Over 250 of the great and the good in convenience-land gathered at London’s Barbican for the hotly awaited HIM Future of Convenience 2018 event. Here are my top seven take-outs and the key actions for convenience retail marketing communications that I think suppliers need to consider in the brave new world of convenience retailing.

1. Transparency and authenticity are key to winning the trust and retaining the loyalty of the next generation of consumers.

Action: Communicate more. Be open. Let consumers see inside your brand or business.

2. Shoppers are now more conscious of provenance and sourcing.

Action: Update your brand design, packaging, messaging and marketing.

3. If shoppers trust a particular store, it leads to a 15% increase in footfall and 12% increase in basket spend.

Action: Engage retailers to build more trust. They in turn can build trust and reliability with their shoppers.

4. The percentage of adults visiting convenience stores at least five times per week fell significantly amongst 18-24 year olds.

Action: Excite Gen Z with relevant and targeted product innovation, promotions and use of digital shopper marketing tools.

5. Gen Z are increasingly turning to food to go outlets in addition to convenience store with 31% visiting sandwich shops and 30% going to coffee shops on a weekly basis.

Action: Maximise awareness and distribution into foodservice as well as convenience to take advantage of Gen Z shopper promiscuity.

6. Healthy snacking has evolved to include a balance between health and indulgence.

Action: Innovate and reformulate to help retailers offer more healthy choices in store.

7. Community engagement and adapting store layout to suit the demand from mission led shoppers will help drive loyalty and footfall.

Action: Support retailers’ community events and work in partnership with them to improve mission management and store layout.