Evening commute is 'sweet spot' for Greggs as it eyes late-night sales

Greggs chief executive Roisin Currie said the evening trade segment of the business remains its fastest-growing as it eyes further opportunity in both UK travel locations and suburban towns.

Currie said 35% of the food-to-go market now takes place after 4pm, noting it is a “massive” part of the market for Greggs to be tapping into.

“Our sweet spot from everything we are doing is actually in that trading between 5pm and 7pm,” she said. “So it is when you are on the go, maybe heading home from work or heading out to meet friends. We know we deliver extremely well in that segment.”

Currie emphasised that the opportunity for evening trade not only extends to major city locations and travel hubs with high footfall but also to suburban areas of the UK.

Greggs’ London Bridge station store gained a late-night licence last year and it is understood the late licence at Liverpool Street is also in the works.

“We know that in the key train stations, particularly in London, there is a significantly high enough footfall that we can have those shops open until 11pm, midnight or even 1am,” Currie said. “It lends itself to if people are on the go; we will make sure we can provide the offering.

“What’s also important to us is where we open [later] in our suburban locations. What’s important there is the footfall locally may be lower but you can service a delivery channel extremely well through those locations because they are very accessible to where people are living.

“It’s on a number of fronts that we know we are winning in that evening market.”

Currie highlighted the success of the retailer’s marketing campaign last year, which used the strapline ‘we are open late’ to get the message across to consumers.

She added: “Consumer awareness has continued to rise in terms of knowing that Greggs serves in the evening.

“We also used our CRM capability last year to offer double stamps for customers that shopped with us in the evening and once that stamp promotion finished, those customers continued to shop with us in the evening, which again says that we have nudged and changed behaviours.”

“There is lots more for us still to go over but we are feeling postiive about that evening segment.”

Greggs hit a record £2bn in sales for the first time last year and Currie said the brand is “in better shape than ever”.

Currie also noted the successful shift towards healthier options being on the menu, with the business having delivered on its commitment to ensure that at least 30% of its product range now offers healthier alternatives such as salads and flatbreads.

She also hailed the increased demand for its hot food and chicken products such as goujons and pizzas, despite the sausage roll remaining a bestseller. However, its ongoing menu expansion does “absolutely not” mean a shift away from its core menu items.