Rural convenience stores saw an increase of £1.4bn in total sales in the last twelve months compared to the year before, according to the 2025 ACS Rural Shop Report. This represents an 8.2% increase as shops in rural areas took a total of £18.4bn, up from £17.1bn in 2024’s report.

This comes as there are nearly 1,000 more rural convenience stores across the UK compared to one year ago, with the addition of nearly 4,000 jobs.

The growth seen in rural shops outstrips the 4.9% year-on-year growth in sales takings seen across all convenience stores in the UK, according to the ACS Local Shop Report 2024.

However, the Gross Value Added (GVA), defined as the value of goods and services provided by rural stores to the national economy, declined from £4bn to £3.8bn in the same period.

Amid rising costs and pressures on margins, however, the report does not give a growth figure for profitability of rural stores.

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Increased services

The report notes that rural shops are increasingly acting as “miniature high streets in their own right”, providing services that would have previously been available in other local businesses, such as access to cash, bill payments, Post Office services and prescription collections.

Lottery services are offered by 86% of rural stores, while 72% offer bill payments, 67% cashback, and 48% provide free to use ATMs.

“In some cases, and especially in the case of providing access to cash through the provision of a free to use ATM, retailers are operating this service at a loss but are committed to doing so because of its importance to the community,” said James Lowman, chief executive of the ACS.

“While broadband provision and 4G/5G signals are improving, many rural shops still operate in areas where connectivity is slow and patchy, holding back investment in technology and other innovations in-store ,” he added.

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Community service

The report finds 90% of independent local retailers took part in some form of community activity in the past year, outside of providing essential services.

Rural shops scored consistently higher than the national average in community service metrics, the report finds. Two thirds of surveyed customers said their local rural store shares helpful community resources such as flyers for local events, compared to just four in ten nationally. Half of respondents said their rural shop reduced loneliness in the community, while over a third said their local rural shop is a community hub and helps them feel more connected to their community.

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