Global convenience format innovation to learn from
Source: https://www.foodfuturesinsights.com/post/convenience-format-innovation-to-learn-from
Whether it be through delivering safaris or conducting purer research visits, we travel extensively to understand format and proposition innovation across food-to-go and retail. Here we share our pick of the five new - or new look - convenience stores that, in our view, take either their own markets or global convenience forward the most.
1. 7-Eleven ANZAC station, Melbourne, Australia
7-Eleven Australia has been on a roll recently, investing in enhancing the existing estate, adding new sites and significantly developing the overall food offer. We spent time with the team at the start of the year, and learned how the proposition is evolving across its 750 strong store estate. This store, located within a new public transport hub, brings together much of the latest thinking and focus.
Here's what we saw:
An attractive, open design, focused around ease of shop and visibility of the offer on entry to the store.
Strong overall focus on enabling convenience missions, multiple coffee machines for example designed to reduce congestion at this high footfall location.
An enticing range of food-to-go, leaning into the Japanese 7-Eleven heritage but covering a wide range of bases. This includes hot food, an area where 7-Eleven is already strong on the basics, and is looking to do more. We were also struck by the focus on multibuys and meal deals.
7-Eleven Australia is now owned by the core Japanese business, and this is bringing an acceleration in the focus on targeting food-to-go missions, in a market in which this traditionally hasn't been core convenience territory.
2. AH to go, Amsterdam Centraal, Netherlands
A longstanding staple on our Amsterdam safari programmes, this store, initially opened in 2015, has been remodelled significantly in 2026.
The store is located in a high footfall location within the Amsterdam Centraal station complex.
In several ways it is a microcosm of how food retail overall has shifted over the past decade. The redesign has made the store easier to operate, easier to shop, more suited to supplier focused retail media and more open overall, enabling shoppers to more easily see the whole range from across the store – and especially on entry. Another change the store reflects is the shift at the checkout – this is an entirely self-checkout store, though on our visit staff were on hand in case of difficulties. Bakery has an important role in the store, but interestingly hot food has been taken out. While we generally see this as a missed opportunity for convenience stores, in this store, the strength overall of the food-to-go range, and the abundance of healthier and global options, meeans that despite the lack of hot food, it is nonetheless an attractive food-to-go destination.
3. Heart of England Co-op, Warwick, UK
The latest and boldest expression of this came in August this year, with the opening of its Warwick town centre store. An in-store coffee shop, Bewitched, which it operates under franchise, is part of this, but the key element lies in the development of its own food-to-go counter, covering missions across key day parts and into the evening.
What’s also interesting within this is the focus on sweet treats, a range it has drawn from a wide range of local suppliers to enable greater differentiation, and, within some of these lines, the ability to personalise.
4. SPAR Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, Ireland
Dublin has long been home to some exceptional convenience concepts. And this latest SPAR format from Thomas Ennis at 138 Lower Baggot Street takes the proposition further.
It's a stunning store that, in this format, has been years in the making. This store has been part of Thomas Ennis’ Dublin estate since 2012, so there was a good knowledge of the location and trading history to build on when developing the new look and feel. It's also a short walk away from another of his stores on Merrion Row.
So technically not a completely new store, but one that has significantly shifted to include an upgraded and broadened food-to-go proposition. Multiple food-to-go counters, covering a variety of cuisines and products, evoke a mini food hall feel.
Asian street food and sushi, rotisserie chicken and fresh serve-over salad bar (also serving juices and açai bowls) are all available through the counter offer, as well as the deli sandwich bar, which also offered an extensive breakfast offer at the time of our visit last month.
This store demonstrates what can be done with a convenience store if a retailer is committed to great food quality, customer experience and operational excellence, and we’re very much looking forward to returning as part of our 12 November Dublin safari (you can come too, click here or get in touch direct to book).
An impressive store well suited to this affluent city centre customer base.
5. Meadow Lane, Tribeca, New York
A different take on the convenience store concept, but with recognisable similarities in its core focus on impulse items, prepared food, snacks and coffee. And one we’d say that provides a lot of inspiration as to one part of the future of convenience.
And there's a fascinating back story- the story of the creation of the concept was heavily documented online concept, primarily through TikTok, with key decisions documented and followers helping to decide the focus of the offer. Quality prepared foods lie at the heart of what it seeks to provide its customers with.
Located in Manhattan's Tribeca, Meadow Lane opened in November last year, already with a significant buzz around it, generated through social media. The approximately 2,000 sq ft (200 sq m) format combines prepared foods with coffee and pastries, curated groceries, fresh produce and flowers. And of course merch.
With a core young and affluent customer base, the store was reported to be annualising sales of $13m earlier this year. It’s also been suggested it has an average transaction of over $40.
The healthier focus is definitely present in the thinking and the ranging in-store. But the range picks up neatly on key trends more broadly - protein for example evidences itself in chicken sales. Focused on but not restricted to hot chicken tenders in a self serve hot hold unit, chicken reportedly accounts for a massive 25% of total store sales.
What links these formats together?
We see several aspects to this:
1. A focus on customer understanding that continues to evolve. An appreciation of who your customer is and what they could use your store for is vital.
2. Creating a great experience in-store and being clear on what that means for your customers in that specific locations at different times of the day or night.
3. Delivering differentiated food-to-go. Variety within this is also an important consideration, but get the core offer right first.
4. Building the operations alongside the proposition, rather than have one leading the other, is the recipe for success. And including all other functions in this proposition development process, for example property, HR and marketing, will give a far better chance of longer term success.
