Motherwell retailer hits first £1 million of home delivery sales

A Scottish retailer has crossed £1 million of home delivery sales with Snappy Shopper.

Adeil Hussain, who runs the One Stop store in Airbles, Motherwell hit the milestone this week, in just under 20 months after he started the service in February 2020.

He introduced the service when the Covid-19 pandemic was closing in, but as a new concept, things didn’t take off immediately and he was fulfilling just a couple of deliveries a day. However, when the first lockdown happened, things really changed pace and he has never looked back.

The infrastructure with Snappy Shopper was in place and a couple of orders per day turned into 15. This figure increased each week, to 55 deliveries a day and could run anywhere up to 100 a day.

“I was very keen to help my local community get their supplies in whatever way helped them the most. We have a lot of elderly people who get their pension from our in-store Post Office. I was able to chat to them about the delivery options, explaining they could stay at home and their shopping brought directly to them. We had 80 per cent of people subsequently take up the service,” Hussain said.

“It hasn’t just benefitted the elderly; many people have been shielding or can’t get out so easily. We deliver to mothers with young children, or people who work from home and can’t run down to the shops.”

Hussain has since racked up over 19,660 orders and 800 customers, and said he’s “over the moon” to have reached this milestone, adding that customers are now demanding more services like this at the store.

“The figures really speak for themselves. We’ve achieved this through repeat customers; they trust us and come back time and time again. Working with Snappy Shopper we’re a little different to other delivery services as we offer the same in-store price, including promotions. It’s then delivered in anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour later,” he commented.

“The opportunities are huge and people are crying out for this type of service as they want the convenience of shopping arriving quickly at a price they’d pay if they came in store. By us responding to consumer demand, everyone wins.”

Hussain said customers continue to use the service even after the restrictions lifted. “This service gives people the freedom to browse. They can look online, see what’s available and take advantage of the offers and promotions, so they can do a more thorough shop. It’s about creating a sense of normality for them,” he explained.

As well as talking firsthand to his loyal customers, Hussain also utilises social media to help spread the word, to make the delivery service a success.

“At certain times of the year Snappy Shopper provides us with a map of where sales come from. This then enables us to target areas where we’re not so busy and can let potential customers know what’s available and that we’re there for them,” he adds.

John Miller, Head of Franchise at One Stop, commented that the home delivery service has resulted in a huge step change for their franchisees’ business models.

“Lockdown has shown us what the future of convenience retailing looks like and how customers are preferring to shop. People are working differently; needs are changing and convenience is ever more in demand,” he said.

“This is a fantastic milestone for Adeil and his team and shows how hard everyone has worked to achieve such profitable sales, whilst, at the same time, helping so many in the community.

“At One Stop we are committed to providing our franchisees with opportunities like this and work with a number of delivery partners to get our products out to our customers. We spoke with Adeil as far back as 2017 about a home delivery service but the pandemic accelerated this and continues to provide an ideal way for many people to shop. Congratulations to Adeil for harnessing this enormous growth area and showing what can be achieved in a relatively short space of time.”