NEWS21 September 2021

British shoppers spend more in convenience stores

Covid-19 FMCG News Trends UK

UK – Spend on groceries at convenience stores has increased by +3.3% in the four weeks ending 11th September, according to NielsenIQ data.

Local corner shop convenience store_crop

The growth outperforms the increase in spending at supermarkets during the same period (+0.6%).

According to the data, online groceries still account for 12.4% of sales, a slight decrease from 13% at the same time last year.

The research also found that total till grocery sales were up +1.8% in the past four weeks compared with the same time last year. British shoppers spent £9.8bn at the major supermarkets in the four weeks ending 11th September – £526m more than the same period in 2019.  

The growth in convenience store grocery spend follows the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in the summer, with more workers returning to office-based environments.

Mike Watkins, UK head of retailer and business insight, NielsenIQ, said: “Shopping habits are shifting once again, this time towards convenience channels as Brits return to more impulsive shopping behaviours that correspond with a return to pre-pandemic lifestyles. The warm weather in early September also helped.”

According to the data, visits to all stores have increased by 10% compared with last year, but are still down 6% on 2019 figures.

Watkins added: “Rising energy costs and inflation could hit disposable incomes, while availability concerns could present challenges. However, grocers can still expect to look forward to a short-term boost as some of the incremental spend has not yet returned to the hospitality channels, and shoppers are likely to plan in advance if household budgets are more constrained.”

NielsenIQ’s Homescan Total Till is a continuous panel of 14,550 GB households measures household purchasing through major supermarkets intended for in-home consumption and brought back into the home. 

@RESEARCH LIVE

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