The Co-operative Food Ups Customer Service With Recruitment Drive

UK grocer adapts to changing consumer needs as it looks to hire 1,000 new staff members.

Customers' expectations and requirements are constantly changing, particularly within retail with a move to ecommerce.

Retailers should always be looking at innovating their service and tailoring it to consumer's current wishes - of which convenience is a major one.

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For example, in a recent report The Co-operative Food has found that over half of their customers (52 per cent) no longer do a big shop each week, as they prefer to shop little and more frequently.

So to match the changing requirements, the grocer has announced that it will be recruiting 1,000 new staff members to help Co-op transform and grow its convenience business across the UK.

Staff numbers will be boosted at peak times to meet demand as shoppers increasingly move away from the big shop to buying smaller amounts, locally, as and when they need to.

Steve Murrells, Retail Chief Executive at The Co-operative Group, said: "We are making significant strides towards our ambition of becoming the UK's leading convenience retailer.

- The modern busy lifestyle is leading to more consumers adopting a grazing mentality which sees them shop in a little and often way each week.

- These 'grazers' are leading a major shift in shopping habits which marks a return to the way people used to shop before the advent of larger supermarkets, and we are meeting these shopping needs by opening more smaller stores and ensuring we have stores staffed at peak times.

The Co-op, which has over eight million members and around 2,800 stores across the UK, is undertaking a major programme of convenience store transformation and acquisition. It has also announced a £125 million investment in lowering the price of everyday essentials.