B.C. convenience store becomes global sensation with social media
You’d expect these numbers from a national (maybe even global) retail brand: over 1 million TikTok followers and 21.8 million likes; Instagram posts reaching up to 167,000 likes from 73,000 followers; and more than 26,000 fans on Facebook.
7-Eleven Canada, perhaps? Not quite. While 7-Eleven Canada has an impressive social media following—23,000 on TikTok, 35,000 on Instagram and 228,000 on Facebook—the viral powerhouse is Ed’s in Brookswood, a modest-looking neighbourhood corner store in Langley, B.C.
The store is co-owned by brothers Amit Sharma (aka Ed) and his older brother, Narender Puri. Since launching on TikTok in 2021, Ed’s has blown up thanks to its chaotic, offbeat and wildly funny videos—most of them featuring Ed’s rapid-fire, no-filter way of talking.
In one viral clip, Ed sits down for a haircut—in the middle of the store—while casually fielding questions from the barber. When asked what kind of candy he’d be, Ed doesn’t miss a beat: “Nerds.” The barber follows up, “The extra sweet kind?” Ed shoots back, “Do I look like I’m extra sweet to you?... I’m a medium—not sweet, not sour. A little tangy. But mostly [expletive] sweet, sweet.”
For many customers, it’s the store’s fun social media that turned them into regulars. “Drove by this place numerous times a week for the last three years or so, and never went in there. I just went in there the other day and now I go in every day,” reads a comment on the store’s Instagram page. “Ed is awesome. If you like to talk and have fun, this is the place to go.”
The success of Ed’s in Brookswood is no accident. Behind the camera is Ed’s nephew, 19-year-old Nikhil Puri, who handles the store’s social media and helps with merchandising. This autumn, he starts his third year at UBC’s Sauder School of Business.
In our Q&A, Nikhil shares how a family-run corner store became a viral sensation—and what other retailers can learn from it.
READ: The rise of social commerce and what it means for retail sales
Ed’s in Brookswood’s presence on TikTok is massive, clearly extending far beyond Vancouver’s Lower Mainland. How do you harness that to drive sales? Instagram and Facebook are our focus when it comes to reaching local customers. TikTok is more about comedy and going viral, because most of that audience isn’t local. When we check the analytics, we often see the highest percentage of views coming from the U.S. or overseas. Those viewers are unlikely to walk into the store anytime soon. And so, our strategy is to post something funny or attention-grabbing on TikTok to gain followers, then work to convert those who are more local to Instagram and Facebook, where we post more location-specific content—product drops, promotions and store updates. That’s the kind of content that drives visits or website sales. But TikTok has also made Ed’s a bit of a must-stop for tourists. We’ve had people from the U.S. and as far as Australia on holiday in Vancouver come by to take pictures and meet Ed. That’s been really cool to see.
Do you look at what other c-stores are doing on social media? Some convenience stores have started doing more advertising on social media, but it often feels really scripted or pushing the product too much. We try to keep things more natural. We’ll film Ed just being himself and place products behind him or in his hand—the placement is intentional, but it doesn’t feel forced. We’ve even had viewers comment on what’s behind Ed. And so, we always tag the candy brands that appear or get mentioned in the video.
Was Ed’s an overnight success? It took us about two months to figure out our niche. We found that comedy works way better for us than straightforward advertising. Both my dad and uncle run the store, and my uncle’s always been a funny guy. Customers would come in just to chat with him, and I thought, this is perfect for social. Of course, not every store has a personality like that to build on. I wouldn’t recommend copying what someone else is doing. You need to find what fits your store and your personality.
How else did you harness social media into sales? We launched an e-commerce website during COVID when people weren’t coming into the store as much. Our social posts have helped boost our sales online. And now, post-pandemic, we’re rocking both in-store and online. Social posts keep driving people to our website.
What has the ROI been? Well, social media doesn’t cost anything to start—just your time—and we’ve seen real results. June is always a great month for sales! There are a few elementary schools in the area that organize end-of-year field trips to our store. Teachers will buy slushies for the whole class— sometimes 90 to 120 kids at once!
What’s next for Ed’s? We’ve run a few sponsored posts for small brands but haven’t done a big brand collaboration yet. That’s something we hope to make happen soon.
Get with the program
Programmatic digital advertising blends data and automation to target the right customers at the right time—across websites, apps and social media. It’s fast and, best of all, trackable.
CSNC caught up with Mike Tyler, CEO of Vancouver-based agency War Room, which has helped clients like Subway turn clicks into foot traffic. By using location-based ads, War Room linked online engagement to in-store visits, helping Subway reach high-intent customers and boost revenues.
Here are three of Tyler’s top tips for making programmatic work harder.
Identify a goal
“Define your strategy first,” says Tyler. “Too often, people get distracted by something shiny—like, ‘We should be doing Facebook ads!’—so they throw some money at it. And when it doesn’t work, they decide the whole channel is a failure. But the real problem started much earlier: they didn’t have a strategy.” He says ask questions like, “‘Who is my target demographic? What platforms are they spending the most amount of time on and how do they like to communicate on those platforms?’ Because if you post the same message in an ad across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, it’s going to fall flat.”
Talk to your customers
While there are plenty of tools to help gather data, don’t overlook the value of simply talking to your customers. For example, if your store is near a high school and sees student traffic, “have a conversation—with their parents’ permission, of course,” says Tyler. “Ask what platforms they use, what kind of content grabs their attention and how they like to engage with brands online.” This real-world input can shape your content strategy, guide ad spend and help avoid wasting time (and money) on platforms or messaging that won’t land with your audience.
Tweak ads as you go (but not too much)
One of the biggest advantages of programmatic digital advertising is agility—the ability to respond to market shifts almost instantly. But that flexibility comes with a caveat. “You don’t want to jerk around too much,” says Tyler. “It’s like a stock investment. If you’re constantly buying and selling every time the market moves, you’ll likely lose more than you gain. Sometimes, you need to let an ad run and see how it performs.” That said, automation can work in your favour big-time. For example, you can set ads to trigger when the temperature hits a certain threshold—perfect for promoting cold drinks or ice cream. “You can even pre-write the copy, so the ads go live automatically and let you capitalize quickly.”
This article first appeared in the July/August issue of Convenience Store News Canada.
