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CUSTOMERS RETURN TO SHOP LOCAL AT NIGHTOWL NightOwl Convenience CEO Adam Adams spoke to Convenience World’s Lorna Gloria about the trends driving the convenience sector and the NightOwl business, challenges in the market, and support for the community and its customers. Since Covid-19 hit, what are the changes you’re seeing in the retail, supply and consumer space? How has your community interaction changed over the past few months? We’re noticing the same issues as everyone else: Victoria and NSW businesses are suffering ongoing issues across all aspects of trade compared with the rest of the country. The other states have a better opportunity to pivot and bounce back to a new form of normality. From a convenience sector overview, there are ongoing issues with supply chains of products, especially those imported from overseas or manufactured in areas affected by lockdowns and restrictions. From a customer perspective, we’ve seen a return to the ‘shop local’ trend that was more pronounced some several decades ago. Many of our over-50s aren’t willing to congregate in major shopping centres, so they support local businesses for purchases within their immediate communities. People are turning to and relying on delivery services, which is something we’re encouraging our franchisees to embrace, ensuring that they provide essentials in their online menus. What has been your greatest lesson to date, navigating through this pandemic? Covid has highlighted to us that the core values of NightOwl, delivering a choice of quality products at competitive pricing with an emphasis on community engagement and customer service, is exactly what the consumer is looking for. Customers want value, and we know value is so much more than a purely price driven construct. Ease of access, reduced risk and better engagement deliver an improved value proposition. Can you talk through some of the key challenges that continue to impact retail, and NightOwl’s role in addressing these? Supporting our franchisees and amazing staff is at the forefront of our concern from a head office perspective. NightOwl Convenience was acquired by Adam and Katrina Adams, who bought their first NightOwl store in Cairns in 2002. We mean to ensure all our existing stores are operating efficiently, we’ll be vigilant on avoiding wasted opportunities, and although times are tough, we continue to aim high in all areas of standard operations. Stores will receive the support and assistance required to not only survive but thrive. This remains our number one priority. Our continued expansion has always been under consideration, and we’ve continued to review potential sites. Realisation of our goals will be achieved with the continued support of the community and our commitment to providing exceptional value for our customers with our range of high-quality brands and products, all delivered through quality service. Where do you see the most innovation happening within the business? Where would you like to see more innovation and growth? Currently, online sales are proving to be the driving focus for innovating our brand offering. Redeveloping our online sales tools and developing partnership platforms has been a focus of effort for us during the past six months, which will continue into the foreseeable future. We believe a change in the dynamics of how the online marketplace operates is coming, as far as transactions go. A gradual switch to a user-pays system, rather than the current offering being highly supported by the seller, is also likely to develop. Where do you see the convenience/ retail industry over the next year? I don’t believe anyone can predict how this will all play out. Those in the FMCG space should come out the other side of the pandemic intact if they pay close attention to how consumers’ shopping habits change, and they pivot with it. However, there are sure to be some surprises. Some businesses will do exceptionally well. Sadly, others will lose everything. It’s a great time of learning for us all. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW "Delivering a choice of quality products at competitive pricing with an emphasis on community engagement and customer service is exactly what the consumer is looking for." We must be compassionate in dealing with individual circumstances faced as a result of the impacts of Covid, and we’re vigilant around all issues of mental health and illness. Operating costs remain a large challenge. There will, over time, be a softening of retail rents. However, costs of supply, utilities and increased wages early next year will continue to be of concern to the bottom line of all retail stores. Early engagement with landlords and suppliers will be key to success as we move forward in these times. What’s next for NightOwl and the outlook for the rest of the year? Any new expansion plans on hold that can now progress? SEP/OCT, 2020 CONVENIENCE WORLD 27