5 minute read
Refreshed offer
1,000 sq ft unit is located on a busy residential road and boasts its own private car park.
The store has received a number of investments over the years, including a significant refit less than five years ago, however, with the pandemic having prompted a further rise in footfall and sales, 2021 saw Tony invest in further works to enhance its offer yet further.
“In this business you need to move forward all the time,” Tony says. “When sales are growing it can be tempting to sit back a little but actually that’s the time to push even harder.
“Having owned this store for 17 years we have very close links with the community and know all of our local customers really well which gives us fantastic insights into their changing needs and how we can better meet them.
“The team at Londis are also incredibly helpful and so when we combine our local knowledge with Londis’ understanding of national trends and expertise we can achieve a huge amount.
“We’ve been with Londis for almost 35 years now and I actually started out working in a Londis store at the very beginning of my career, before later buying my first store in London.
Tony Patel, Londis Gorefield, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
“For me there was never any question about joining the brand. I’d seen how it functioned from the ground level up and it’s the perfect fit for our needs and those of our local shoppers.
“The store had been performing really well but we knew there was more we could do and some tweaks that we needed to make, so in 2021 we carried out yet another refit to just refresh the whole store.
“Large-scale refits certainly make a big impact but supporting them with small, regular refreshes is also really powerful, especially in the current climate and certainly if your footfall is high.
“The busier your store is, the quicker certain aspects of it can age and start
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Top tips!
Major refi ts are all well and good but it’s also vital to invest in a planned schedule of mini makeovers to keep your offer fresh and interesting.
Trust your unique local knowledge and tailor your offer to that. What works well in one store won’t necessarily Trust your unique local knowledge and bear fruit in another.
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Fresh local products such as bread, seasonal fruits and in particular fl owers create attractive USPs.
to look tired, and you certainly don’t want that.”
Londis Gorefield’s latest mini makeover saw the store graced with a fresh new fascia and exterior and interior signage. A number of fixtures and fittings were also updated, while key elements of the store’s range were also remerchandised, as Tony explains.
“I wasn’t entirely happy with the store’s entrance area, it was a bit tight and we had the crisps merchandised at the front which didn’t feel exactly right. As a result we relocated the crisps to be nearer to the off-licence zone and I’m really pleased with that. We’ve already noticed an uptick in sales as shoppers grab a bag on impulse along with their bottle of wine or beer.”
“We also relocated all of the pet food from its previous position in our central aisle to the rear of the store by the newspapers, in order to giver better visibility to more profitable categories.
“The team at Londis were so helpful, we had great advice and support every step of the way.
“Shoppers are really impressed with what we’ve done and always very engaged with any changes that we make. It’s interesting for them, and in this industry, keeping your shoppers interested is key.
“Many of our shoppers come in every day, sometimes twice a day which makes it even more important to keep the offer interesting. Board shoppers don’t browse or spend like engaged ones. That’s the way I look at it anyway.”
A new Snow Shock machine introduced in the summer of 2021 certainly helped add a fresh pouring of interest, as has the store’s recently augmented range of
disposable vapes which now includes disposable varieties such as Geek Bar.
Local, seasonal products are also a fantastic source of added interest. “We do a lot of local bread and seasonal fruits – local strawberries for example, are a huge seller in the summer months. We also source fresh flowers locally which gives us a nice point of difference.”
“Our shoppers are at the heart of all our ranging decisions and we engage closely with them both face to face and via social media when we introduce anything new,” Tony says.
“For us, it’s all about offering a great quality range of everyday essentials in the smartest, friendliest and most convenient way possible. That’s what our shoppers want.” And shoppers are clearly thrilled with their newly made over store, with total sales having risen 12% since the mini makeover, helping to push average basket spend up to just over £9.
“Customers are so thrilled with what we’ve done, they truly feel that this is their community store and they appreciate all investments that we make in it. It makes them feel valued and important, which of course they very much are!” Large-scale refits certainly make a big impact but supporting them with small, regular refreshes is also really powerful, especially in the current climate and certainly if your footfall is high.
Tony Patel, Londis Gorefi eld, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
Gorefi eld
STORE INFO Store name: Londis Gorefield, Cambridgeshire Size: 1,000 sq ft Store type: Residential Key categories: BWS, grocery, chilled fruit and vegetables Opening Hours: 6.30am -7pm Mon-Sat/ 7am-1pm Sunday
Staff: 2
