Grocers Expand Into Convenience Stores to Drive Sales of Essentials

As consumers shift to making smaller, more frequent food purchases, grocers are adjusting accordingly.

Specifically, several grocery brands have been turning to convenience retail and other smaller-format models to meet consumers’ last-minute needs without the costs associated with running a full-on supermarket. Most recently, grocery retailer and food distributor SpartanNash made an announcement Monday (Jan. 30) that spotlights a new focus on the convenience store space.

The company shared the appointment of a new vice president of fuel centers and convenience stores, Ryan Speakes, former market leader of operations at convenience store giant 7-Eleven.

“The [convenience store] market is growing globally, and SpartanNash sees tremendous opportunity to bring new innovations to this segment of our retail business,” Tom Swanson, the food company’s executive vice president of corporate retail, said in the announcement.

Additionally, the company’s convenience stores are not only intended to drive sales in their own right but also to drive traffic at its grocery stores by motivating brand loyalty. The announcement noted that most of these convenience stores are “co-located with a company-owned grocery store.”

Indeed, around the world grocers are turning to convenience stores to drive sales with those last-minute, small-basket shoppers. Last month, U.K.-based supermarket chain Asda announced that it is expanding its “Express” convenience store concept with plans to open 300 new locations by the end of 2026. These stores offer basic essentials, a limited selection of prepared foods as well as some alcoholic beverage options.

Plus, Michigan-based grocer Meijer, which has more than 500 stores in the Midwest and Kentucky, announced Thursday (Jan. 26) that it too is trying out a smaller-format grocery concept. The stores focus on providing essential foods and pare back many of the non-food items on offer at the retailer’s supercenters.

“Opening the doors of these stores feels particularly special because of the unique need they’ll fulfill in our customers’ everyday lives,” Executive Chairman Hank Meijer said in the announcement.

Certainly, grocery industry insiders are observing that consumers are shifting from occasional, large-basket purchases, pre-planning their meals, to more last-minute shopping.

For instance, earlier this month, U.K.-based food delivery service Deliveroo noted the same shift.

“What we’re seeing is that instead of maybe doing a weekly shop, people are splitting up their previous weekly shop into smaller baskets,” Deliveroo CEO Will Shu observed on a call with analysts earlier this month, discussing the company’s fourth-quarter financial results. He added that the company expects the trend of smaller, more frequent grocery purchases to continue going forward.

Similarly, in an interview with PYMNTS last year, Kevin Price, then-senior-consultant at multinational logistics automation company Swisslog, which offers eGrocery fulfillment solutions, discussed this change.

“We’re now starting to see people going away from their traditional weekly shop to more of a periodic shop,” Price said. “… Smaller baskets more frequently is the fundamental change that we see within eGrocery. It makes [the economics] a little bit more difficult for [grocers] really.”

Consequently, grocers are being challenged to adapt. These convenience store expansions do just that, presenting a lower-overhead option that enables them to specifically target those last-minute needs.

For all PYMNTS retail coverage, subscribe to the daily Retail Newsletter.