ACS

The two winners of the Association of Convenience Stores’ (ACS) 2006 Scholarship – The World at Your Fingertips – have been announced at Summit 06.

After beating off tough competition, Lyana Doyle, from Musgrave Budgens Londis (MBL), and Victoria Burgess, from Cadbury Trebor Bassett (CTB), were revealed as ACS’ Scholarship winners at this year’s conference Summit 06, sponsored by Camelot and Cuisine de France, in Birmingham.

The two winners presented their ideas at the Summit in front of the 300 strong room of delegates and Lyana and Victoria impressed the audience with their unique take on innovation within the c-store industry.

The successful pair will now to take on opponents from Australia, the US and Canada for the Global Scholarship title at the NACSShow, held in Las Vegas in October.

Lyana Doyle, 26, a trading manager for MBL, won in the retail category. Her presentation focused on the idea that customer needs change throughout the day, and store layouts should change to respond to these needs. Lyana suggested c-stores should focus on hot spots to create and shape demand and improve the perception and reputation of the store to give a “new level of convenience”. Lyana’s presentation discussed a number of examples of how these small changes can benefit sales.

Lyana said: “I worked really hard researching my presentation and developing my idea and I am thrilled that it has I have won the ACS Scholarship. It has been a great experience in which I have developed a real understanding of the c-store sector. I am really looking forward to competing at the NACSShow.”

Victoria Burgess, 21, on the Commercial Graduate Scheme for CTB, won in the supplier category. Her presentation was based on ‘making the convenience store industry truly convenient’ and concentrated on the idea of a c-store home delivery service to increase customer loyalty, retailers margin and average trip spend. The idea of this personal service was to “reinstall a sense of community” and go back to a more traditional ‘old fashioned’ retail experience.

Victoria said: “I am incredibly excited to have won the supplier Scholarship. I was keen to show that innovation doesn’t have to be radical or expensive for the retailer. A delivery service is an easy way for the Convenience Store industry to capitalize on the key competitive advantage that this channel holds – proximity to the customer and proximity to the community. I cannot wait to take on the other nations and compete for the global scholarship at the NACSShow. It’s the ‘World Cup’ of the Convenience Industry and I’m keen to bring the prize home for the UK!”

ACS Chief Executive David Rae said: “The question this year demanded entrants look at potential innovation within the convenience store market and our two winners came up with unique propositions that should excite retailers with their simplicity and practicality.”

The Scholarship’s question was to identify an innovation that could benefit the convenience store industry in the next few years, considering the implications of this innovation for convenience retailers, the supply chain and customers and communities served by convenience stores.