Vodka and chocolates: What we are buying in corner shops during lockdown

Vodka, Red Bull and chocolates are the most popular items flying off the shelves of corner shops and convenience stores during the lockdown, according to new spending data.

Payment provider PayPoint found that bread for toasties, milk and toilet rolls were also in the top categories.

Bosses also revealed convenience store sales are up 56% since the lockdown compared with the same time a year ago.

The data comes as the company, which serves 28,000 stores across the country, revealed it has teamed up with Deliveroo to allow small stores to offer products for delivery via the takeaway platform app.

Our partnership with PayPoint means reaching more people across the UK.

PayPoint will liaise directly with store owners to help them get on to Deliveroo within a few days, the company added.

The link-up is the latest signing with the online food delivery platform, which also launched delivery services with Co-op and Morrisons in recent weeks, as customers are stuck indoors and online delivery slots from supermarkets remain hard to secure.

And while major supermarkets saw toilet roll shelves emptied, in convenience stores this was beaten by other comforts.

The top-selling products, according to PayPoint, are:

Warburtons Thick Sliced White Toastie Bread
Fresh Semi Skimmed Milk
Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate
Red Bull
Smirnoff Red Vodka
Best One Soft Classic White Toilet Tissue

Lewis Alcraft, chief commercial officer at PayPoint, said the partnership with Deliveroo would “benefit not only those who need their household essentials on-demand, but also the incredibly hard-working independent retailers who are playing such a vital role to the communities they serve.”

A Deliveroo spokesman added: “Our partnership with PayPoint means reaching more people across the UK and, with the vulnerable and self-isolating needing to stay at home, it is more important than ever that we make sure as many people as possible have access to those items they may need quickly, on-demand.”