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Booker signs up to TWC's Smartview Convenience market read

Booker signs up to TWC's Smartview Convenience market read
(Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Data consultancy TWC Group has announced that Booker has signed up to its independent convenience market read, SmartView Convenience, which it operates in partnership with In Touch Group.

SmartView Convenience provides the most representative EPOS mark read for the independent retail and wholesaler-supplied symbol stores in Great Britain, using a sample of around 5,000 independent stores to represent the 30,000 stores in the sector.


Colm JohnsonColm Johnson

“Working with SmartView Convenience will allow us to better understand the shopping habits of customers in our Budgens, Londis and Premier stores, as we work to ensure we always have the right range of great value products available to support our independent retailers and their business,” said Colm Johnson, Retail Managing Director at Booker.

“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Booker as a new client.

"Signing up another major wholesaler to SmartView Convenience is a huge milestone for us and supports our ambition to make SmartView Convenience the de-facto source of market data for the independent convenience sector," commented Sarah Coleman, Product Director for SmartView Convenience at TWC.

“We hope this endorsement by such a significant operator will encourage even more suppliers to make the leap and come on board. Those that have already done so have unanimously told us that the data from SmartView Convenience is telling them things they knew were happening in this part of the market but had previously been unable to see in other data sets due to the way those samples were built and their size.”

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National President Mo Razzaq 2024 serious 1 1
Fed National President Mo Razzaq

Indies: It’s criminal police and government turn blind eye to shoplifting

Independent retailers are demanding tougher police action, more bobbies on the beat and harsher punishments as shoplifting levels reach an all-time high, a new survey reveals.

A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.

Seven out of 10 respondents (72 per cent) said their stores had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.

Just under half of respondents (47 per cent) said they and their employees had been threatened or had suffered abuse and violence when asking for proof of age ahead of selling an age-restricted product.

Forty-four per cent reported that they and their staff had faced abuse or violence because they had refused to make a proxy sale – selling an age restricted product to a customer buying for a minor.

The results of the Fed’s survey came as new figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that shoplifting was at a record high, with almost half a million offences recorded last year.

According to the ONS, 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024 – a 29 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

The ONS added that this figure was the highest since records began – in March 2003.

“Inadequate responses from the police and a slap on the wrist for offenders means that shoplifting is soaring, and offenders are becoming more aggressive and brazen,” said Fed National President Mo Razzaq.

“From the responses we received, it is clear that real action is needed by police, by courts and by the government to stem the overwhelming tide of crime against retailers and their staff. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.

“Fed members are also sending a clear message that one of the catalysts for verbal and physical abuse in stores is asking for proof of age before selling an age restricted product. If the government presses ahead with its plans to phase out smoking and vaping through a progressive ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, independent retailers will be subject to even greater levels of violence, abuse and theft.”

Calling for action from the government and not just words, Mr Razzaq continued: “Without effective deterrent, criminals and opportunistic members of the public will continue to commit crimes.”

According to Ministry of Justice statistics, during the year to March 2024, 431 fines were handed out for retail theft under £100, while Home Office statistics for the same period show that 2,252 cautions were accepted for shoplifting.

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