Forecourt stores to outperform total convenience market this year

The forecourt convenience channel is set to outperform the total convenience market and total forecourt retail sales this year, show a new research.

The HIM & MCA Insight UK Forecourt Market Report 2020 predicts sales growth of 3.8 percent, to reach £2.9 billion, in 2020 for forecourt convenience stores.

This stands in comparison with the growth forecasts of 1.2 percent for total forecourt retail sales and  3.2 percent growth for the overall convenience retail market, the report notes.

Retail sales from forecourt stores, excluding fuel, are set to reach £4.6 billion in 2020 and forecourt convenience stores are set to make up over three fifths of this, it adds.

“The UK forecourt market has evolved considerably in the last decade – from a time when the fuel mission accounted for over a third of visits, to now accounting for less than a fifth,” said Sarah Coleman, project manager at MCA Insight & HIM.

Only 19% of forecourt shoppers cite fuel as their main reason for visiting and, more interestingly, nearly a quarter (24%) of shoppers who visit a forecourt convenience store travel on foot rather than in a vehicle.

Two-thirds of the forecourt dealers, in a survey conducted for the report, listed increased food to go sales as one of the top three changes they had experienced in their business in the last 12 months.

“Strong investment in food to go and an increase in the number of partnerships with foodservice operators have allowed forecourts stores to become a destination for shoppers. This is more important than ever, with the food to go mission accounting for a quarter of all visits to forecourt convenience stores,” Coleman commented.

The report forecasts a CAGR of 3.1% between 2020 and 2023 for forecourt convenience. It also expects a 1.5 percent growth in outlets with a convenience store this year, despite a modest overall decline in forecourt outlets (-0.2% vs. 2019).

“Despite challenges on the horizon, such as rising costs, strong price competition and the dramatic decline of tobacco, we are forecasting a 3.1% CAGR over the next three years. This represents a significant opportunity for suppliers and operators as the channel continues to become more of a retail destination in its own right,” Coleman concluded.