Over 100 attendees from around Australia and New Zealand gathered at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Adelaide for this year’s Australasian Association of Convenience Stores Convenience Leaders Summit on November 14-15, 2011.

There was particular interest in the Summit this year, given some of the challenging retail conditions as well as legislative pressures on areas affecting the industry, such as new tobacco regulations, potential effects of the new carbon tax in Australia and retailers and suppliers seeking insights into new opportunities.

The programme was both very full and informative. The attendees heard from Yasser Shahin, Peregrine Corporation, and operators of the very successful ‘On the Run’ stores as well as ‘Smokemart’ stores in Australia. Brett Barclay, of him! research and consulting discussed the current trends in convenience and gave his views on what the next three years might bring.

Dr Sean Sands and Carla Ferraro, from the Australian Centre for Retail Studies at Monash University presented the findings of the research project commissioned by AACS into “Convenience 2020” – what the industry might look like in 2020, as well as opportunities and challenges as seen by industry thought leaders. Also included were 1000 consumer insights into their ideal convenience store offer of the future.

Kosta Konomos and Leigh Shaw from Nielsen presented on the current state of the industry and demonstrated their ‘Virtual Store’ technology, which can be of great benefit to both retailers and suppliers.

Mike Igoe from PayPoint in the UK presented a new perspective on services available for convenience stores and how to go about this with technology which is operating in over 23,000 stores in the UK. Adrian Williams from IGD in the UK presented a wide ranging view of retailers and convenience stores globally with some excellent insights into emerging trends.

A panel discussion with Craig Sargent of Mars and Chris Garlick of BP was moderated by Brett Barclay, addressing a raft of issues, opportunities and challenges from various perspectives.

The group then had the opportunity to visit a selection of the highly successful ‘On the Run’ stores across Adelaide, hosted by Yasser Shahin and the GM of the group, Michaela Webster.