Opinion: McColl's boss Jonathan Miller on why the craving for convenience will continue

However, over the years, the convenience market has changed almost beyond recognition.

Today’s stores are modern, clean and attractive. The range of products stocked and services provided have improved dramatically.

So what’s been the driving force behind this development?

Firstly, you have to look to how our lifestyles are changing and how customer demand has evolved in tandem.

Long-term trends are impacting the way we live and shop.

Longer average life expectancy, more single-person households, lengthy commutes and changes in technology are all impacting the way we shop.

Frequency of shopping has increased as customers look for convenient ways to get what they need at the right price, which is why we’re witnessing the rise of top-up shopping.

Time poor shoppers

Consumers are looking to save time wherever they can – particularly when it comes to food and grocery shopping.

We recently commissioned research from the IGD which discovered that people spend one waking day each month shopping for groceries. Remarkably, the majority of this time – almost 10 hours – is spent travelling to stores.

People are quite surprised when I mention to them that 53% of our customers live within 400m – a short walk – of their local McColl’s store.

“The emphasis on saving time, both in terms of traveling to store and shopping in-store, means that more people than ever are turning to convenience.”

Jonathan Miller

Rather than being on the high street, our stores are located in the heart of the UK’s neighbourhoods, close to where our customers live. That, for us, is a big part of what providing true convenience is all about.

The emphasis on saving time, both in terms of traveling to store and shopping in-store, means that more people than ever are turning to convenience.

The IGD research revealed that customers shopping for dinner at their neighbourhood store saved 21 minutes compared to the average of all grocery shopping channels, including supermarkets, discounters and online.

And customers spent on average just seven minutes in a convenience store compared to 23 minutes in a supermarket – a significant time saving.

Product proposition

But there’s no point helping customers to save time if you don’t offer what they want. This is where convenience multiples like McColl’s have worked hard to help professionalise standards and improve the convenience offer beyond measure.

We are adding in-demand growth categories such as fresh and chilled groceries and food-to-go to our ranges.

Selling these types of products means convenience stores have to provide customers with a more modern and comfortable shopping experience. You can sell a newspaper from anywhere, but you need a good-looking store to sell broccoli.

However, it’s not just about products. The IGD research found that one-in-four people used services such as click-and-collect, Amazon lockers or the Post Office on their last c-store visit.

A demand for these services is an important driving force behind the changing face of convenience.

“You can sell a newspaper from anywhere, but you need a good-looking store to sell broccoli.”

Jonathan Miller

And most importantly, these changes are being matched by high customer satisfaction rates – 91% of those surveyed got everything they needed at their last trip to a c-store.

As we look to the future, the convenience market is set to continue its impressive growth, driven by the solid fundamentals that underpin it.

Interestingly, convenience strongly appeals to the next generation of time-conscious shoppers. IGD findings showed that one-in-five post-millennials do the majority of their food and grocery shopping at their neighbourhood store, more than double when compared to those aged 26 and over.

The face of convenience is changing and, whatever lies ahead, we know one thing’s for certain – convenience retailers will increasingly need to offer customers not just value for money, but time.