Convenience Stores in the UK - Industry Research Report

Convenient growth: Recent mergers and acquisitions are elevating revenue in 2023-24

Convenience stores' revenue is heavily influenced by disposable income, supermarket competition, the national living wage and online expenditure. The COVID-19 pandemic boosted sales at convenience stores as people adopted little, local and often shopping trends in light of travel restrictions and lockdowns. Smaller local stores were perceived to be safer than supermarkets, helping to drive footfall. There has been a string of merger and acquisition activity in the convenience store industry, with multiple major players being acquired since 2018. The Co-op acquired Nisa in 2018, Bestway acquired Costcutter in 2020 and Morrisons acquired McColl's in 2022. The new trading relationships with well-established supermarkets and wholesalers will bring a wider and more reliable product selection to stores and they will also benefit from the operational expertise these firms possess. Over the five years through 2023-24, revenue is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 2.6% to reach £49.5 billion, including growth of 1.1% in 2023-24.

Convenience stores offer a wide variety of goods including tobacco, groceries and magazines. For a convenience store to be defined as such it must satisfy the following criteria: the size of the establishment must be under 3,000 square feet, it must not be subject to restricted opening hours under the Sunday Trading Act and it must not be positioned on a petrol station forecourt or centrally managed by a supermarket chain.

This report covers the scope, size, disposition and growth of the industry including the key sensitivities and success factors. Also included are five year industry forecasts, growth rates and an analysis of the industry key players and their market shares.