Feature by Louis Davies - Retail Director for Compass One
According to medium.com: “The shift towards 24-hour convenience stores and delivery services reflects a fundamental change in consumer behaviour and expectations. As the demand for immediate access to goods and services continues to grow, convenience stores are stepping up to provide flexible, reliable, and efficient solutions. These trends are not only meeting the current demands of consumers but are also paving the way for the future of retail.” [1]
People’s lifestyles and working patterns have evolved – we live in a 24/7 world where we can do anything at any time, and what people want and expect has changed. When it comes to food and drink, the rise of aggregators and other app-based platforms means people can access products and services much more easily, at almost any hour and location in many cases.
Customers now see flexible services as standard and these expectations have translated into the workplace. This coupled with a greater focus on the wellbeing of workers, and an ongoing challenge to recruit and retain talent, is driving our clients to review their approaches to colleague welfare more than ever before. The availability of high-quality food and drinks is a key part of this.
It’s no longer sufficient for employers to provide a traditional restaurant that closes after lunch, perhaps supported by a basic vending offer. However, cost constraints mean it’s also not viable to resource fully attended outlets with greatly extended opening hours. Doing things differently is essential if organisations are to meet the needs of their people while maintaining a healthy balance sheet – and that’s where we can help.
Across ESS, we’re working with multiple clients in facilities of all different sizes, running complex operating schedules and housing diverse working populations, to address these challenges. We’re using innovative new formats and technologies to increase the availability of retail at no extra cost, and we’re doing this in a variety of ways depending on our clients’ needs and priorities.
Here are just some of the solutions we can provide:
- Self-service smart markets stocking made in house products, meals for reheating, ambient items and branded hot drinks. The units provide a high degree of flexibility with ranging, and we tailor our offers to suit different sector demographics.
- Hybrid catering, retail and leisure spaces that combine restaurant, store, deli and café offers. Customers can enjoy a range of contemporary food concepts during restaurant opening hours and access hot and cold food to go, branded hot drinks, chilled, ambient and non-food items outside of these times.
- Self-service micro stores stocking food to go, branded hot drinks, chilled and ambient items and carefully selected distress lines, designed to meet the needs of customers who don’t want to leave their work site to purchase basic provisions.
- Fully frictionless stores where customers simply tap a contactless card on entry, select their purchases and leave. These stock food to go, branded hot drinks, chilled and ambient items and carefully selected distress lines.
Each of these formats has the potential to operate 24/7 depending on the client’s requirements, with the addition of customer service hosts during busier periods. Each can stock a product range that reflects the requirements of the customer demographic, with sales reviewed on an ongoing basis and ranges updated depending on customer needs and wants.
Rethinking how we deliver retail isn’t about taking human interaction away – it’s about providing our clients and customers with significantly enhanced provision, 24/7 if needed. People can be masters of their own time, shopping when they want to and how they want to, without increasing the labour requirement of the service.
