Replenishment

Alimentation Couche-Tard says shopping patterns have changed during COVID-19 lockdowns with consumers purchasing larger-sized goods and stocking up on beer, wine and tobacco products.The Quebec-based convenience store chain says there has been strong growth in the sale of alcoholic beverages, in jurisdictions where these sales are permitted."With the closure of bars and restaurants, we saw a movement in packaged beverage towards larger take-home packages, particularly impacting all beer segments as customer buying shifted to larger pack formats,'' CEO Brian Hannasch said June 30 during a conference call about fourth-quarter and record full-year results.Couche-Tard beat expectations as it reported a fourth-quarter profit of US$576.3 million or 52 cents per share for the period ended April 26, up from US$293.1 million or 26 cents per share a year earlier.He noted that there was a shift to cases of 24 and 30 beers from six-packs, along with grocery-sized packages of salty and confectionery items."There was also a notable shift from instant consumption or single-serve to take-home packages in that category.''Even with traffic starting to improve as the economy reopens, Hannasch told analysts that he's been surprised that some of the larger-sized formats remain popular as customers are limiting their shopping trips."We've also gained new customers as we stayed open throughout the pandemic to meet their needs for emergency products, impulse buys and grocery items, which became increasingly popular, and we're seeing some stickiness,'' he said.Sales of food, fountain soft drinks and coffee, which declined with lower consumer traffic, have started to increase.

As the coronavirus reaffirms the value of convenience stores to communities across the country, those same stores are grappling with an unprecedented upheaval to one of their core channels business: plain packaging.

Shoppers are facing empty shelves at some stores due to unprecedented demand for food and other goods even as grocers assure Canadians coping with the COVID-19 outbreak that plenty of new items are on the way and manufacturers say they have the raw materials they need.Temporary shortages are to be expected in spite of a supply chain working in overdrive, experts say, because the system isn't built to predict extreme, large-scale changes in buyer behaviour.Shoppers stockpile for a number of reasons, said Mike von Massow, an associate professor at The University of Guelph.

Among the many change-of-life impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, convenience stores are seeing an increase in shoppers who typically would go to supermarkets for their grocery needs.According to a new study conducted by Convenience Store News Canada's parent company, EnsembleIQ, 15% of shoppers said they are more likely to shop at convenience stores for groceries due to the pandemic.

When Harmony Samra went to her local No Frills Thursday afternoon in Toronto to pick up some food, she wasn't prepared for the chaos inside, where customers were filling multiple carts seemingly with anything they could grab off the shelves.

Disinfectants, bottled water and canned goods are flying off shelves and Nielsen says this will likely shift to shelf-stable and frozen foods, tooRetailers are bracing for a run on staples like water and canned goods as consumer fears about the coronavirus continue to escalate, with Nielsen predicting it will have an “almost immediate” effect on supply chains for the most sought-after items.Nielsen said in a report that efforts to build so-called “pandemic pantries” have been particularly pronounced in China, the U.S.

It's time.

Ontario cannabis store shoppers with a hankering for edibles were out of luck Monday.Most of the province's licensed retailers had yet to receive their first shipments of 59 products including soft chews, cookies and chocolates that were slated to start appearing in stores that day.But the Ontario Cannabis Store, the province's pot distributor, said products are on their way and likely already in some shoppers' hands.“Some stores outside the GTA have received products,'' spokesperson Daffyd Roderick said.Roderick said he could not name which stores have received shipments of edibles for security reasons, but said they were all outside the GTA.Those that have placed orders are guaranteed to get them on the regular delivery dates that their other cannabis products usually arrive on, he said.The OCS had previously warned that the supply of edibles could be tight and sell out quickly.