Convenience stores are losing the battle against the supermarkets for the lucrative top-up shopping market, a new report has revealed.
Only 30% of shoppers claimed to visit c-stores to do their top-up shopping, against 56% who claimed to top-up shop in supermarkets, the Evolution Insights report found.
And in a further kick in the teeth for independents, Tesco was found to be the most popular top-up shop destination. Some 48% of the 1,000 respondents claimed to regularly top-up shop at either a Tesco Extra, Metro or supermarket. A further 17.8% claimed to shop at Tesco Express.
Sainsbury's supermarkets (25.7%), Asda (23.8%), The Co-op (23.8%) and Morrisons (22.5%) also scored highly. By contrast, 12% said they regularly did their top-up shopping at an independent, with 1.7% visiting Budgens, 2.5% Costcutter and 5.9% Spar.
"It's ironic that shoppers often choose supermarkets over convenience stores because of convenience," said Evolution Insights lead analyst Alastair Lockhart. "Top-up shoppers often perceive supermarkets as more convenient because they have good parking, a wider range and people are familiar with them."
The supermarkets were also winning over top-up shoppers with their meal deals, self-service checkouts and user-friendly store layouts, the report found. "For convenience stores to fight back they must look beyond the convenience of their location alone to more effective range editing and improved availability in key top-up categories, notably fresh fruit and vegetables," Lockhart said.
Councils should help indies fight back, said Association of Convenience Stores public affairs director Shane Brennan. "Many councils want to encourage greater local shopping and reduce food miles," he said. "To achieve this they have to ensure local planning and parking policies give people every opportunity to shop close to home."
The report estimated the top-up shopping market's value at £73.26m, 52.2% of the total grocery market.
Only 30% of shoppers claimed to visit c-stores to do their top-up shopping, against 56% who claimed to top-up shop in supermarkets, the Evolution Insights report found.
And in a further kick in the teeth for independents, Tesco was found to be the most popular top-up shop destination. Some 48% of the 1,000 respondents claimed to regularly top-up shop at either a Tesco Extra, Metro or supermarket. A further 17.8% claimed to shop at Tesco Express.
Sainsbury's supermarkets (25.7%), Asda (23.8%), The Co-op (23.8%) and Morrisons (22.5%) also scored highly. By contrast, 12% said they regularly did their top-up shopping at an independent, with 1.7% visiting Budgens, 2.5% Costcutter and 5.9% Spar.
"It's ironic that shoppers often choose supermarkets over convenience stores because of convenience," said Evolution Insights lead analyst Alastair Lockhart. "Top-up shoppers often perceive supermarkets as more convenient because they have good parking, a wider range and people are familiar with them."
The supermarkets were also winning over top-up shoppers with their meal deals, self-service checkouts and user-friendly store layouts, the report found. "For convenience stores to fight back they must look beyond the convenience of their location alone to more effective range editing and improved availability in key top-up categories, notably fresh fruit and vegetables," Lockhart said.
Councils should help indies fight back, said Association of Convenience Stores public affairs director Shane Brennan. "Many councils want to encourage greater local shopping and reduce food miles," he said. "To achieve this they have to ensure local planning and parking policies give people every opportunity to shop close to home."
The report estimated the top-up shopping market's value at £73.26m, 52.2% of the total grocery market.
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