Long opening hours are a must

This could be considered one of the few downsides to running a successful convenience store but to be successful, you must open 7 days a week and remain open for at least 12 hours a day.

If you trade in an area that demands 24 hour trading then as a convenience store operator you should want to meet that demand.

The whole idea of a convenience store is one of convenience, in other words, easily accessible with a wide range of goods your customers expect and open when they need you. To be convenient and to capitalise on your investment, you need to be open when the supermarkets are not.

In our case we open from 6am to 8pm weekdays and 8am to 8pm weekends. The only day we do not open is Christmas day.

Even though sales patterns form within your business over time, you never know when a large group of sales may occur. You may be having an ordinary day by 6pm and then double or triple your day’s turnover by 8pm, it is simply a matter of being open when people need you.

To open long hours obviously requires additional staff and the cost of this needs to be factored into your plans. Employee and store security is an issue that need also to be considered.

The other important thing to note here is:

If you advertise your opening hours, ensure you are always open during those hours; your customers will come to rely on it.

This post is an extract from the e-book ‘So, you want to run a convenience store?’ by Peter Lamb. It is available for free download here.