C-Stores and Food-to-go May 2015

Global Convenience Shopper Insights

www.himinternational.comTwitter: @him_int

Where do shoppers go for food-to-go?

• Convenience stores in some countries have had a strong food-to-go offer for many years (eg USA).

• But food-to-go has been a relatively new development for operators in other countries, including the UK. Convenience stores even only a decade ago were still “dabbling” in food-to-go, as operators struggled to get their heads around a potentially attractive high margin proposition but one which came with complexities like high wastage, a significant investment in personnel (recruitment, training) and how to market themselves as credible alternatives to existing food-to-go outlets.

• It now looks like convenience operators’ efforts have paid off – c-stores are now perceived to be almost as an acceptable place to buy food-to-go as fast-food outlets, and more use c-stores for food-to-go outlets than use traditional food-to-go stores.

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Where do shoppers go for food-to-go?

• In our first global c-shopper study, 10,000 shoppers were asked which types of outlet they are happy to buy food-to-go from:• 43% of shoppers said a fast-food chain• 39% said a convenience store.• 31% said a food-to-go chain• While 23% cited a petrol forecourt convenience store.

• This should come as no surprise, of course – convenience stores have got the outlets, in the right locations, open when shoppers typically want to buy food-to-go (mornings, lunchtimes, snack-times, evenings) – all that was lacking in some markets was the credibility in food-to-go. But they’ve got there.

• Obviously some convenience stores and forecourt outlets are in partnerships with national or international food-to-go brands….but by hook-or-by-crook, shoppers now see and use convenience stores as acceptable places to buy FTG the world over

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Shoppers all over the world are eating “on the move”

Eating on the move is common-place across the globe:

• 28% of shoppers say they regularly leave home without eating breakfast.

• A similar proportion say buy lunch-on-the-move regularly.

• Almost a third admit to snacking regularly through the week.

• And over a half of shoppers often don’t know what they are going to have for that night’s dinner until the day itself – these shoppers could well be open to ideas and suggestions from convenience retailers.

That’s a lot of shoppers for c-stores to target across a wide number of different “on the go” eating occasions – full steam ahead!

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Which of the following types of store do you buy food to go from? Source: him! international 2014/5

Coffee shop

Fast-food

Food-to-go outle

t

Convenience Sto

re

Petrol F

oreco

urt ...

Discounte

r

24%

43%

31%

39%

23%

13%

© him! international Ltd 2015. All rights reserved.

Note: these are global average figures. Individual country data is available by each of 11 markets


Food-to-go from discounters? Really?

What may surprise some people, though, is that 13% of shoppers around the world say they buy food-to-go from discounters.

This highlights that discounters are being used for a wide variety of shopper missions – missions which can only be identified by speaking to shoppers.

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How many shoppers say they buy food-to-go from a convenience store? UK vs Ireland?

UK Ireland

32%

44%



UK vs Ireland

The benefit of global benchmarking means we can compare the shopper attitudes across countries.

What we see is that a higher percentage of Irish shoppers use convenience stores to buy food-to-go than in the UK.

We’ve long said that Irish c-stores are amongst the best in the world.

If you want to learn more about the Irish convenience store shopper, and see examples of great Irish c-stores, then we have a few places remaining on our “Irish c-stores seminar” on 20th May 2015 in London. For more information or to reserve a place (free of charge) please email [email protected]

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28% of shoppers globally regularly leave home without eating breakfast: Source: him! international 2014/5

…with 20% of all shoppers buying breakfast-to-go, or 32% buying lunch-on-the-go, in a month Source: him! international 2014/5

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44% of the world’s population visit a convenience store in a typical month. Source: him! international 2014/5

Online - not a supermarket chain

Online - supermarket chain

A petrol forecourt store

A local independent store

A discounter

A smaller store owned by a supermarket

A specialist retailer (eg butcher, baker)

A convenience store

A main large supermarket

Have you used one of the following in the last month? % “yes”

Global average (across 11 nations)

44%

Our research shows that “convenience shopping” takes place in all formats of stores - large and small, not just “convenience stores”.



How many shoppers use petrol forecourt stores in a typical month? Almost half the number who use a c-store.

21%

Q2. In the last month, have you bought food/groceries/drinks/tobacco from …% from a petrol forecourt shop?

Forecourt stores are increasingly convenience stores which also sell fuel rather than the other way around.



Discounters are increasingly a competitive threat to convenience stores - 1/3 of shoppers visit them each month. Source: him! international 2014/5

Global Average

Germany

Poland

France

Ireland

United Kingdom

Taiwan

Japan

Russia

South Afri

ca

Netherla

nds

Australia

34%

Q2. In the last month, have you bought food/groceries/drinks/tobacco from …% from a “discounter”?



39% of shoppers will buy food-to-go from a convenience store compared to 43% from a fast-food outlet source: him! international 2014/5

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Something new – shopper insights for the convenience & proximity retailing channels around the world

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The launch of him! international - 2015


Launched to provide shopper insights to global convenience chains and their suppliers:

• All retail businesses need shopper feedback and insights to improve customer attraction, retention, loyalty and sales.

• Businesses have plenty of sales data (what gets bought) but not ‘the why’ things get bought – the shopper motivations and drivers.

• Suppliers need shopper insights to understand how to develop ranges suitable to shoppers’ needs in retailers’ outlets.

• If we can create a single common language for convenience retailers and suppliers around the world, then all parties can come together to focus on the needs of the shopper.

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New for 2015…..

him! international has launched a global convenience/proximity shopper tracking programme which interviews thousands of shoppers in 10 markets around the world. This programme is an annual syndicated subscription-based product which compares shopper insights from one country/market to the next.

him! international is also launching a key account (convenience/proximity) shopper tracking programme which identifies, trends and benchmarks the behaviours, needs and wants of selected key retail accounts around the world. This programme is also a syndicated and subscription-based product

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© HIM Int Ltd 2015

Poland

Germany

Ireland

Russia

UK

AustraliaSouth Africa

France

Taiwan

Japan

Netherlands

10,000 shoppers interviewed

11 nations

Plus UK (to benchmark)

More countries to be added in 2015

Research carried out November/December 2014 Nationally representative samples in each country.

Research remains the property of him! international

Market Sample Size

UK 1000France 1000Germany 1000Ireland 1000Australia 1000Japan 1000South Africa 1000Russia 1000Poland 500Taiwan 1000Netherlands 500

him! international’s first global convenience / proximity shopper tracking programme – launched in February 2015

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Q19. Compared to 3 years ago, are convenience stores offering better value for money overall?

Answering ‘Yes’

GLOBAL AVERAGE 18%Russia 29%Ireland 25%Taiwan 24%Poland 21%South Africa 20%United Kingdom 17%France 15%Japan 14%Australia 12%Germany 11%Netherlands 6%

To help:

• Convenience businesses stay ahead of the competition.

• To identify new and emerging shopper trends.

• To provide an independent “reality check” on shopper attitudes and behaviour.

To provide shopper insights across 11 convenience nations



Issues covered in our first global study – all related to convenience shopping (1):

Influences & drivers which affect convenience shopping

Do shoppers shop little & often? Looking for more convenient solutions? In a rush when grocery shopping? Time poor? Digital/tech savvy? Financially secure? Looking for the cheapest prices? Are shoppers “foodies”? Do they check calorie information? Health conscious?

Food-to-go, meal-replacement

Do shoppers leave home without eating breakfast? Do shoppers know what they will be having for dinner? Keen to try new experiences and foods? Have shoppers bought food to go in the last month? If so, what meal occasion? How often do they buy food-to-go? What food to go would they consider buying from a convenience store/petrol convenience store? What are shoppers’ views on food to go offered by c-stores? Fast/quick? Healthy? Filling? Good value? Tasty? Served better? Food value for money? Aimed at people like them?

Channel usage/penetration in the last month

Which retail sectors have shoppers used in a typical month? Sectors include supermarkets, convenience stores, petrol forecourt shops, discounters, specialist food stores (butchers, bakers etc), newsagent/tobacconist, online retailer, an independent store.

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Top-up vs main shop shopping? Missions?

Top-up shop? Do they conduct main shops? Or a combination of the two? How often do shoppers conduct “main shop” shopping trips? And how often do they do smaller “top-up” trips? What are the reasons/drivers/missions shoppers go top-up shopping for typically? How often do shoppers top-up shop? Which types of stores do shoppers top-up shop at? What are the benefits of top-up shopping?

Importances & ratings

Out of 19 product/service criteria, which ones are most important to shoppers around the world and in each country? And how do shoppers rate convenience stores/petrol forecourts against these criteria/10?

Convenience sectors’ category credibility

Which categories do shoppers typically need to buy on convenience or top-up trips (from a list of 25 categories)? And which categories would they be willing to buy from convenience stores? Are shoppers happy for store staff to recommend products for shoppers to buy?


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Promotions

What are shoppers’ views on promotions? Do shoppers think they save them money? Do they think stores offer too many promotions? Should c-stores be focusing on things other than promotions (like availability, service, food to go)? Do shoppers like price marked packs? Are the products c-stores offer on promotion relevant to shoppers?

Customer service

How does the service offered by convenience stores compare to other format of stores?

Use of technology

How do shoppers think c-stores should/could be using technology better? Queue management systems? Marketing? Promotions? Staff training? Loyalty cards?

Marketing, communication and engagement

How should c-stores market themselves, say shoppers? Websites? Apps, Leaflets? Engage with local communities? Advertise in newspapers? Announce new products and services?


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Price image?

Do shoppers think convenience stores are more expensive than other stores? Or no difference? What are shoppers views on the prices charged by convenience stores for 24 categories?

Deterrents?

What – if anything – deters shoppers from using convenience stores more? Price? Range? Service? Availability? Lack of healthy options?

In what ways are convenience stores better now than 3 years ago?

Better range? Value for money? Better fresh? Better food-to-go products? Better service? Better marketing?

Which businesses should c-stores align with, if any?

Pharmacies? Other local businesses? Charities? Specialist food businesses? Specialist food businesses?


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The 2015 Global C/P Shopper Programme

• Minimum 10-15 markets covered to produce a global picture

• New countries added to existing list – likely to include South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Scandinavia…

• Minimum 500 shoppers interviewed per country – more in some markets.

• Conducted in September 2015. Results late October 2015.

• Every client has the opportunity to influence the questionnaire.

• New issues introduced (in agreement with programme subscribers) and all categories covered

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For more information please contact:

[email protected] +44 (0)7469 150 606

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C-Stores and Food-to-go May 2015

Retail

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existing food

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