The Q1 2026 benchmarking report for UK convenience stores has just been published. Learn how 10 of the top UK convenience stores perform across the digital space.
The Q1 2026 benchmarking report for UK convenience stores has just been published. It covers 10 of the largest national convenience stores, including Budgens, Costcutter, Londis, Nisa, One Stop Stores, The Premier Stores, SPAR UK, Best One, Keystore, One O One Convenience Stores, Co-Op Wholesale, and Morrisons Daily. Convenience Stores - it highlights year-on-year digital performance, plus winner and loser comparisons in 20+ online performance metrics.
The research gives an inside track on who is winning the biggest share of voice online and quantifies the gaps, risks and missed opportunities for other convenience stores to win brand exposure locally, increase in-store footfall, and drive traffic online. The report highlights quick wins that will improve enquiries from your online strategy and identifies the barriers that may be reducing your site’s ability to optimise digital performance.
To see a preview and contents page of the Q1 report, click here. To get a copy of the full report and the key takeaways, please complete the enquiry form or schedule a call.
Q1 2026 Winners and Losers Summary
For a glance into just 6 of the metrics we evaluated these top 12 convenience stores on, check out our quick-look table below;
To understand what the *CTM Digital Performance Index™ is click here.
Continue reading for further detail on this quarter's best and poorest-performing UK convenience stores or request a copy of the report for the full review.
What The Industry Research Report Covers
The 70+ pages of research benchmarks each brand based on 50+ metrics and indicators of successful digital strategy, including organic visibility, domain authority, paid media ads, conversion performance, technical performance, site speed, universal search, content, social ads, accessibility, and mobile performance.
Driving Optimal ROAS from Paid Media Channels
Some of the leading players in the space are high spenders on paid media channels such as Google, Bing & Facebook - but have a poor or sub-optimal conversion improvement strategy. Without an optimised, sophisticated conversion strategy that maximises the conversion rate, the return on investment is unsustainable or will under-perform. Scaling spend on paid media is not achievable unless the conversion rate delivers optimal performance in the sector. Some in the space have paid media spend levels from 30k+ per month but dedicate minimal resources and budgets to conversion testing. Given the cost per clicks on ad networks will continue to rise, we recommend spending at least 10% of your paid media budget on ongoing conversion optimisation testing schedules to ensure your paid media ROI maintains long term viability, competitive advantage, and sustainability.
Technical Website Compliance
Savvy digital marketers know that having a technically sound website is an essential component of a successful fully integrated digital strategy - plus a site capable of maximising conversion performance. For convenience stores, they'll want to take particular care that key pages, such as store locators, are clearly sign-posted.
In our previous audit, One O One Convenience Stores received the most 404 errors (71). This quarter, One O One Convenience Stores has decreased their total to 4, no longer making them the company to watch. Currently, the most 404 errors is 97 (Morrisons Daily). Broken internal links are a common cause of 404 errors and can lead visitors to dead ends within a website. When users reach these dead ends, they may feel the site is unreliable or difficult to navigate. This frustration can prompt them to leave quickly, contributing to higher bounce rates.
Site Speed & Conversion Rate Performance
When 62% of consumers are less likely to convert if they have a negative mobile site experience, ensuring that your site is quick and easy to load makes a significant improvement on your overall conversion rates. Convenience store customers will often be visiting sites on the go, looking for nearby branches that they can immediately visit. Therefore an optimal mobile page experience is essential for giving a good impression of the brand.
In our last audit, Nisa reported the slowest mobile site speed (29). This quarter, Nisa has increased their mobile site speed to 59, moving them up the leaderboard. Currently, the mobile site speed ranges between 88 and 27, Keystore reporting the slowest speed. Fast-loading websites build trust with consumers. When a site performs reliably and quickly, users are more likely to view the brand as professional and credible. On the other hand, slow performance can create doubts about the reliability or security of the website, discouraging users from engaging further.
Building Competitive Advantage with Domain Authority
Domain authority is an essential metric for measuring the effectiveness of SEO performance, and helps create a reliable overall gauge of how effective your site is at achieving organic traffic, ie. ‘free’ traffic that isn’t gained through sponsored ads. With a range of products on offer, convenience stores should be able to create digital PR campaigns spanning multiple content themes, giving them a range of opportunities to build authority.
A ‘good’ DA really comes down to how your competitors are performing, however it is generally considered average between 40 and 50, good between 50 and 60, and excellent above 60. In our last audit, Nisa reported the slowest mobile site speed (29). This quarter, Nisa has increased their mobile site speed to 59, moving them up the leaderboard. Currently, the mobile site speed ranges between 88 and 27, Keystore reporting the slowest speed. Fast-loading websites build trust with consumers. When a site performs reliably and quickly, users are more likely to view the brand as professional and credible. On the other hand, slow performance can create doubts about the reliability or security of the website, discouraging users from engaging further.
Organic Performance – Mobile & Desktop
A strong organic performance is strategically important as it ensures your site ranks above competitors for key, transactional keywords. When 93% of your customers won’t go past the first page of Google, your absence or lack of targeting for essential keywords will cost you conversions. Due to the cost-of-living crisis, we're seeing that many potential customers across a number of sectors are either cutting back on expendable items, or opting for cheaper alternatives. Convenience stores may be feeling the impact of this, as their potential customers may be taking greater care to do larger shops at cheaper supermarkets, as opposed to picking up items as needed.
Ten stores reported a drop in organic traffic on desktop, with Morrisons Daily and Best One flagging the biggest loss (-53%). On mobile, 11 stores reported a decrease in organic traffic, with Budgens seeing the biggest drop here, too (-87%). User behaviour also differs considerably between devices. Desktop users are more likely to open multiple tabs and compare information across sites, whereas mobile users often prefer quick, streamlined browsing. This can result in shorter sessions on mobile and a different pattern of engagement with organic search results.
Universal Search Opportunity
Google Universal Search Results is an evolving opportunity to make your pages visible on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Universal results often appear before traditional listings and are eye-catching for users. Universal search results refer to rankings on a SERP that are not the traditional ‘blue line’ Google link, and a brand can appear for universal search results without being strong in standard rankings. For convenience stores, they'll want to ensure they're appearing for 'Local Pack' results, ensuring they are prominent when potential customers are looking for a nearby shop.
One Stop Stores has since secured the most Universal Search appearances (8,331) — overtaking SPAR UK (currently in second place). The majority of One Stop Stores’ appearances came from ‘images’ (5,000).
The Longtail Keyword Opportunity
Longtail keywords are often considered high intent and potentially more likely to convert as a searcher is being more specific. Optimising for longtail keywords also puts your content strategy in a strong position to rank for brand-new search terms as they enter Google’s index. For convenience stores, long-tail keywords could be focused on specific products that potential customers are looking for, and a strong performance here could see quick visits from local customers needing a last-minute ingredient or essential item.
One Stop Stores has secured the most longtail keyword appearances for position 3 (1,121). One Stop Stores also secured the most longtail keyword appearances for position 4–10 (3,451). Websites can also incorporate longtail keywords into image captions, alt text, and supporting descriptions. These elements help search engines understand the context of images while giving websites another opportunity to include relevant phrases. When the descriptions clearly explain the image, the longtail keyword fits naturally within the context.
Facebook Adverts
With the number of Facebook users in the United Kingdom (UK) hitting over 44 million users in 2023, it is not surprising that companies have jumped at the opportunity to advertise on the social media platform. Facebook’s UK digital advertising revenue has been estimated to have breached 2.6b GB pounds in 2019. For convenience stores, they can use Facebook adverts to drive awareness of deals or sales events, or use local targeting to improve brand awareness in areas that footfall is low.
We’ve included screenshots of Morrisons Daily’s sponsored Facebook posts. This UK convenience store should stick to between one and three lines of text per post so they’re not providing their audience with too little or too much content.
Top Social Shares & Content
When it comes to social media and on-site content strategies, it is important to release content that has a longer shelf life. An article is considered 'Evergreen' if it has maintained its relevancy to an audience for longer. It's great for your brand engagement, but great for Google too, who will recognise content which achieves traffic over a long period of time. As we've mentioned previously, convenience stores can create content supporting any of their product lines, whether that's through recipe content, household cleaning items, or seasonal ranges.
Morrisons Daily secured the most Facebook Likes (924,100) and the most Instagram followers (334,300). Twitter was the most popular social media platforms of all brands. SPAR UK received the highest total engagement rate (247), and Nisa secured the highest average engagement (8).
Website Readability & Accessibility
20% of people in the UK have a disability – 2 million of which are people living with sight loss. In addition, 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some degree of colour vision deficiency. When websites are not designed to meet these needs, brands lose customer interest as they turn elsewhere. Convenience stores will want to ensure a 'convenient' brand experience for all potential customers, at any digital (or in-store) touchpoint.
In our last audit, One O One Convenience Stores reported the most accessibility alerts (99). This quarter, One O One Convenience Stores has made improvements to reduce their total to 6. Currently, the convenience store with the most accessibility alerts is One Stop Stores (101). Multimedia accessibility alerts, such as missing captions or transcripts, exclude consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing. They also affect users in sound-sensitive environments or those who prefer reading. Without alternatives, important information conveyed in audio or video becomes inaccessible to a significant portion of the audience.
GET THE FULL 70-PAGE Q1 2026 REPORT
To get a copy of the full report, please complete the enquiry form. If you want to talk to us about accelerating your digital performance, please call us on 01543 410014 or schedule a call with Rory Tarplee.
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