shoppers can choose fantastic value, exceptional quality products from the Euro Shopper range to meet their everyday needs. The range includes:
The Euro Shopper range features a selection of great quality homecare and domestic lines delivering fantastic value, including:
* excludes produce and some chilled lines
Shoppers often rein in their spending at the start of a new year but 2023 looks set to see shoppers being more careful than ever with their hard-earned cash after the excesses of the festive period and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
New research from KPMG predicts that two-thirds of shoppers will be seeking to
reduce non-essential spending in 2023, with the reduction of meals out and takeaways being the top two ways in which shoppers plan to save money.
Given those challenges, it’s clear to see the need for Premier retailers to offer shoppers quality and value – and this is precisely where the Jack’s own-brand range excels.
The rollout of the huge and exclusive Jack’s
range is now complete, with Premier retailers now able to access almost 400 great-value products that allow shoppers to keep spending in check, without compromising on quality.
The vast majority of products in the Jack’s range are price-marked, something that research has repeatedly shown helps inspire trust and confidence in shoppers.
The Jack’s range is already delivering
The rollout of Booker’s Jack’s own brand is now complete, giving Premier retailers access to almost 400 great-value products with PORs of at least 30%* with more to come.
extremely well in Premier stores, with sales up double-digits on previous own-brand sales. More specifically, the Jack’s fresh range is performing exceptionally well.
Jack’s products are supported by a wide range of high-impact promotions, including attention-grabbing ‘2 for’ deals across many categories, including chilled ready meals.
Peter Saleem, of Premier Broadway Blyth in Northumberland, describes the Jack’s own brand as “a hugely powerful tool for Premier retailers.”
“The need for convenience retailers to offer their shoppers value and quality has never been so important,” he says.
“Sales of Jack’s branded products are growing month on month in our store.
“Shoppers have a great deal of confidence in the Jack’s brand. The on-pack Tesco messaging really helps to build trust which is then re-enforced when they the taste or try the products and see the quality for themselves.
“The brand sells strongly across all categories but particularly fresh and chilled and ambient grocery,” he says.
Billy Gatt, of Premier Whitehills in Banff, Scotland, also says that the Jack’s brand is helping him to create a winning value-formoney proposition. “The Jack’s ready meals offer great value for money at £3.35 or ‘2 for £6’ meaning that we have something to suit every type of shopper, no matter their budget,” he says.
The Jack’s range is clearly landing well with shoppers but the extremely strong PORs available mean the range is just as popular with Premier retailers themselves.
Most Jack’s lines deliver at least 30% POR with a large number of the lines already launched carrying even stronger PORs of more than 40%. Some, such as Jack’s 20 Assorted Fabric Plasters, offer PORs of as much as 55%!
Covering every key product category, the
Jack’s own brand caters to a vast range of different shoppers and from busy working parents looking to bag quick and tasty family meal solutions, to students looking to fuel their late-night studying sessions with pizzas and snacks, and couples seeking to dine in at home.
The range will benefit from a number of exciting new developments as Booker continues to help Premier retailers set themselves apart from the competition and drive those all-important sales and profits.
A raft of new product launches is planned over the coming months across important categories like cake, grocery, frozen, crisps & snacks, soft drinks, fresh, confectionery and deli – so there will be plenty to maintain shopper interest as the year progresses.
Among the planned launches is a new range of three premium sausages that will launch early in early spring. Sharing highend product specifications with Booker’s
Premier retailers have access to a suite of highimpact, top-quality POS to help them signpost and showcase the Jack’s brand.
The POS kit available to all Premier retailers includes:
l Shelf cards
l Shelf strips
l Freezer vinyls
l SEL backers
l Posters
l Barker ears
Premier retailers can also order extra materials from the Premier printshop including banners and spare POS kits.
top-quality catering Black Gate range, the superior sausages will be available in Traditional Pork, Cumberland and Lincolnshire variants. Each of the smart black packs will also feature the eye-catching ‘Part of the Tesco Family’ messaging, something many Premier retailers have said is critical in generating shopper trust in the brand.
Answering the shopper call for healthier snacking products, Premier retailers can expect to see the launch of 12 new Fruit & Nut snacking products, including Roasted Pistachios, Almonds and Chocolate Fruit & Nut Mix.
Two new SKUs of Jack’s-branded Olive Oil are also planned to launch in the first quarter of the year, as are and an extended Jack’s cake range will be made available over the next few months.
Booker will also be supporting Premier retailers with detailed category and merchandising advice for the Jack’s range which will help them continue to grow footfall, sales and profits with this gamechanging range.
Speak to your RDM for more information.
RETAILER VIEW
Grangemouth“The Jack’s range is really popular with our shoppers, who are increasingly buying across the different categories, including ambient grocery, confectionery, snacks and fresh and chilled.
“Sales of Jack’s-branded fresh products are selling particularly well. We have 20 metres of fresh and chilled and the range includes a wide array of meal solutions from Jack’s-branded ready meals to Jack’s-branded fresh pastas and sauces plus deli and dairy items.
“Literally all of it sells. I think shoppers love the clear value messaging and the quality is great. The brand really stands out on shelf and the Tesco association is another benefit.”
The rollout of Booker’s Jack’s own brand is now complete giving Premier retailers access to over 380 great-value products.
Tempranillo
Case Size:
6X75cl
WSP: £27.99
RSP: £7.49
POR: 25%
Case size: 10 WSP: £25.49
RSP: £5.99 POR: 48.9%
Six new flavours offering up to 600 puffs
Kiwi Passionfruit
Banana Ice
Mango Ice
Peach Ice
Watermelon Ice
Strawberry Ice
Save £2.50 until 2 April 2023
Last year proved to be a glittering one for Premier retailers, with stores and retailers from across the country celebrating numerous high-profile wins at the key industry awards, recognising convenience retailing excellence.
The pages of Talking Shop were brimming with smiling faces hoisting shining trophies as Premier retailers were rewarded for their prowess, innovation and sky-high standards across a broad range of product categories.
Now, at the start of a brand-new year, Premier retailers from across the country face a calendar of opportunities to win big and see their name in lights in 2023.
Winning industry awards certainly has its
RETAILER VIEW
MANDEEP SINGH
Premier
“Winning Convenience Retailer of The Year at the Convenience Awards 2022 was a testament to the brilliant teamwork and exceptionally hard work put in by everyone involved in the business. They were all so proud of the achievement – a win like that is incredibly motivating.”
benefits, and these extend way beyond the glitz and glamour of the ceremonies themselves, as Peter Saleem of Premier Broadway, Blyth in Northumberland, explains.
Peter, who was named Independent Retailer of the Year at the Retail Industry Awards 2022 says: “Winning an award is so motivating for your hard-working team who feel genuinely proud of what they have achieved. It’s a fantastic recognition of all their hard work and perseverance.
“Our award wins have also raised our prominence within the convenience retailing community,” Peter adds.
“I now receive an abundance of emails and messages from other retailers who want to better themselves and come and see our store
for ideas and inspiration. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to help others and the whole store team is very proud.”
The act of entering awards also delivers benefits, forcing you to take a step back and see your store through the eyes of your shoppers and analysing what you do really well and where there might be room for improvement.
You can also learn a lot from the many award-winning Premier retailers. Hit the road and visit some of 2022’s winning Premier stores, or take a closer look at the many inspirational customer profiles that we run in Talking Shop.
So why not start planning now and you too could be a winner in 2023?
The start of the new year is the perfect time to sit down, get your diary out and plan which the industry awards that you intend to enter in 2023. That way you can build a calendar of activity and ensure that you give yourself enough time to compile everything you need for a strong entry. Once you’ve decided, add these into your calendar now – whether that’s on your phone, your computer or on a traditional wall or desk calendar.
Entering awards can take time, sometimes around 30 minutes for each individual category. Be sure to devote enough time to the process so that you don’t run out of time or rush the result.
Entering industry awards can be a great way of sharpening your game and if you win, so much the better. Talking Shop is here to help with key advice on how to build a winning entry.
Singh’s Premier in Sheffield was crowned Convenience Retailer of the Year at The Convenience Retail Awards 2022. The 1,750sq ft store, which underwent a revolutionary refit focusing on key shopper zones in 2021, also won the Independent Convenience Store of the Year category.
When you’ve decided to put together an entry for an award, it can be tempting to just get stuck in and start building your entry – but try to resist that temptation.
Take a deep breath and, before you do anything else, take the time to read the entry form carefully!
Each of the industry awards have different entry processes and questions and it’s vital that you understand what the requirements are before you put pen to paper.
Some of the awards will allow you to upload your entry in a word document format, while others will require you answer specific questions directly via an online form.
Be sure to read and fully understand every question because they all have subtle differences.
Always try to provide precise answers to every question on the entry form – and resist the urge to miss any questions. Try to avoid including information that doesn’t add anything useful or informative to your entry.
“Winning an award is fantastic for shopper engagement. We post about our award wins on social media and we proudly display all of our awards in a prominent position on the counter where shoppers can clearly see it.
“Shoppers love to know that they are shopping in an award-winning store and they also feel very proud to call us their local store.”
“Entering awards is also a great way to motivate and reward staff. Our whole team was so chuffed when we won, it was a real team effort and it made them all feel so proud.”
Some of the awards request specific figures, such as sales per square foot, weekly or annual sales, average basket spend and sales increases. Have your Epos data handy to help you do this.
Some of the awards may also request facts and figures about the size of investments made in your business. Try to answer all these questions as accurately as possible and with the most up-to-date data.
There are so many benefits to entering industry awards and they extend far beyond the thrill of the night itself. Mos Patel, Premier Heyside OldhamPETER SALEEM Premier Broadway Blyth, Northumberland
When deciding which categories to enter, the best place to start is by focusing on areas of your store that you feel you have made great progress with over the last year. It’s tempting to try to enter as many categories as possible for each awards programme, but that can be counterproductive.
It’s quality not quantity that matters here. It’s better to focus on the awards categories where you genuinely feel you’ve made progress in the last 12 months.
Nothing puts judges off more than pages and pages of text that they must wade through, so keep it short and to the point.
Many entry forms carry specific word limits and try to keep within those limits. Even if the entry form doesn’t specify a word limit, try to only provide information that is relevant to your entry, and up to date.
Remember, the judges are not judging your literacy skills, it’s your business they are interested in. As long as you stick to the facts and figures they ask for, you will be fine!
While it’s vital to be concise, it’s also important that you don’t submit an incomplete entry. Answer all questions and provide all supplementary evidence requested, even if you’re not sure it’s important.
If the entry form requests photographs, include them. If it asks for supplementary evidence such as Epos data, try to provide it.
“There are so many benefits to entering industry awards and they extend far beyond the thrill of the night itself,” he says.
“The process of entering allows you to analyse your business, your staff, services and operations in a way you might never have done before and that can only be a good thing. It can be a really great way of benchmarking and give you a good picture on where you’re definitely excelling and maybe areas where you could improve or do something different.”
“Entering awards is also a great way to motivate and reward staff. Our whole team was so chuffed when we won, it was a real team effort and it made them all feel so proud.”
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so make sure you include photos or video that bring your entry to life. It’s often much easier to show what you’ve done than explain it in words.
With cameras on every smartphone, there’s no excuse for not providing photographs to illustrate entries.
Quality counts! Ensure that all pictures you submit are of a high resolution and in focus.
It’s a good idea to include one high-resolution image of yourself in your store setting, to help the judges put a face to your name.
Stick to the point. It’s tempting to include lots of pics of everything in your store but if they don’t relate to the specific category or initiative you’re working on, leave them out. The judges don’t have the time to sift through dozens of photos.
It’s increasingly common to enter videos too. They can really bring an entry to life.
A great way of getting an edge on the competition is by doing some research into the awards you want to enter. Looking at past winners and reading the judges comments can help you to understand why they won and inspire you.
If the category you are entering has a specific industry supplier sponsor, don’t be afraid to flatter them by mentioning them by name in the entry and including their products in your photos.
If you’re going to enter awards, then do it enthusiastically! It takes time to build a good entry so if you commit to entering, then commit to making your entry the best it can be.
Judges can easily spot a hastily prepared entry and will be able to dismiss your entry quickly.
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629k People took part in Veganuary 2022 Swizzels 2022 Veganuary sales were up* of Brits bought Vegan food items in 2021*****
We know from talking with consumers that convenience stores have the most positive impact on the local areas where we operate. That’s partly by being there and providing a vital service, but it’s also about what we do to add value to the community. This might be in the form of charity work and positive engagement, but it’s also about promoting a safe community, and being a place that customers feel they can rely on and turn to. This is one of the reasons we’re encouraging convenience retailers to sign up to the Women’s Night Safety Charter to contribute to helping women feel safer when walking around at night. The Women’s Night Safety Charter started as a London initiative but has since been rolled out wider; local shops in all areas are being encouraged to consider these steps to make streets safer at night in their communities.
Here are four easy steps that you can consider:
l Say hello to everyone who comes into your store – acknowledge customers so you both know that each other are present;
l Keep your store well-lit into the evening – show people that you are open and operating;
l Engage with your community on social media – having an online presence will increase familiarity with people in-store;
l Be aware of helpline numbers – call 101, 999 or your local Safer Neighbourhood team.
These are simple steps that many of you are probably already taking, but signing up to the charter and talking with your colleagues about how you can help could
make a practical difference and send a really powerful message about your commitment to your community.
Of course, the safety of you and your colleagues is also paramount. You will have seen our #ShopKind campaign which encourages kind and respectful behaviour in stores and we’re pleased to see how retailers have been engaging with this campaign, displaying the posters and nominating #ShopKind Champions to raise awareness amongst both colleagues and consumers.
You play a crucial role in keeping colleagues and customers safe, I hope these resources help you to do this even better, and to promote your commitment to your customers.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with a member of the ACS team for more information.
The #ShopKind and Women’s Night Safety Charter initiatives are helping retailers promote safe, respectful communities and ACS is urging Premier retailers to get involved.
JamesLowman is asking retailers to sign up to the Women’s Night Safety Charter to help shoppers feel safe after dark.
James
