The UK food and grocery convenience sector is set to grow to £42.2bn in five years’ time, according to figures revealed by IGD at its Convenience Retail Conference.

The sector will have increased in value by more than a quarter from its current value of £33.6bn in 2011, and convenience’s share of the overall food and grocery market is expected to increase to 22.9% by 2016, compared to 21.4% by the end of this year.

IGD ShopperTrack research reveals that shoppers are seeing increasing benefits from using the convenience sector. It found that if fuel prices continued to rise, 50% of shoppers said they would use shops nearer to them to save on petrol costs; 46% of convenience store shoppers stated that the ability to walk to a store from home was a key factor when choosing a convenience store; and convenience store shoppers use the format on average three times a week.

Nick Everitt, director of retail insight at IGD, said: "Shoppers are increasingly favouring a ’little and often’ approach."