The head of 7-Eleven’s Australian operations has flagged major changes to the look and feel of its 750 stores, the products on offer and the number of outlets.
At a KPMG retail seminar, 7-Eleven CEO Angus McKay also talked about how cost-of-living pressures affect consumer spending.
The entire Australian subsidiary of the global convenience giant was sold to its Japan-based parent company late last year for $1.7 billion.
And Australian stores are now looking to Japan for inspiration, where 7-Elevens are central to society and there are more than 50,000 stores offering a wide variety of products.
“We’ve been pushing for many years to move away from just being a chip and chocolate retailer,” McKay said Tuesday.
The head of 7-Eleven’s Australian operations has flagged major changes to the look and feel of its 750 stores and the products they will offer. Pictured is a 7-Eleven store in Brisbane.
A worker replenishes rice balls at a 7-Eleven store in Tokyo, Japan; The head of the brand’s Australian operations said he has a lot to learn from Japanese 7-Eleven.
Over the years, 7-Eleven in Japan has evolved into a franchise that has become part of the fabric of life, offering affordable food, beverages and everyday products, as well as municipal and delivery services.
McKay said 7-Elevens in Japan sell far more fresh food than in Australia, where they account for 30 per cent of the offering and have room to grow.
‘I think it’s an incredibly exciting prospect for our customers in terms of what we’ll be able to do there.
“Japanese stores… are the highest brand in the global network, the way they present themselves, the standards of the stores, the way they operate is just perfect and we have a lot to learn from them.”
Mr McKay emphasized that the stores had to live up to their brand as convenience stores and offer fast and efficient service. The nocturnal reported.
He said that there is only About 90 seconds to convince the customer to want to spend their money at a 7-Eleven.
“The customer should feel like they are getting good value for their time and money with us,” he said.
The head of the Australian branch also said the effect that higher prices of goods and services are having on consumer spending should be taken into account in 7-Eleven’s future plans.
He said people’s savings have decreased while interest rates and other expenses have increased.
“It’s the combination of things that has really hurt the consumer,” Mr. McKay said.
“It’s the low relative growth of real wages over a sustained period of time, higher interest rates and it’s absolutely (the cost of) public services, which we don’t talk about enough, that really hurts the consumer.” .
The entire Australian subsidiary of the global convenience giant was sold to its Japan-based parent company late last year for $1.7 billion. Pictured is a 7-Eleven store in Tokyo.
Cold cooked instant food in packaging on sale at a 7-Eleven store in Tokyo, Japan
He said 7-Eleven’s corporate vision is that Australia is “a trust-based market, so every time there was a rate increase, even if it hadn’t been a substantial hit to someone’s pocket, it was a belt of confidence for the consumer”. .
McKay noted that some car owners currently only fill their fuel tanks half full or even less due to rising gasoline prices.
“Two weeks ago, with all the turmoil in the Middle East, which was actually a two-day drop in the price of oil that resulted in changes in the pump price… the consumer stopped spending across the board,” said.
‘I think it is a dynamic that we have to get used to, that it is news in real time. People react in quite extreme ways until things calm down.’