7-Eleven Australia is working in new ways with its franchisees and store leaders to deliver new innovations and initiatives to give customers more reasons to choose to visit their stores. 

In addition to the continued focus on supporting franchise partners and store teams through Covid-19, 7-Eleven has ensured they deliver on the ambition of delivering on future customer needs as described by General Manager – Channel, Braeden Lord.

“We’ve spent the last 18 months working with our franchisees to keep everyone safe, while providing practical and financial support to help them through any tough trading periods. But the rebound in the majority of stores has been strong and fast, so we need to make sure we can maximise sales opportunities,” Mr Lord said.

The latest initiative designed to drive incremental traffic into 7-Eleven’s stores is a partnership with Australia Post for parcel collection services through 7-Eleven ParcelMate Lockers.

“Our 7-Eleven ParcelMate service already allows customers to send parcels when and where it suits them, and to collect a parcel from a range of carriers in our safe and convenient in-store lockers. 

“This new partnership allows Australia Post customers to choose to collect their parcel from one of our parcel lockers. It means an additional 500 locations for safe parcel collection for Australian consumers, and for our franchisees, it means nine million households of online shoppers that have an extra reason to visit their store.

7-Eleven Australia Emma Metcalf-King Area Lead – Food, said 7-Eleven’s insights and food teams are working together to test and trial new products to attract new customers into stores, and give existing customers reasons to visit more often.

“Our freshly ground $1 coffee offer has been a drawcard for customers for years. We’re looking for the next products that can become part of our customers’ regular routine. What our growth in categories such as coffee has shown us is that it’s not enough for our products to be convenient and great value, they also need to be delicious and appreciable quality options,” Ms Metcalf-King said.

“We want to provide customers with choice and a range that meets their needs throughout the day. As part of that focus, we’ve been investing in growing and improving our sushi range to give people an alternative at lunchtime. It gives customers more reasons to make our stores their daily stop for food on the go.

“Whilst this range gives customers a quality option at a good price point, our research said that we could make our sushi better. 

“Our customers told us they wanted more flavour options, improved texture in the rice, and more pack variations from twin packs to sushi sets with soy sauce, ginger and wasabi included.

“With our new agile ways of working, our teams have been able to collaborate and bring a new range to market to test in selected stores in Melbourne, 10 weeks quicker than they would have been able to deliver previously. 

“Being able to be more agile, and test new options with our customers will help us get even more new innovations into stores and give consumers more reasons to visit us more regularly.”

The company’s focus on food innovation to drive customer traffic is supported by the ongoing work from the 7-Eleven digital team. The team use agile ways of working to deliver continual improvements to the My 7-Eleven app and loyalty program, in addition to the new partnership with Velocity announced in early 2021, in response to customer needs.  

“Applying sophisticated insights and analytics in an agile working environment, allows us to make swift customer led decisions. Of course, our customers benefit, and so too will our franchise partners and store teams,” Mr Lord concluded.