Peter McBride reflects on the retail landscape since March 2020

Taking a moment to reflect on the retail landscape that we have endured since March 2020, Peter McBride comments on the challenges that his team endured and the role they played in serving the communities in which his 12 stores operate in Counties Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh.

“The first few weeks of lock down created an unprecedented period of change for convenience retailing in Northern Ireland. No one was prepared for this time of turbulence and one of the biggest challenges we faced was adapting to the constant uncertainty in supply and consumer demand. Demand for grocery, frozen and alcohol increased while food-to-go and hot beverages declined. Decisions were made with pace and change to store layouts were constant to ensure we could give customers confidence and availability.

Panic buying

“We had some of the busiest trading periods during the start of the epidemic when panic buying kicked in and shopper buying habits changed dramatically. Our largest supplier, Henderson Wholesale did a tremendous job in meeting those demands.  Changes in shopper behaviour due to restrictions on movement and new working from home regimes meant we had to adapt very quickly. One example of a category that spiked during COVID-19 was home baking, traditionally a slower category within stores but during lockdown we couldn’t keep flour on our shelves.

“Our teams worked tirelessly to ensure we had good product availability in stores and to ensure customers felt safe to shop with us. In the beginning there were many challenges around availability, we even struggled to get hand sanitiser, like many retailers. I worked with local company, ION Distillery, to produce hand sanitiser for the group to ensure staff and customer safety.

Customer and employee safety

Customer and employee safety was at the forefront of my mind all along, it was never about sales and profit, the best outcome for all was that we got through this safely, together. I reduced the operating hours in stores which gave my teams the chance to replenish stores safely and allowed them to focus on service during the day. We very quickly turned on customer density protocols, physical distancing measures in our stores, regular cleaning of high touch points, protective screens were installed and we provided  face coverings and protection for our staff. Customer communication on how to shop safely was vital also and this was done through point of sale and our digital platforms.

Supporting local

“As a SPAR Retailer, our ethos has always been supporting local. We are a close-knit community and each store sees their customers as family and friends. We have always prided ourselves on taking a very active role in our communities and during the pandemic we really brought that ethos to life. Our whole community pulled together during this time of need and we had so many offers of support to provide deliveries, teaming up with many local groups to support the elderly and vulnerable, often delivering up to 50 deliveries per day. We also contributed a significant amount of vouchers to spend in store to make sure that those in need were supported.

Management team

“I am very proud of my management team who embraced the change that the pandemic brought with it.  Stores took the lead in doing what they could to help others, some set up donation boxes in store for food shelters, while others donated food hampers to local nursing homes and NI Ambulance Service. Some of our team also volunteered to deliver hot dinners to some local people in need. The spirit in which our communities came together was incredible, demonstrated through their energy, passion, commitment and care.

“Our employees are an absolute credit to us and we could not have made it through these challenging times without their support. They never wavered in their commitment to serving the community.

“As a community we are navigating ’the new normal’ together; our teams have adjusted to the new ways of working, suppliers have adapted to their own set of challenges and customers have come to terms with the new ways of shopping. As a business I feel we have gained a wealth of experience and have adapted to the pandemic with pace. Should a second wave come around we are in a solid position to be there for our communities.”