Convenience retailers have spent £1bn on futureproofing their stores over the past year, marking a record-level investment for the sector.
According to the ACS Local Shop Report 2024, published today, retailers have spent 54.8% more on their stores in 2024 compared with the previous year, up from £646m.
It is the highest investment figure on record since the report’s inception in 2012, ACS added.
Top areas of investment over the past year included energy-efficient refrigeration, shelving, and crime security measures. More than one in six convenience stores now also have a self-service till, up from 3% in 2019.
The report revealed that 56% of independent retailers raised the capital themselves. Other sources of funding included suppliers, symbol groups and financial institutions.
“The investment figures we’ve seen this year are not surprising, as retailers tell us that they’re futureproofing their stores in two main ways,” said ACS CEO James Lowman. “Firstly through hardware like efficient refrigeration, self-service tills and electronic shelf edge labels to increase the productivity of the business.
“And secondly, through an increasingly diverse range of services like cash machines, banking services, Post Offices, prescription collections and dry cleaning – all services that previously would have taken their own place on the high street but are being brought under one roof to ensure that local people still have access to them.”
The trade body’s latest report revealed there are now 50,387 convenience stores across the UK, generating £49.4bn in sales. The sector is expected to grow to £54.6bn by 2027.
It also found that convenience retailers were finding more time for annual leave, after the ACS’s 2021 Local Shop Report revealed almost half of independent retailers (49%) had not taken a single day off that year.
This highlighted how hard retailers had been working to keep up with the waves of lockdowns, regulation changes, staff shortages and supply chain issues amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The number of retailers working every day has gradually dropped since, with the 2024 report showing 18% of retailers had taken no days off over the past year.
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