Last month we examined the findings of the ACS Local Shop Report 2013, and in this concluding part of our look at the report we focus on the role of staff and customers in the convenience industry.
By Kevin Scott
Without good staff, you wouldn’t really have much chance of running a business. Knowing your staff and ensuring the working environment is one in which there is relative harmony, is as important as any other aspect of running a business. Any business.
In Scotland’s convenience channel, 41,606 people are employed, which demonstrates how vital a healthy c-sector is to the economy.
Within this total, 65% of workers are female, with the vast majority of employees (74%) working fewer than 30 hours a week. This is linked to the fact that 52% of staff look after children and 21% are studying. In fact, 26% of staff fall into the 16-24 age bracket. Commendably for the sector, 9% of staff are over 60 years of age.
Much can also be read from the turnover of staff in a business, so it is heartening to see that turnover is just 14% (defined in the report as being staff who have been employed for less than one year). 58% of staff working in convenience have done so for between one and five years. An impressive 34% have done so for over five years, while a round of applause to those staff who have been working for a decade or more – all 24% of them.
Retailers are obviously keen to ensure more staff stay with them too. Over 90% of shops offer staff training while 45% of shops offer formal qualifications.
When it comes to retailers themselves, 27% have inherited a family business with 73% being first time investors. 22% of them have been in business for between one and five years (the biggest proportion of all time frames), 19% for six to 10 years, while 20% have been in business for 21-30 years. Incredibly, 7% of all retailers have been plying their chosen trade for over 30 years.
The ethnicity of these owners also comes under the spotlight in the report. With convenience retail famous for its all-inclusiveness it is interesting to note that over a third (35%) of retailers describe themselves as Asian or Asian British. 61% describe themselves as White British with just 2% ‘other’. The vast majority of retailers (77%) were born in the UK.
According to the survey, 40% of businesses are owned by partnerships, with 20% of owners having more than one shop. Despite more females than males being hired in convenience stores, this is reversed when it comes to owners, with 67% of owners male.
Convenience retail, it would seem, is not a young man’s game either – although a commendable 11% of shop owners are aged 18-29. This rises to 17% for 30-39 year-olds, 26% for 40-49, 28% for 50-59 and an equally commendable 14% are over 60.
But what of the customers? Well, unsurprisingly, they are locals: 81% travel less than a mile to get to their nearest store. In fact, 20% have travelled less than 100 yards. 57% of shoppers travel to their local store on foot, compared with 39% in car.
Some 22% visit the store every day, with 86% visiting at least once a week. That leaves 14% who visit the store less than once a week. For retailers, finding out why and improving this figure is a good start to improving sales. And that’s what it’s all about after all. With an average basket spend of £6.04, the typical customer is just what every c-store needs more of.
