Booker has revealed its like-for-like sales in the 12 weeks to 13 September rose 3.5%.

The cash & carry giant said the “warm summer weather” had helped its customers, and in turn had translated into strong sales for Booker.

Although Booker’s tobacco sales continued to struggle (down 2% during the period), non-tobacco sales rose 6.9%. Factor in Makro, and non-tobacco sales soared 30%, with tobacco sales up 1.8%.

Booker’s results are in stark contrast to the findings of the BRC’s latest springboard footfall monitor which earlier this week revealed overall retail footfall in August suffered its biggest drop since March – down 0.9% on last year. Shopping centres saw the biggest fall – of 2.2%.

This suggests that convenience stores have been the biggest winners of the summer because Booker hasn’t been the only company in the sector to report a boost. Last month, The Co-operative Group reported a 1.1% drop in half-year sales, but said its second-quarter sales were down by just 0.3% because of the June heatwave.

And earlier in August, Nisa reported record volumes through its Scunthorpe distribution centre following a massive spike in orders during the heatwave.

C-stores are perfectly placed to cater for shoppers when the weather changes.

In the hot weather, it was all about ice creams, soft drinks, BBQ products and alcohol, with shoppers wanting to make the most of the sun by popping to their local corner shop rather than head to the hypermarket. With this week’s weather decidedly autumnal and the nights closing in, no doubt shoppers are now stocking up on hot drinks and soups.

It’s just another reminder that, for all our technological advances, we’re still guided – even ruled – by the weather. Keeping an eye on the skies is essential for c-stores to make sure they have in what shoppers will want. And if they have, shoppers will keep returning again and again.

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