A look at what’s going on across the convenience channel
Jisp app shoppers are saving more
AN app designed to save shoppers money on household essentials in c-stores is reporting a 600% rise in use in the first quarter of 2023 compared with last year.
Developed by retail solutions company Jisp, the Scan & Save app provides money-off vouchers and the operators said it saved shoppers £205,000 in the first three months of this year.
A spokesperson said: “Data shows shoppers are becoming savvier, with 80% of consumers in the UK now regularly using smartphones to access loyalty cards and vouchers.
“Growth is fuelled by the cost-of-living crisis as food inflation has seen an average of £811 added to consumers’ annual shopping bills.”
The Jisp spokesperson added: “Shopping locally brings the benefits of the sticky pound to retailers and shoppers alike, with over 60% of every pound spent in local stores and businesses staying in the local economy compared with 40% with larger multi-site companies.”
Busy coronation weekend for PO cash
IN total, £70.73m was withdrawn from Post Office branches over the coronation weekend.
In the previous month, April, personal cash withdrawals from the Post Office’s 11,500 branches totalled £760million in April and the average value for personal withdrawals was up 2% compared to March.
Cash deposits and withdrawals over the counter in April amounted to £3.05billion.
Business cash deposits totalled £1.06billion in April, down over 8% from February. Personal cash deposits of £1.2billion in April, was down 8% from the previous month.
Banking director Martin Kearsley said: “The withdrawals over the bank holiday shows just how many still use cash as their main payment method, especially where a Post Office might be the only way to access cash after the banks have closed.”
Frozen food sales growing
FROZEN food sales volume returned to growth in the first quarter of this year.
Quoting data from Kantar, the British Frozen Food Federation said that in the 12 weeks to 19 March, volume sales of frozen food grew by 2,572,000 tonnes, compared with the same period last year.
The value of retail frozen food sales also continued to increase, up by 9.5%, equal to £273,061,000. However, this was largely driven by inflation across the entire food supply chain.
Rupert Ashby, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation, said: “Our members have been working incredibly hard under huge pressure of rising costs to make sure that consumers can still find the best quality products with unrivalled value for money.”
