The 2026 Rural Shop Report from the ACS reveals that rural retailers have spent over a quarter of a billion pounds in the last year improving their range of products and services for customers, as well as investing in security measures to keep colleagues and customers safe.
Key findings from the report include:
• Rural shops generated £17.7bn in sales last year
• The average rural shop serves over 2,000 people in rural communities surrounding the business
• Rural shops provide secure, flexible jobs for over 165,000 people
The report highlights the unique challenges that rural retailers face compared to their more urban counterparts, including a lack of connectivity, issues with getting product into store reliably, theft and other retail crime and more.
ACS chief executive James Lowman says: “Rural shops are a lifeline for thousands of people in isolated communities. These businesses are taking on a lot of the services that are otherwise disappearing from communities and need support to be able to thrive. “We need to level the playing field for rural shops so they don’t have to worry about phone signal, or broadband connections, or whether their deliveries are going to be able to get to the store. It is vitally important that policymakers consider the unique challenges facing rural shops and find ways to help them grow and continue to invest in their long term future.”
