// Average number of baskets of items bought between March-July rose 32% at local convenience stores
// 51% of shoppers said they were planning to continue shopping at their local convenience store
// 2/3 said their local corner store had everything they need
British shoppers turned to corner shops during lockdown and many plan to continue using local businesses, new data has shown.
The average number of baskets of items bought between March and July rose 32 per cent at local convenience stores that use PayPoint, compared to the four months leading up to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the number of goods in each basket rose 39 per cent, and the value of each basket rose 64 per cent, PayPoint’s data shows.
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A 191 per cent March spike in sales of household goods, as people scrambled for cleaning products, settled back to 58 per cent up in April and 34 per cent up in July.
However most other categories peaked in May, as grocery sales were up 47 per cent, confectionery was up 22 per cent, cigarettes and tobacco added 39 per cent, off licence sales doubled, and sales of frozen foods quadrupled.
All these categories have since settled down but frozen foods remained up 158 per cent in July, according to the data.
When researchers asked 2000 adults, 51 per cent said they were planning to continue shopping at their local convenience store, and nearly two thirds said their local has everything they need.
It could symbolise a big boost for the convenience retail sector, especially considering that more than half (56 per cent) of people said they visited their local convenience store for the first time during lockdown.
Data from retail experts at Kantar has mirrored what PayPoint found.
“Convenience stores were a lifeline for many people in the early days of the crisis, providing essential supplies close to home,” Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said last month.
“Sales from these types of stores are still up by more than a quarter year on year, but they attracted 2.6 million fewer shoppers through their doors than at the peak of lockdown in April.”
Kantar’s data shows that people are getting back in their cars and on to public transport and shopping further away from home.
with PA Wires
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