Home delivery can “transform” a convenience store business, according to a Glasgow retailer who revamped her operation.

Speaking on the Better Retailing podcast, Natalie Lightfoot, of Londis Solo convenience store in Glasgow, said she would ideally like more space in her shop — which is why she has “gone big on delivery”, as it is the only way she can “make [her] store bigger than it is”.

She said: “I’m so jealous of space, I’ve got such small shop syndrome. I really want to have all of this lovely space, but I don’t. So that’s why I’ve gone big on delivery, that’s why I’m really passionate about it.

“It’s the only way I can make my store bigger than it is, and that’s why I’ll tell anyone who wants to listen how good home delivery is and how much it has transformed my business in the last four and a half years. It’s just enabled me to have elastic walls.”

Refit creates more room

Lightfoot reconfigured her store layout to better support home delivery, freeing up floor space for delivery stock and improving efficiency.

She told Better Retailing: “We had fridges that were low to the floor, and we used the space above them to indent the suspended ceiling so we could put shelving and lightweight multipacks of crisps all the way along the top of the fridge, taking it off the shop floor.

“That freed up space so I could expand my pet range. A lot of our online deliveries are instigated by a need to buy pet food.”

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These changes have allowed Lightfoot to better meet the needs of her growing delivery service by freeing up space and expanding key product ranges. In addition to the refit, she has adapted her merchandising to focus on delivery customers.

“When you’re merchandising your store, if you want to accommodate more home deliveries, the mission is always slightly different,” she said. “It’s like bigger meal options or bigger multipacks.

“Make sure that you’re stocking those things, it’s the little things that tip people over the edge and make them place an order.”

Innovative services boost convenience

Lightfoot wants her store to be the one people “wish was on their doorstep”, adding that home delivery is the only way she can give more customers that opportunity.

Her store also offers an Evri drop-off service, allowing customers to send parcels and pick them up. As an extra motivation to place an order, the store delivers the parcel as part of the order.

She added: “They’ve got ten days to collect it, and stuff crops up and they just can’t factor the time to pop into the store, so it’s like another motivation to place an order with us and they can add their parcel to their delivery. It’s another motivation for them to place the order.”

With growing competition in online convenience delivery, Lightfoot stresses the importance of continuous innovation and promotion.

“You have to keep evolving,” she said. “You can’t just assume your existing delivery customers will always be there — you’ve got to keep pushing, get the word out, and encourage people to download the platform or visit your own online shop.”

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