Report comment

Strange it may sound, I am pleased that some inflation has crept in to the convenience sector after years of deflation which has decimated our cash margin whilst cost of running our businesses has been escalating in an upward spiral with utilities, not to mention the dreaded government legislation on minimum wage.
We have somehow become busy fools, often “flogging” everything for a pound and milk and alcohol cheaper than water is a classic example of having deflationary impact on our cash margin. In an ultra-competitive market we need to make sure that our margins are improved by way of introducing more chill, food to go and quality fruit & veg. We cannot just improve sales out of thin air however good an operator you are. Margin enhancement is the only salvation. That doesn’t mean you can just jack up prices but changing our model to more fresh & chill is where the market is and that’s what people are coming into our store for now. Ambient grocery has continued to decline and probably continue that trend in the New Year. There is sufficient data to prove that that’s the case. It’s not all bad news as the recent consolidation in the market place which I very much welcome will offer us more comparative wholesale price and of course the quality on fresh that was very much lacking in the “old” symbol sector.

Arjan Mehr Londis Bracknell