Findings and learnings from the 2024 At Your Convenience Community Survey
Earlier this year, we asked the question, how was your 2024?
You shared what worked (and what didn't) alongside your experiences of running a convenience store last year.
We've now gathered everyone's insights and have shared the key themes below with some tips and tricks from members who understand what you're dealing with every day. Because who better to learn from than fellow business owners?
Over 76% of your stores are family owned, so we know your stores are especially important to you, which is why we created At Your Convenience - to help and support your businesses to grow.
However, with 50% having stores that are smaller than 1000sqft, we know that making the most of your space is key which is why we make sure our POS kits are fit for purpose.
In terms of business challenges, there were lots of common themes relating to rising costs and competing against the big supermarkets. Here are how some members have tried to overcome these:
Basically getting customers through the door. It’s a small shop and I need to be very competitive as I have a Tesco and Greggs within a short distance. So I dropped my profit level to try and keep as many customers as possible.
Minimum wage going up so much and changes to NI and rates and consistently high energy costs almost make it no longer viable. We overcome it by putting prices up.
With customers working from home more, being in a tube station is difficult. So I started a newspaper delivery service and opening longer hours including Sundays.
I think the biggest challenge was the price increase and energy bills. It was difficult to overcome it but I think it’s always good to build a relationship with your customers and you get there in the end.
41% offer click and collect/parcel drop off and collection services which are a great way to increase footfall and getting incremental purchases when customers are in your store. One member commented,
I honestly don't think I'd be open if it wasn't for the footfall the click and collect service provides. I stopped doing news papers when I started click and collect.
Overall, 35% invested in technology last year. If you didn’t, try small changes such as introducing a store website or digital screens in store. This would mean you could advertise your store and products digitally. See below for a link to our digital asset library with a wealth of branded images, free for you to download and use!
We’re so pleased to see that a massive 47% of you see the same customers daily, highlighting the importance of your stores within the community. Some members also shared some ideas on how they connected even more with their community last year:
Offered older customers a delivery option during bad weather.
We offer an informal delivery service to local customers with mobility issues.
Supporting local charities and food banks.
43% of customers buying soft drinks in your stores are aged between 20 and 30 but only 7% are under 20. We know that flavour and new products are key to bringing in the younger Gen Z into the soft drinks category so ensure you’re always stocking the latest flavours to hook those younger shoppers in and keep them coming back to your store.
Soft drink sales drop off after 40 with only 17% of you saying you have customers between 40-60 buying soft drinks. To increase sales for this generation, consider offering ‘big night in bundles’ with larger 2l sharing bottles for families.
48% of AYC members are stocking over 50 soft drinks in their range. With that many SKU’s it can be overwhelming for a customer to choose, after all they’re typically at your fridge for an average of just 6 seconds1 and if they can’t find what they are looking for, almost half will walk away from the fixture and nearly 25% of these will go direct to another store!2
However, ranged in the right way, your fridge can make it much easier for a customer. Based on our own research, here’s what we suggest...
Only 4% offered meal deals yet meal deals can be a great way to entice customers to make impulse purchases and be a vital sales driver for convenience stores.
Similarly, only 16% of members offered seasonal promotions last year, however seasonal events are a great way to maximise soft drinks sales, see below for some ideas to maximise sales during seasonal events.
All data taken from At Your Convenience Community Survey, March 2025 unless otherwise stated.
1. Touchstone Shopper Research 2019, 2. Shopper Intelligence, Jan 2025 (all categories aggregated)
Promote your soft drink bestsellers and the latest flavours on your social media channels or on screens in your store with our library of free images and videos for you to download.
Download now