Picture this: You’ve just stocked a highly sought-after, on-trend product ahead of your nearby competitors, and yet your store is quiet. Why? Because without a strong, localised social media presence, your customers don’t know you have the goods.
In today’s fast-paced retail landscape, a store’s physical location is only half the battle. Research shows that more than 70% of consumers look to social media to uncover new brands, viral food trends, and even local product availability before they step foot outside their house. For independent retailers, this shift represents a massive playground and opportunity.
While big grocery chains are more slowed down by corporate red tape, independent retailers have the agility to post an on-trend product or a behind-the-scenes video and drive instant, physical footfall within the hour. So what gets in the way? Unless posting comes naturally to you – and it doesn’t to most – a social media post ends up on the bottom of the to-do list. Too difficult, no deadline and no tangible end goal. Posting on social media should, in many ways, feel like a process; a thing your business does, no different to facing up, cleaning up or cashing up. It must be creative, but the most effective retailers have a blueprint of what their posts should look like.
What can you commit to doing every day? If it’s just one Facebook post, then what can you do to make that as straightforward to do as possible? Can you block it in your calendar as dedicated time until it becomes a habit? Remove the barriers and make it seamless.
Social media is no longer just a ‘nice-to-have’ tactic, but essential to running a profitable modern convenience store. Though with limited hours in the day, which platforms deserve your focus? And how are retailers getting it right? Read on to find out.
Top tier platform: Facebook, your local community engine
With more than 50 million active UK users, Facebook remains the number one social media platform. Unlike others, Facebook is your ultimate local community engine, helping you speak directly to residents in your immediate area.
Goran Raven, of Raven’s Budgens in Abridge, Essex, says he uses the platform to inform customers of new products, services and giveaways.
“Competitions help engagement and we’ll select the winner using a randomiser. To enter, we ask for a comment tagging someone and that they like the post,” he says.
Raven then uses Facebook Analytics to understand the post’s performance. One recent giveaway, posted 14 May, was viewed more than 13,000 times, and received 1,200 post engagements.
As the ultimate community hub, Facebook is essential for targeting local neighbourhood groups and sharing key information quickly. For example, use your local neighbourhood page to share your opening hours ahead of key seasonal events, or if you’ve hired someone new, post about their successes.
Being part of the discovery
If you get one platform working well – it has to be Facebook – but Instagram and TikTok should be your next priorities. If Facebook is where your community is built, then these platforms are where a new audience will discover you. Instagram has around 30 million active users in the UK, and is your visual storefront. Use it to showcase vibrant product displays, fresh food-to-go, and new snack ranges using stories and reels. This is the platform that can make consumers willing to visit you more often and pay more for what you offer.
TikTok, with around 38.5 million UK users, is the impulse platform. This is where independents see massive growth by hopping on viral snack trends, creating satisfying stocking videos, and showing off unique imports.
Andy Howell, of Loch Lomond News in West Dunbartonshire, has 10,000 followers on TikTok and posts videos around new products and upcoming events, like the World Cup.
“We have to think about TikTok a bit more as it’s video content,” he says. “We’ll do videos to advertise new products and seasonal events, and we’ll record unboxing videos, too.”
Howell’s most-viral video showed his ice-cream scoop range and received 3.8 million views on TikTok.
Grow your following: Focus on exclusivity and community
You won’t get a high following overnight – it requires hard work and consistency. To fast-track growth, move away from boring, corporate-style advertising. People follow local businesses for community, entertainment and exclusivity. They want to know when you have the viral product they can’t get elsewhere and they want to hear it in your unique voice.
First, research popular pages run by other retailers to see what they’re doing. Many run giveaways or post product-focused videos. Atul Sodha, of Londis Harefield, for example, gets his customers involved in taste videos or supplier activation days that he posts on Stories. Nishi Patel, meanwhile, has more than 1,500 followers on Facebook and posts a mixture of product photos edited to say ‘New in’, as well as personal videos to show the retailer behind the store.
Your content must hold genuine value. It’s unlikely anyone will engage with a small discount on a standard item, but they will eagerly enter giveaways where you can win a product bundle, or a new, exclusive product launch you’ve sourced. Go one step further and make it a video and use a popular song to boost reach.
No matter your strategy, though, Raven emphasises that you need to understand your engagement.
“Use Facebook Analytics to see who has engaged with your content. If you run a giveaway, look at who entered and who doesn’t follow your business page, and invite them to like it,” he says. “The same goes for comments, reply to everyone. If they interact, you interact.”
Ten top tips to maximise social media
Here are our top 10 tips to succeed on social:
- Optimise your ‘digital front door’ – Before posting content, ensure your Google Business Profile and social bios are accurate. If a customer searches for ‘convenience store near me’ or clicks on your profile, they must be able to instantly see your location, current opening hours, and a link to your store if you have a website or delivery app.
- Introduce the faces behind the counter – Not everyone will be comfortable putting their face on social media, but people do buy from people. For those comfortable, share photos or quick ‘meet the team’ bios of your cashiers, managers, and even yourself. Showing friendly faces greeting customers builds loyalty and makes your store feel welcoming.
- Hop on viral snack and drink trends – From specialised energy drinks to viral TikTok products, younger consumers will travel miles for exclusive products. When a viral product drops into store, film a quick video showing an unboxing and keep the caption short, like ‘Just landed – limited stock, get here fast!’
- Cross-post the same content – Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, so you can post on both platforms at the same time. So, film one high-quality vertical video (10-15 seconds) on your phone. Upload it onto Instagram or Facebook, and then upload it separately onto TikTok. This way, you’ve spent minutes making content, but you’re hitting three often different audiences.
- Lean into ‘satisfying’ behind-the-scenes content – If you’re looking to really grow your social media following, you need to know what performs well online. ASMR and organisation-style videos lend themselves naturally to the c-store environment. Film a quick time-lapse of restocking the beer cave, organising the crisp aisle, or pouring a fresh slushie. It’s oddly hypnotic, easy to produce and subtly reminds viewers how clean and well-stocked your store is.
- Run hyper-local giveaways – Boost your engagement with local giveaways. Offer a prize bundle and to enter, followers must like the post, follow your page, and tag a local friend. It expands your reach to nearby residents for the mere cost of a few items.
- Use hyper-local hashtags – Don’t use broad hashtags, like #convenience. Use local hashtags to ensure residents in the local community can see them. These could be #ShopLocal[Town Name], #[TownName]Community or #[Yourstreetname]
- Leverage post-office and parcel footfall – If you have a parcel drop-off point, like Collect+, Evri or InPost, use social media to remind people. Post a friendly reminder, like “Dropping off a return today? Grab a fresh coffee while you wait!” Turn a chore into a high-margin opportunity.
- Engage locally and respond rapidly – Social media is a two-way street. Join your local neighbourhood Facebook group to contribute to community discussions. Or when someone comments about stock levels, reply as soon as you can. Excellent digital customer service creates loyal, physical customers.
- Spotlight on local and exclusive products: National chains stock the basics and main brands, but you stock the character. Dedicate posts to local suppliers or niche products from wholesalers like us, whether that be honey from a nearby apiary or meat from your nearby butcher or farm. Tag these suppliers to tap into their audiences, too.
Ready to stock the trends your customers are searching for online? Social media moves fast, but Epicurium moves faster. Don’t miss out on the next viral snack sensation. Explore our curated range of trendy, high-margin healthy snacks, unique confectionery, and crowd-pleasing drinks that will give your followers a reason to visit your store today.
