Reitan Convenience, a leading convenience retailer in the Nordics and Baltics, is targeting growth in all of its markets.
The business, part of Reitan Retail, is also focused on getting closer to customers and delivering sustainable convenience.
That’s according to chief executive Mariette Kristenson.
“We see convenience as a mega trend and there are opportunities to grow our existing brands in all markets,” she says.
“The key is to be adaptable and understand the new market, which is sustainable convenience.
Demand is accelerating quite quickly but we think we can give customers what they think is relevant and we are very positive about that,” she says.
Following a recent period of restructuring in its convenience portfolio, today Reitan Convenience operates 1,750 stores across seven markets: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
The restructure after Covid removed some of the smaller stores (mostly in Norway and Finland), which would not have been profitable in the long run, Kristenson says.
Now, the business is expanding and opening 60 new stores a year, while its 12,000 employees serve a staggering 800,000 customers every day.
Market leadership
Reitan Convenience comprises eight key brands including 7-Eleven in Sweden, Norway and Denmark; Narvesen in Norway, Latvia and Lithuania; Pressbyrån in Sweden and R-kioski in Finland and Estonia.
It is the market leader in six out of its seven markets and growing in Denmark, where it is the number two after Circle K.
In 2019, Reitan Convenience acquired the Caffeine cafe brand in the Baltics, which has since doubled in size and sales, Kristenson says.
New formats have been on test too. In 2021, the company opened its award-wining sustainable convenience store format, PBX, at the University of Stockholm.
The store, a living lab, has just been relocated to a site in the centre of Stockholm.
“It’s a very interesting format that really helps us to be very brave and test new sustainable products and models.
It’s a great initiative and we get great customer feedback,” Kristenson says.
7-Eleven Market, a combined convenience and grocery format, offering products from Reitan Retail’s REMA 1000 business, opened in Oslo in the same year but has now been superseded.
According to Kristenson, the store did not have enough square footage to deliver a proper grocery offer.
Two years ago, Reitan Convenience launched the INNOM format in Oslo, Norway – INNOM means to ‘stop by’ in Norwegian – providing a mix of grocery and convenience in a 300sq m store.
“It’s a really nice format and we are very happy about it and looking to expand,” Kristenson says.
Like with its predecessor, Reitan Convenience leverages its close relationship with REMA 1000 to supply grocery products and private-label brands.
Agile and entrepreneurial
Appointed to the chief executive role three years ago, following an 18-year career with Reitan Convenience, Kristenson embraces these new market opportunities and says she’s still having fun.
“I truly am – it’s such a great company to work in and has ambitious plans.
The people and owners are great and it’s an entrepreneurial, fast-paced company of quite some size – it’s rather unique to be as big as we are and so fast-moving.
It has a family feel but is of a size so that we can do things with impact,” she says.
It’s the people that make the difference, she adds.
“There is super high engagement in the company and Reitan Convenience provides great opportunities to grow and develop with the business.”
Following the restructuring, Reitan Convenience is growing average store sales in all markets and recording good like-for-like growth, Kristenson says.
As well as expanding the INNOM format in new markets, the Caffeine brand has the potential to grow outside the Baltics, she says.
The consumer trends and expectations of more sustainability and healthy products are apparent across all Reitan Convenience markets but at different maturity levels, Kristenson reports.
Sweden and Denmark, in particular, are advanced but followed closed by Norway and Finland.
The trends are developing fast in the Baltics, which gives the company a competitive advantage and an opportunity to take the lead in the convenience and cafe business there, she says.
New consumer behaviours and trends
There is growing demand for sustainable and healthy products with increasing sales of vegetarian and vegan lines, for example, Kristenson says.
At the same time, inflation and rising interest rates in the Nordics and Baltics, have fueled price increases, challenging businesses to provide value for money at the same time as offering more healthy, fresh and sustainable products.
Kristenson says Reitan Convenience achieves this balance through innovation, agility and flexibility.
“We work very closely with suppliers and try to be innovative and work with the right ingredients to make products that are fresh but have a longer shelf life than sushi, for example.
We are innovating all the time and pushing the boundaries with suppliers,” she says.
Reitan Convenience is also working hard to offer healthier products and has developed its popular hot dog offer to include more vegetarian and chicken sausages, for instance.
“It’s about making better choices from a people and planet perspective,” Kristenson says.
On the flexibility piece, Reitan Convenience delivers food to offices, deploying quick commerce solutions and sales are reported to be increasing every quarter.
Customer expectations for quick checkout solutions are increasing now too, Kristenson adds.
These include self-checkout as well as options to scan and pay with mobile. Account-to-account payments have taken off strongly in Norway and Sweden too, with customers using the Norwegian Vips and Swedish Swish mobile payment apps.
“There’s a lot going on with payment solutions and increasing expectations of the customer – even Crypto is coming although it’s not yet accepted in our stores,” Kristenson says.
“It’s really interesting; with so many customers spending a little time in our stores, it’s super important to be in the forefront,” she adds.
With strong, established loyalty programs in all its markets, Reitan Convenience can not only reward customers but benefit from communications and customer insights to keep on the front foot.
The retailer is also reaching customers via unmanned stores and vending, which uses similar technology. In one instance, the retailer replaced a high-performing unmanned store with a manned version to increase capacity.
At Copenhagen airport, meanwhile, the business operates 87 vending machines including units selling salads, wraps, coffee and bakery – the best sellers from Reitan Convenience’s product categories.
Post-Covid, there’s been a strong uptick in traffic at airport locations and at transport hubs, where Reitan Convenience stores are located.
“We are happy to have people back, and it’s growing all the time.
There was tremendous growth in the first year after Covid.
There are changes in the way people travel and move, but it’s busy again and they are back in the Metro, bus and train stations and also at airports where we are,” Kristenson says.
New mobility
Roadside retail is busy too.
Reitan Retail began converting its gas stations in Norway and Denmark to its own Uno-X Mobility brand in combination with 7-Eleven at the start of the year and is investing a lot in EV charging, car wash and refreshing the forecourt stores, Kristenson reports.
The company is also investing in electric HGV charging, recognising that “EV charging is the future”.
Reitan Convenience has also entered a partnership with a service station that will only offer EV charging and plans to open Narvesen stores and Caffeine cafes at locations in Lithuania in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, Kristenson reports.
We will be monitoring developments closely, she adds.
“The whole business area of EV mobility and charging is interesting, and we are learning about the new consumer behaviours i.e. when they charge at home, at work or along the way.
I don’t think anyone has the answer, but we are following it closely and testing out different formats,” she says.
Future outlook
Reitan Convenience is very optimistic about the future but must be agile and able to adapt to new market needs, Kristenson says.
“I believe convenience has a bright future, but it depends on us being flexible and understanding the quick changes in consumer behaviour – consumers are moving so quickly now.
It’s absolutely necessary to collaborate closely with suppliers and encourage them to be strategic, innovative and flexible,” she says.
“The winners will be those that adapt to new sustainability expectations.
And you need to be ahead of the regulations and make the big bold moves the consumer wants and not be in the hamster wheel of compliance,” Kristenson adds.
“But I’m very positive about the future,” she smiles.
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