TWC has reported a challenging Q3 for the UK convenience market, with value sales down -2.9% year-on-year (-4.3% excluding tobacco and commission) and volume sales falling -3.6%, according to its SmartView Convenience (SVC) data.
However, average spend per unit increased by +0.7% to £2.75, reflecting ongoing inflationary pressures.
The introduction of the vape ban hit volumes hard, noted TWC, with a -16% drop in week one, impacting other categories such as crisps, snacks, confectionery, and soft drinks.
TWC flagged up Tobacco and Tobacco Alternatives as “drains” in Q3, along with Crisps & Snacks, Beer/Lager/Cider, Non-Edible Grocery, Edible Grocery, and Confectionery. All of the latter saw significant value and volume declines, although Confectionery declined more slowly than total convenience.
Meanwhile, Spirits & RTDs, Soft Drinks and Frozen were highlighted as growth drivers in the SVC findings, which track retail epos data from a representative, handpicked sample of 5,000 stores nationwide.
Branded products continued to outperform own label, growing +1% vs -9% respectively.
The top five growth brands across UK convenience were Monster, Red Bull, Buzzballz, Lucozade Sport and Magnum.
