Sainsbury’s is opening more local convenience shops in the UK than larger supermarkets.
This week, its 594th convenience store is due to open in Coventry and with it comes the overtaking of the number of supermarkets the company runs.
Sainsbury’s is opening two convenience stores every week.
Sales in Sainsbury’s supermarkets in the pre-Christmas period slowed considerably, but jumped by 18% in its convenience outlets.
The giant retailer is responding to dramatic changes in consumer buying habits. According to Sainsbury’s, people are moving away from a weekly shop and instead buying fewer items more frequently.
Reverting to the patterns of earlier days has been put down to helping people budget better and avoid wasting food.
The other change exposed over Christmas, which took many retailers by surprise, was the sharp rise in online shopping which enabled consumers to pick items selectively from a variety of providers rather than buying all their purchases on one store.
Consumers were able to select both premium and non-premium items, as reflected in an increase in sales at both Waitrose as well as Lidl and Aldi.
Analysts believe that the convenience shop sector will grow from £35.6bn in 2013 to £46.2bn by 2018.
