Costcutter has updated its Shopper First customer profiling system to help its retailers gain and retain new customers from the pandemic.

The Shopper First programme, launched in 2017, is designed to help retailers identify their nearest custom­ers and tailor their store layout and range to their tastes. This latest update has been made to help retailers take advantage of the trend of customers shopping more locally as they follow government lockdown guidance.

Retailers will receive five areas of advice they can implement into their stores, with updates being provided every quarter. In a message to its retailer partners last month seen by RN, the symbol group’s market­ing director, Sean Russell, said: “As the pandemic continues, knowing what your shoppers are looking for is more important than ever. These insights are designed to help turn your lifeline shoppers into lifelong customers. How do we make sure we keep the customers who have come into your stores dur­ing the pandemic?

“These dashboards are providing vital informa­tion about who potential shoppers could be. We have worked with leading insights providers to have access to this information and each dashboard is bespoke to each store.”

He added: “It will show you who is shopping at your store and, crucially, who could be. It shows your catchment area and the different personas within the catchment area. [It shows] what changes you and your team need to make to capture fresh footfall. Stores that have engaged with the programme have increased retail sales by an average of 20%.”

The Shopper First up­date comes as Costcutter achieved the highest scores in customer and supplier satisfaction surveys. The convenience chain came top in every category of HIM’s Convenience Tracking Programme, which surveys customers on areas such as product range and staff friendliness across all symbol groups. Costcut­ter also scored the highest marks from suppliers across marketing, trust and personnel in the latest Advantage Group report.

Commenting on the results, Russell said: “Sup­porting our retailers to put their shoppers first is at the core of what we do at Costcutter. These re­sults are testament to out­standing performance of our retailers and the hard work they and their team put in to provide shoppers with a great offer and in-store experience.

“How we work with our supply partners to help retailers engage with shop­pers also contributes to this success, so it’s equally gratifying to see their acknowledgement of our product performance and approach to partnership working in the latest Ad­vantage report findings.”