Analysis: Morrisons’ convenience format, M Local

Being a latecomer to the convenience retailers’ ball can be tricky. If you’re a large supermarket, there’s the matter of getting the sites. It’s also deciding which elements of your full-line formats will be appropriate to locals and the types of customers who will wander through the doors of your convenience store.

You also need to create a store that works from the perspective of being a distinct entity as far as being a standalone store is concerned and yet at the same time it needs to be recognisably from your brand stable.

Morrisons’ convenience format, M Local, is new to the high street. And it arrives at a time when the casual observer might be forgiven for thinking that the convenience market is approaching saturation with Tesco and Sainsbury’s having long since occupied the high ground and Waitrose climbing the slopes.

M Local has actually been around for almost two years, but until relatively recently it has been in the pilot phase.

Now, following the acquisition of a tranche of stores from failed entertainment retailer Blockbuster, the roll-out button has been pressed and we are on the verge of seeing a rash of M Locals around the UK.

The latest M Local store to open is just a few minutes from London’s Paddington station, and a stone’s throw from Ealing Broadway. It’s a small unit that operates in a convenience territory, as this is about serving the lunchtime crowd and the top-up shoppers who are passing.

From the outside, the green, yellow and white nature of the M Local signage seems vaguely familiar. For those walking from the Broadway towards the shop, the answer will have been apparent about 30 seconds before arriving at M Local - the colours are almost exactly the same as the local Job Centre Plus. While very unlikely to have been intentional, the close proximity of the two companies makes forming a link hard to avoid.

All of which notwithstanding, this small shop - a few aisles, some chiller cabinets and a bank of checkouts - is an exercise in in-store navigation using large graphics. The overriding message provided by the graphics is ‘Fresh’, and from the moment that ingress is made into the shop, large signs inform the shopper that there is ‘Fresh Food Every Day’. Maybe so, but beneath one of the pillars bearing this legend were shelves with boxes of Cadbury’s Roses and Maltesers, which does put a question mark against the ‘Fresh’ statement above this.

To the right of the same mid-shop pillar, there is a chiller unit that is topped by a graphic that reads ‘M Kitchen’. This translates as boxed ready meals, waiting to be heated up, and a brisk trade was being done.

Move further into the store and the signs begin to change. A useful pillar graphic reads ‘Bits & Bobs’ - which means everything from confectionery to a few electric light bulbs. On the fresh promise, M Local does its best to live the dream, however, with ranges of bite-sized fruit - a honeydew melon segment at 50p is reasonably typical. A shelved unit attached to the end of a gondola on which fresh chives, basil and suchlike are stocked does go some way towards fulfilling the promise of the graphics.

It is perhaps worth remarking that the gondola to which this was attached bore a graphic that stated ‘Fruit & Veg Fresh Every Day’. The store was busy at lunchtime and this part of the offer had been well raked over - resulting in significant gaps along almost its entire length. The citizens of Ealing, it appears expect their food to be fresh, but, just as importantly, it should be available - especially in a new store.

Convenience also tends to mean alcohol, and M Local devotes about half of the right-hand perimeter wall to the category with the emphasis being on low price. The same is true of much of what is on view in this store with the ranges aiming to target the offers of the many small shops that are to be found along this stretch of the Uxbridge Road.

And so to the checkouts. There are self-scan terminals and two manned tills, which is considerably better than in many of Morrisons’ rivals as far as staffing is concerned. A lot of space has been devoted to the area and the grey floor tiles and green upper perimeter help to give the area a distinct and pleasing feel.

So is this format to take on the giants of the convenience sector? The answer is very possibly, but getting critical mass in a relatively short period of time is the essential task facing the supermarket’s management. Consumers will shop convenience stores on the basis of whatever happens to be to hand - it’s a matter of grab and go. The need for large numbers of this new format is pressing - at least as far as Morrisons is concerned.