Where is the hub of your local community? Increasingly, research shows, it is the convenience store. People are visiting the local shop, with its growing range of services, more frequently than the pub these days, and the gap is widening.
So is there something publicans can learn from a successful rival business? Tom Fender, sales and marketing director of consumer research firm him!, certainly thinks so.
At the launch of OnTrack, him!'s new research programme for the on-trade (see Lead Feature, pages 22-23), Fender set out some practical ideas for building a pub's trade, based on the company's long experience of the convenience sector and the results of the OnTrack survey.
Research shows that pub-goers want more from their local pub - not just food and drink but the kind of goods and services they cannot get at the shop. "Pubs can still be the hub of the community," he says, "but convenience stores are the ones to watch."
Food, coffee, soft drinks, snacks, good communications, fast service and being more actively 'local' can all be used to put the pub at the heart of things.
Food
With eight out of 10 customers not having had a substantial meal in the three hours before they visit the pub there is a great opportunity - but despite the improvement in pub food people are still more likely to eat in a restaurant.
There is also a 'slippage' between numbers of people intending to eat, and those that actually do, adding up to thousands of pounds in lost sales.Dedicated food teams and dedicated food zones - imitating the takeaway sections in shops - could be an answer, and pubs could also make more of the sight and smell of the food they sell.
There are also missed opportunities with desserts, with only a small minority of pub-goers who order a hot meal following it up. Sales can be increased by taking dessert orders at the same time as the main course.
And with most customers going straight home after the pub there's a chance to offer them a takeaway.
Coffee & tea
A huge market has grown up around coffee bars in the last few years and nearly one in three of your customers would have been in one this week - but half of them can't give a reason why they went there instead of the pub.
Most pubs sell hot drinks, and 42 per cent of pub customers want them - but only seven per cent will buy one. Do they know what's available? If they can see a display telling them what you've got, there's no reason why you shouldn't be selling tea and coffee to 25 per cent or even 35 per cent of your customers.
Soft drinks
Soft drinks are an important impulse category in shops - but not so much in pubs. The key is display, and soft drinks are, of course, competing with beers and ready-to-drinks for back-bar fridge space.
So why not bring your soft drinks round to the customer side of the bar? People don't generally steal soft drinks from shop fridges, so there's no reason why they should in your pub either.
Snacks
Only two per cent of pub customers buy crisps and snacks, and again visibility and accessibility is crucial to lifting impulse sales.
Shops also like to promote them with cross-purchases - crisps with a sandwich and drink, for instance.
And why not target the impulse fruit market? Putting baskets of fruit on the bar for sale is cheap and simple and plays on the health concerns of your customers.
Communications
Pubs are not up there with other outlets when it comes to communicating basic things like opening hours. You should be adopting the principles of simple, clear signage, inside and out, from the convenience sector.
Leaflets are a preferred form of communication among pub-goers, and have been shown to increase the frequency of visits to shops. But it's more important to use them to tell people what you offer, rather than making a lot of a price promotion.
Fast service
Sometimes your customers want speed - it can make all the difference in closing the gap between what they intend to buy when they arrive at the pub, and what they eventually end up buying.
Being local
Soft messages can be used to reach out to customers and touch their concerns, for instance saying that your pub supports British produce when it's in season.Convenience stores are going further, however - setting up customer panels to get feedback on what they are doing, not only sponsoring local teams but also getting involved in the organisation, and even becoming the home of the community defibrillator!
If your pub had…
Sandwiches - 38 per cent of people would buy them
Newspapers and magazines - 27 per cent would buy them
An ATM - 29 per cent would use it
Wi-fi - Nine per cent would use it