New research carried out exclusively for C-Store has identified the average price premium for shopping in convenience as 5.7%.

The study, carried out by compliance experts ESA Retail, compared in-store pricing at convenience stores operated by Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and the Co-operative with identical products for sale through the company’s home shopping websites or, in the case of the Co-op, larger food stores.

The analysis reveals that shoppers in Sainsbury’s Local c-stores pay on average 7.3% more per item than those shopping online at Sainsbury’s.com, while the differential was 5.4% at Tesco, 4.7% at Waitrose and 5.6% at the Co-op. Across the four retailers as a whole, the average premium for local shopping was 5.7%.

Beers, wines and spirits was the category where the premium was at its widest, average of 8%. For more details, click here.