Shoppers stay local as lockdown restrictions are lifted – new figures show

The average spend in convenience outlets rose to £8.14 in the three months from July to September – a rise of 10% on the previous quarter and 11% up on the same months the previous year.

The figures suggest that people who were forced to use local convenience stores when the national lockdown was introduced in the middle of March kept using these outlets as restrictions were eased during the summer months.

Data collated from PayPoint’s network of 27,500 convenience outlets shows the quarterly surge was driven by shoppers buying for “big night in” occasions, sales of home improvement products and items in demand as parents spent more time with kids during school holidays.

There was a 20% rise in beer purchases across the quarter as more consumers entertained at home – even though pubs and restaurants had re-opened by then.

In keeping with growth of the wider home improvement category, convenience stores saw a 37% hike in spending on categories classified as “general maintenance and work” and a 31% surge in gardening and DIY products.

The school holiday period also generated a 29% spike in toy sales and a 25% increase in purchases of children’s sweets, with products such as Vimto chewy bars and Swizzles refresher bars among the best sellers.

The figures are based on sales through retail sites using PayPoint One’s scanning functionality.

Chief executive of PayPoint Nick Wiles said: “Across the summer, the majority of Brits were able to shop wherever they liked after lockdown restrictions were lifted. However, many continued to frequent the local convenience stores they became so reliant on earlier in the year.

“What’s interesting is how shopping habits have changed during the past three months, with convenience stores becoming the source of items for all the family, whether that’s a special night in, keeping kids entertained or making home improvements.

“Data provided by our PayPoint One platform can help retailers plan for and react to these trends.”

PayPoint’s network of stores is bigger than all banks, supermarkets and post offices combined which it says puts it “at the heart of communities nationwide”.

PayPoint has also published its first convenience basket register, a quarterly glimpse of the big sellers in convenience outlets.

It highlights the top two selling items during the quarter across six product categories: bread and cakes, chilled and fresh food, confectionary, frozen food, grocery and off-licence.

Between July and September, the big sellers (in descending order) were: Hovis soft white medium bread 800g loaf; Peters sausage roll (single); Robert Wiseman Dairies semi-skimmed milk; Peperami Original 22.5g; Cadbury’s Dairy Milk; Kinder Bueno; Coca Cola 330ml can and Volvic mineral water.

The final four products were Bobby’s Ice Snapper; Party ice cubes (bag); Stella Artois four-pack pint-sized cans and K Cider four-pack.