Bestway has removed the fuel levy charge for mainland Costcutter stores while pumping over £2.5m into cutting prices on branded products, as it looks to boost retailers’ profits and competitiveness.
The company begun charging Costcutter retailers a levy in March 2022 at £4.88 per delivery, the cost of which has since fluctuated in line with a volatile fuel market. Its most recent fee was £3.66 per delivery.
It comes as its wholesale partner Nisa has also scrapped the fuel levy for over 100 retailers as it continues to review the impact of removing the charge.
In addition to lifting the levy, which was intended to boost margin for retailers, Bestway has invested over £2.5m to reduce the cost of 11,000 “bestselling” branded products.
The move aims to help drive footfall and customer loyalty by ensuring the prices are competitive against the large multiple convenience operators, according to the wholesale giant.
MD Dawood Pervez said the investment came at a time when the sector is approaching increases to the minimum wage and National Insurance contributions in April.
“After Brexit came Covid… and now we have increases to National Insurance and national living wage thresholds coming into play,” he said. “There’s no question this will impact on retailers at a point when it’s clear consumers will have less money in their pockets due to continuing inflation and slower-than-anticipated reductions in interest rates.
“We’ve listened to our retailers as to what is most important to them and are looking to the months’ ahead and the challenges they face, and we’re acting now to invest in their future. In 2024 we paid out over £10m in rebates to Costcutter retailers, therefore we want to ensure everyone is maximising the full benefit of this profit-driving scheme.
“We’re also embracing the new year with fresh investment in a wider sense to support growth both for our retailers and our own business. This includes a focus on our leadership team through investing in people, investment in leading-edge technology and services, and through working closely with our supply partners to maintain the competitive edge that we are proud to offer our customers.”
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