ABSTRACT
This chapter maps and analyses the supply and value chain for forecourt retailing in the UK. Its main aim is to explain the appropriation of value in the chain by considering which firms are powerful and what the bases of that power might be. The supply and value chain is best defined as a sub-set of the wider supply and value chain for convenience retailing. In other words, the forecourt shop is one of a number of different types of small retail outlet that offer the end customer a particular functionality based around the core characteristic of convenience. This general notion of convenience can be broken down into four more concrete characteristics. These are ease of access, whether by car or on foot; extended opening hours, and in some cases 24-hour service; a focus on top-up, impulse and distress purchases, which means that convenience stores aim to complement, rather than to compete with, larger outlets; and a wide but shallow product range.
