Lock in to shop when it suits you, instead of shopping during store opening hours. The “key” is simply a payment or bank card. It could be the future for many small shops. Because this solution for store operations is in full swing throughout Norway. In three years, the number of such shops has increased from 8 to 60. – We see that there has been a quantum leap for many of the shops, says Steinar Fredheim in the Merkur programme, a program to develop shops in District Norway. This is the first, and technically only, obstacle you encounter before you can buy goods in the store. Photo: Jan Børge Leirvik / news Can experience turnover growth of 30-40 per cent. The convenience store in the cottage and boat area Feste, north of Bergen in Alver municipality, has recently switched to such operation. The fringe shop is completely dependent on the income from the weather-prone summer season in order to be able to operate year-round. – We are situated in such a way that we have a lot of boats that tend to arrive a little late in the evening, and a lot of cabins and permanent residents who live in the area, so it fits so that they can use the shop after working hours. That’s what Hans Jakob Valle, who runs the family business at Feste kai, says. Hans Jakob Valle (th) runs the Convenience Store at Feste kai. He hopes the change will help increase turnover. Photo: Jan Børge Leirvik / news According to the government’s Merkur programme, shops that have become self-service all or part of the day experience a turnover growth of 30 to 40 per cent. – It would have been great if we had managed between 15 and 20 per cent! I’m very excited about it, but we don’t know that yet because we’ve only just started, says Valle. Regular Feste customers and cabin neighbors Morten Kronen and Frode Bruknapp are very satisfied with the new solution. – It’s very nice for us cottagers who usually depend on a boat to get there. For such small shops, I think this is actually a way to survive, says Kronen. – I hope that it will continue to exist. It would have been tough for us to come over here one morning, and we wouldn’t have had a shop anymore. Who would I talk to then, huh?, says Bruknapp. Morten Kronen has a cottage close to the Nærbutikken at Feste. He believes that self-service is a way of survival for the smaller shops. Photo: Jan Børge Leirvik / news Believes self-service has been the salvation for several shops The Merkur program aims to secure and develop shops in District Norway. – Being a merchant in a small convenience store is very demanding in many ways. The shops often have low turnover, low earnings and the shop drivers often have long working days, says Steinar Fredheim. He is department director in the District Center and subject manager in the Merkur programme. Fredheim believes there is great potential in extending the opening hours. Steinar Fredheim says that self-service in local stores has been the salvation for several of the smaller Merkur stores. – Preferably to reach the cabin people. On Thursday evening when they are on their way to the cabin, or on Sunday evening when they are going home. Or the commuters, he says. Fredheim believes there is a high chance that the small local shops would have closed down if they had not made this change. – With the feedback we are getting now, and with the figures we are seeing on turnover growth, we are convinced that this is the direction and the way to go. It is also the way to go because the small local shops are often run by slightly older people, Fredheim believes. – We are facing a generational change. Using new technology is certainly of great value so that the next generation will find it interesting to continue running this store. Outside the store there are instructions on how to get in when no employees are at work in the store. Photo: Jan Børge Leirvik / news – Waste is a non-existent problem In 2020, the Landhandelen in Herand in Hardanger was one of eight convenience stores in the pilot project that the Merkur program is behind. Since 2020, over 50 other such stores have opened in this country. In addition to the convenience store at Feste, there has also been one at Askrova outside Florø. Shop owner Magne Svardahl states that the change has resulted in better sales. Above the “key box” outside the store, there is also a surveillance camera. Photo: Jan Børge Leirvik / news – The most important motivation for doing this was to have greater freedom and for the customer to get a better offer. But of course there is also a slight increase. I can’t say exactly how big it is, but it’s there, says Svardahl. And although anyone can lock themselves in with their bank card in the middle of the night, no one steals from the store, according to Svardahl. – I have not uncovered anything illegal. Everyone is super honest and that’s great. Wasting is a non-existent problem, says Svardahl.
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Self-service stores have become more and more common – can lead to turnover growth of 40 percent – news Vestland
