AF Blakemore has cited its £2.4m investment into wholesale pricing as a key reason for holding onto the new customers it gained throughout the coronavirus crisis.
According to its latest financial results filed this week, sales increased by 12% for the first quarter of the current financial year, from May to August.
The Spar wholesaler made the investment over the course of the pandemic in order to help retailers remain competitive when customers carried out more of their grocery shopping in local convenience stores.
The group’s commercial director Jerry Marwood told The Grocer it wanted to “positively surprise” customers with the value they could get from the business, particularly in key areas like produce and meat that go beyond the “normal convenience mix”.
These categories are now seeing double digit growth year on year, both in its independent and company-owned estates, Marwood explained.
It has also invested £500k in a new B2B online ordering platform for Spar retailers, as well as for its wholesale and foodservice customers.
New functionality includes voice search supported by machine learning algorithms providing a more accurate result when the retailer searches online for a product. It also has enhanced product details providing retailers with nutrition and lifestyle information.
The new tech has seen a 140% increase in sessions with transactions, and an 85% increase in the number of pages viewed per session over the past year.
It also continues to roll out its home delivery services via a tie-up with Snappy Shopper in a bid to retain shoppers. There are currently 38 Blakemore Retail stores using the Snappy Shopper platform, with similar numbers using it across its independent estate too.
It is currently waiting on the delivery of electric vans to do a rollout to stores using the service.
“Shoppers relied on it very early on in the pandemic, as a lot of people just physically couldn’t come to the store for different reasons,” added Marwood. ”And now, people are using it in a positive way because they’re using it out of choice.”
In the summer, the company launched its 165,000 sq ft distribution depot in Bedford that aimed to provide additional supply chain capacity as well as enabling growth for the future.
It has also been working to increase the number of drivers it employs to combat the ongoing HGV driver crisis. Marwood said its employed driver team has now increased from 256 to 327 since May.
“Investment in pay rates and facilities have assisted with the attraction and retention of drivers, as well as an increased focus on core processes in reducing frustrations, such as driver waiting times, and improving productivity,” he added.
It has also invested in internal and government training schemes in developing its “own driver talent pool”. It has 81 colleagues enrolled on the various schemes, of which 21 have either upgraded or obtained their HGV licence qualification.
The 12% uptick in sales comes off the back of a disrupted year of trade for AF Blakemore as coronavirus wreaked havoc on its foodservice and wholesale customers. The group’s sales for the financial year ending on 24 April declined by 5% from the previous year, falling from £1.053bn to £1.001bn.
But as a result of “solid retention of convenience store volumes, the strong recoverability of Covid-impacted channels and growth from new customer accounts”, chairman Peter Blakemore said the business is “well positioned to navigate the current supply chain challenges and to deliver our growth aspirations”.
Pre-tax profits remained stable at £6.1m over the same period.
No comments yet