The convenience sector will be one of the major growth areas as the UK food and grocery industry increases by £24.1bn, or 12.5%, by 2024, to a total value of £217.7bn, according to the latest forecasts from research organisation IGD.
It predicts that the convenience channel will grow 16.6% from £41.4bn this year to £48.2bn in 2024, with only discounters, up 40.2%, and online increasing by 43.8%, showing greater growth.
Over the same period supermarkets are expected to increase by 3.1% and hypermarkets are forecast to go down by 0.8%.
Simon Wainwright, director of Insight at IGD, said: “Despite only marginal growth in market share, the convenience channel will deliver the second biggest gain in sales as retailers update their stores to meet the demand for smaller and more frequent shopping trips.
“Younger shoppers are more predisposed to shopping at convenience stores than older shoppers. Having grown up in the era of ‘new convenience’, offering wider ranges, longer opening hours and supermarket quality, younger generations will be key to driving ongoing growth, but they do have high expectations.
“Convenience formats and ranges are increasingly being tailored to local demographics to engage shoppers more effectively. Creating an easy shopping experience is an increasing focus for convenience retailers, with Co-op and Sainsbury’s trialling payment by app technology.”
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