The Co-op wants to roll out its convenience franchise into forecourts to re-build a strong presence in the sector after selling its 129 company-owned petrol sites to Asda in 2022. But what has this to offer potential fuel retailer recruits Forecourt Trader asks director of partnership development Martin Rogers.
“Co-op in a box” is how the Co-op’s director of partnership development Martin Rogers describes the latest convenience franchise model the business announced earlier this month as its way back into building a significant presence in the forecourt market.
Currently, the Co-op has 44 franchises at convenience stores, universities, service stations, and 11 forecourts owned by Top 50 Indie SGN, with the latter agreement in place for more than two and a half years.
Now, trailblazed in a seven-store trial with Zuber Issa’s EG On the Move, it wants to have 165 independent forecourts signed up by 2030 via the franchise agreement.
Rogers says that forecourts are ideal for partnering with the Co-op, at a time that operators are looking for a strong grocery brand, featuring meal deals, and food to go.
The push into forecourts is part of bigger aspirations for the Co-op to scale its franchise business to over 500 stores in the next six years. And it comes at a time that the business, which operates 2,500 company-owned sites, is giving franchisees access to its SAP internal retail platform, a push ordering system which provides automatic replenishment based on forecasting information.
“Last year we moved the franchise business onto SAP, later than the rest of the Co-op as franchisees have to have pricing independence so it is a more complex build,” said Rogers.
“It gives the right combination of products for any given location and provides the right level of supply to match demand for anything from England football games, bank holidays and a store’s specific opening hours,” enthused Rogers.
Essentially the franchise would suit an operator who would benefit from some hand holding in developing their convenience store and offer, or want to focus their time on developing the forecourt side of the business, said Rogers.
“It is a turnkey proposition with Co-op tills, Co-op range, planograms, floor plans and systems. It really is Co-op in a box. It has the look and feel of a Co-op store to the customer,” he aded.
Rogers admits that the package is not for operators who want independence on ranging and ordering, as well as the freedom to deal with multiple suppliers. He points to the Co-op’s Nisa fascia for that – with operators going down this route also having access to the Co-op own-brand.
Of course, the Co-op own-brand and its extensive product catalogue is a big draw to both franchises, said Rogers.
“The Co-op brand resonates and has a fundamental strength in convenience. It is known for its ethical and sustainable credentials, and high quality food value food,” he added.
There is also the halo effect of the 180 year-old brand too that franchisees will benefit from, said Rogers, including the TV advertising and social media outreach, and also the established business with quick commerce platforms including Deliveroo and Just Eat.
The first franchise site with EG On the Move opened earlier this month in Doncaster, to be followed by the second outlet on Thursday July 25 in Billingshurst in West Sussex. Rogers said that the Co-op is having “a number of active conversations” with other forecourt operators.
He believes that the simplicity of the package will particularly appeal to forecourt operators. “We are quite clear that we are not experts in fuel, but we train and work with partners on retail standards and make sure that they have everything they need to run the system and then it is really a light touch.
“It is a full franchise offer. We recommend the range on footfall and location and we work with partners who know their locations and missions, to optimise that. It is designed for people to run a Co-op shop as easily as possible.”
