Convenience is sacred, but also full of sacred cows

Sir Philip Green is no mug. And we’re saying that not just because we are interviewing him next week. When the billionaire stakes the future strategy of his ailing BHS on expansion into convenience, the prospect of challenging his thinking is a bit scary.

Our challenge isn’t just to Philip Green, either. It is to the entire convenience sector. In our first-ever Convenience Report, we’ve examined the channel’s growth from every conceivable angle. We’ve worked with location analytics consultants CACI, to identify for the first time, the 100 hottest postcodes for convenience-based expansion.

We’ve showcased some of the exciting new formats being developed by retailers big and small, including the inspiring tale of our Convenience Retailer of the Year, a Spar store in Kent that has redefined what a forecourt can be. 

We’ve also examined the supplier imperative in meeting demand in a more convenience-based retail era. And, with the help of The Grocery Retail Structure, we have mapped out the size and scope of today’s convenience market.

But in seeking to understand the sector’s potential, we’ve found compelling data from Kantar Worldpanel to show convenience sales are, quite literally, declining.

Challenging convention is never easy. And we’re not saying retailers aren’t growing convenience sales, whether through skilled retailing, expansion – ideally based on selection of the most suitable locations, or – as in the case of fast-growth symbols such as Premier and Bestway – by offering the right solutions to independents.

But as rivals clamber over themselves to compete in this fiercely competitive channel, we think it’s important to challenge the received wisdom. Discounters are growing because they are convenient. Online is growing for the same reason. And suppliers must respond to the opportunity, just as they must to the most progressive convenience operators. But simply opening a c-store (or lots of them) is not a ticket to the stars. That takes skill, insight, hard work and superb execution.

Over to you, Sir Philip.