Page 23 - Conveniece World Magazine Nov/Dec 2020

general merchandise, tactical food ‘day’ promotions, promotions on larger pack formats (traditionally ‘grocery’ packs), utilising the Ezy St digital app, creative bespoke online competitions and gift with purchase promotions to name a few. “The growth in food and coffee has been enormous. We have recently appointed a food category specialist to continue to generate meal recipes utilising quality ingredients, and to further improve the quality food offered at sites Australia-wide,” Mr Cardinale said. Future challenges Retailers in the c-store world are all looking to greater return on their retail space. “We have seen examples in other channels where a men’s clothing store also offers a barber shop and barista coffee and turns into a café at night. Some call this channel or retail-blurring. I prefer to see this as asset optimisation, as well as creating a unique customer experience,” Mr Cardinale said. “We are well past channel- blurring. We are now at a stage of channel-merging. “To remain competitive, retail businesses need their assets and working capital to work harder. “In the future, I believe we will continue to see a merging of channels such as QSR, supermarkets, route, convenience, restaurants, tobacconists, liquor, newsagents and even pharmacies.” “During Covid, we saw McDonald’s and pubs/bottle shops introduce new essential items and have repackaged bulk foods to attract new markets. We have also seen the acceleration of online shopping, delivering a new super convenience, where a shopper can order a product and have it delivered to when and where they want it. “There is no doubt that Covid-19 will also change the way we interact. We now think twice about touching a door handle or a petrol nozzle, and we have great respect for each other’s personal space. People today want to go to fewer stores to complete their shopping. More and more prefer to go to no physical store at all and have it home delivered.” For convenience stores, the necessity to remain relevant and profitable will indeed rely on the continued asset optimisation or channel merging. New ‘Enjoy Local’ TVC campaign For Mr Cardinale and the New Sunrise family, there is no indication of slowing the program down with continued partnerships and innovation bringing value to retail members. Focused on a ‘Enjoy Local Aussie Summer’ campaign, New Sunrise has launched a new company mascot, a friendly local Kookaburra sporting an ‘Enjoy Local’ t-shirt. The Kooka is featured in the ‘Enjoy Local Shop & Win’ consumer promotion in November, with a share of $28,000 to be won by simply purchasing participating promotions. This consumer promotion will be advertised Australia-wide, with a new TV campaign aimed increasing awareness of the New Sunrise stores in each of its communities. “We now are at a scale where we are building awareness of New Sunrise retail members and communicating their strong offer to their local communities,” Mr Cardinale said. “During November we launch our first advertising campaign ‘Shop and Win’ on both free to air and Fox and aim to reach five million people. We have also ramped up both social media and printed in-store point of sale.” Go Local First collaboration New Sunrise has partnered with COSBOA and ACAPMA in supporting Go Local First’s ‘Local Legends Lunch’, which encourages Australians to shop at local businesses in the lead up to summer and consumers have a chance to win $1000 Fuel Voucher from a New Sunrise Enjoy Local store. “We are proud to be an ambassador of this event, this will be an event we will support each year moving forward, reminding consumers that it is local businesses that are the back bone of each community, that in turn need to be supported and valued,” Mr Cardinale said. Looking ahead New Sunrise will “bring back the fun in 2021” with a continued focus on innovation and creativity to ensure the retail experience continues to be heightened and “2021 will be an exciting year for New Sunrise. We plan to invest more, across the board, to drive customer satisfaction and retail sales,” Mr Cardinale said. In 2021, the focus areas for New Sunrise are to deliver: 1. More in training and store development – improving both retail operations and promotional activation 2. More in data management and technology 3. More in advertising, both in store and out of store 4. More in supplier partnership and strategic aliment to our four pillars 5. Continue to deliver more pricing value and discounts across more categories. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW “The future for the industry is bright.” NOV/DEC, 2020 CONVENIENCE WORLD 21