Retail Media Intelligence Report · 2026State of
the Mission.
The most comprehensive analysis of convenience shopping behaviour ever published. 1.57 billion baskets. What drives them, who makes them, when, where — and what it means for every brand in convenience.
Mission Scale
& Composition
Which missions drive the most baskets, what they're worth, and how the landscape is shifting year-on-year.
Number of baskets
by shopping mission.
All 17 shopping missions, 2025. Routine Top Up and Urgent Top Up together account for 257 million baskets — one in three visits.
| Mission | Baskets (millions) |
|---|---|
| Routine Top Up | 129 |
| Urgent Top Up | 128 |
| FTG Lunch | 85 |
| Treat | 66 |
| Meal For Tonight | 60 |
| Short-Term Top Up | 51 |
| Meal For Lunch | 39 |
| FTG Drink | 38 |
| Tobacco/E-Cigs | 38 |
| FTG Snack | 35 |
| FTG Breakfast | 32 |
| Newspapers | 25 |
| Main Weekly Shop | 13 |
| Meal For Breakfast | 11 |
| Entertaining | 9 |
| Lottery | 8 |
| Gifting | 7 |
Baskets in millions · 2025 · Sub-mission level
How mission baskets
are changing.
Gifting is the standout story in 2025, with growth year-on-year (+7.0%). Newsagent contracted sharply (−11.2%), reflecting structural tobacco headwinds. Food To Go held broadly flat.
| Mission | 2024 (M) | 2025 (M) |
|---|---|---|
| Top Up | 329 | 321 |
| Food To Go | 191 | 190 |
| Meal Occasions | 114 | 110 |
| Newsagent | 79 | 71 |
| Treat | 67 | 66 |
| Entertaining | 10 | 9 |
| Gifting | 6 | 7 |
Baskets in millions · 2024 vs 2025 · Higher mission level
Top Up accounts for approximately two in five convenience baskets. That dominance explains why convenience is often read as a habitual, low-engagement channel, but it only holds if you look through a single mission lens.
Basket Value
& Item Count
Missions differ not just in number of baskets but in what shoppers spend and how many items they buy. These differences are consistent, measurable and commercially significant.
Average basket value
by higher mission.
Missions differ significantly in what shoppers spend per visit. Entertaining has the highest average basket value at £21.88 — more than four times the Food To Go average. These differences reflect fundamentally different purchase contexts, not just category differences.
| Mission | Avg Basket (£) |
|---|---|
| Entertaining | 21.88 |
| Meal Occasions | 13.22 |
| Top Up | 11.85 |
| Newsagent | 11.09 |
| Treat | 8.39 |
| Gifting | 7.95 |
| Food To Go | 5.03 |
Weighted average basket value (£) · 2025 · Higher mission level
The gap between the highest ABV mission (Entertaining, £21.88) and the lowest (Food To Go, £5.03) reflects missions serving fundamentally different consumer needs, not just product category differences. Meal Occasions (£13.22) and Top Up (£11.85) sit in the mid-range and together account for the majority of baskets.
Items per basket
by higher mission.
Item count varies considerably across the seven higher missions, ranging from under 2 to over 8 items per basket. Entertaining has the highest item count at 8.41 items per basket, followed by Meal Occasions at 6.11. At the other end, Newsagent averages just 1.86 items — reflecting narrow, category-committed purchase behaviour.
| Mission | Avg items per basket |
|---|---|
| Entertaining | 8.41 |
| Meal Occasions | 6.11 |
| Top Up | 5.11 |
| Food To Go | 3.01 |
| Treat | 2.11 |
| Gifting | 1.97 |
| Newsagent | 1.86 |
Weighted average items per basket · 2025 · Higher mission level
Entertaining (8.41) and Meal Occasions (6.11) produce the highest item counts, consistent with their planned, multi-item purchase contexts. Food To Go (3.01) and Treat (2.11) sit well below, reflecting their respective purchase characters — Food To Go as fast and pre-committed, Treat as an impulse addition rather than the primary purpose of the visit. The range from 1.86 (Newsagent) to 8.41 (Entertaining) shows how differently each mission uses the basket.
Timing
& Day of Week
The same store serves fundamentally different shoppers every few hours. Mission mix shifts dramatically across the day and across the week.
Mission mix shifts
every few hours.
Food To Go peaks sharply at midday (28.2% of its baskets in 12pm–3pm). Treat rises steadily through the afternoon, reaching 32.0% of its daily baskets in the 3–6pm band and remaining high at 30.9% in the 6–9pm band.
| Mission | Before 9am | 9am-12pm | 12pm-3pm | 3pm-6pm | 6pm-9pm | After 9pm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Up | 6.7% | 19.0% | 22.3% | 27.5% | 20.2% | 4.2% |
| Food To Go | 14.9% | 20.1% | 28.2% | 20.5% | 13.0% | 3.3% |
| Meal Occasions | 6.4% | 17.2% | 25.1% | 28.2% | 19.5% | 3.6% |
| Treat | 3.3% | 8.3% | 17.4% | 32.0% | 30.9% | 8.0% |
% of each mission's baskets by time band · 2025
The 3–6pm window is the largest by number of baskets (196M) and is where Treat and Entertaining both reach their daily peak alongside continued Top Up activity. Three distinct purchase contexts in the same time band.
The week has
a rhythm.
Food To Go is a weekday phenomenon, concentrated Monday to Friday, declining sharply at the weekend. Entertaining increases sharply on Friday and Saturday. Sunday has the highest Top Up share at 45% of that day's baskets.
| Mission | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Up | 42.31% | 41.33% | 40.98% | 39.85% | 39.41% | 42.06% | 45.16% |
| Food To Go | 25.81% | 26.21% | 26.29% | 27.08% | 25.50% | 20.75% | 19.71% |
| Entertaining | 0.84% | 0.89% | 0.99% | 1.04% | 1.54% | 1.62% | 1.32% |
% of daily baskets by mission · 2025 · Entertaining plotted on secondary axis due to scale difference
Shopper
Profile
Mission type is a strong predictor of who is in the store. Age, gender and engagement levels shift significantly depending on mission type.
Mission basket share
by age band.
Each bar shows how that age band’s member baskets are distributed across the seven higher missions. Food To Go dominates the youngest bands — accounting for 55% of 0–16 baskets and 41% of 17–25 baskets. Top Up grows steadily with age, reaching 62% of the 66+ cohort’s baskets.
| Mission | 0-16 | 17-25 | 26-36 | 37-50 | 51-65 | 66+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food To Go | 55.2% | 40.8% | 27.6% | 20.4% | 13.6% | 6.3% |
| Top Up | 21.5% | 32.4% | 43.3% | 48.7% | 54.0% | 61.6% |
| Meal Occasions | 10.4% | 17.3% | 20.1% | 19.5% | 18.6% | 16.6% |
| Treat | 11.2% | 7.2% | 5.9% | 7.2% | 7.7% | 5.1% |
| Newsagent | 0.4% | 0.7% | 1.1% | 1.6% | 3.5% | 8.6% |
| Entertaining | 0.9% | 1.1% | 1.6% | 2.0% | 1.7% | 1.0% |
| Gifting | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
% of each age band's member baskets by mission · 2025 · Higher mission level
In the 0–16 and 17–25 age bands, Food To Go accounts for the largest single mission share — 55% and 41% respectively. By the 66+ cohort, Top Up dominates at 62% of that band’s baskets. Newsagent reaches its highest share in the 66+ band at 8.6% — more than double its share in the 51–65 band.
Store
Format
Mission type and format are strongly correlated. Certain formats consistently attract disproportionate shares of specific missions, and basket value rises with format tier.
Basket value rises
with format tier.
Average basket value indexed to EC Urban (= 100) across all missions. Local Supermarkets produce the highest basket values. Entertaining shows the smallest index spread (100 to 111), consistent with the mission itself — rather than the format — being the stronger influence on spend.
| Mission | EC Urban | Ev. Conv. | EC Plus | Local Super |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entertaining | 100 | 101 | 110 | 130 |
| Meal Occasions | 100 | 117 | 140 | 196 |
| Top Up | 100 | 132 | 163 | 242 |
| Treat | 100 | 123 | 132 | 152 |
| Food To Go | 100 | 123 | 132 | 146 |
| Newsagent | 100 | 93 | 95 | 111 |
| Gifting | 100 | 105 | 117 | 135 |
Index: EC Urban = 100 · 2025 · Higher mission level
Item count also rises
with format tier.
Top Up shows the steepest item count increase across formats — rising from an index of 100 in EC Urban to 227 in Local Supermarket. Entertaining shows the flattest spread (100 to 111), consistent with the mission driving spend regardless of format.
| Mission | EC Urban | Ev. Conv. | EC Plus | Local Super |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entertaining | 100 | 101 | 105 | 111 |
| Meal Occasions | 100 | 116 | 136 | 185 |
| Top Up | 100 | 127 | 156 | 227 |
| Treat | 100 | 115 | 121 | 127 |
| Food To Go | 100 | 120 | 125 | 135 |
| Newsagent | 100 | 112 | 118 | 127 |
| Gifting | 100 | 110 | 113 | 119 |
Index: EC Urban = 100 · 2025 · Higher mission level
Meal Occasions and Entertaining produce the highest absolute item counts at Local Supermarket — 9.15 and 9.13 items respectively. Newsagent and Treat both cap at low item counts (2.10 and 2.33 in Local Supermarket), reflecting narrow, category-committed purchase behaviour.
Loyalty
& Members
Members have higher average basket values than non-members across 6 of 7 higher missions. The premium is largest where it matters most commercially.
Members vs
non-members.
Members consistently outspend non-members across 6 of 7 higher missions. Top Up shows the largest gap at +£3.07 per basket. Newsagent is the exception, where non-members average more, likely a compositional effect given the sub-mission mix.
| Mission | Non-Members (£) | Members (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Entertaining | 21.32 | 21.67 |
| Food To Go | 4.69 | 6.68 |
| Gifting | 7.64 | 9.06 |
| Meal Occasions | 11.95 | 14.16 |
| Newsagent | 11.35 | 10.62 |
| Top Up | 10.14 | 13.21 |
| Treat | 7.87 | 9.21 |
Average basket value (£) · Members vs Non-Members · 2025
The spend premium is consistent and mission-level, suggesting an audience selection effect rather than a programme effect. Member data identifies consumers already deeply engaged with the category.
How often members
repeat each mission.
Member frequency measures how often, on average, a member completes the same mission in a week. Top Up members average 1.3 missions per week — the highest of any mission. These figures reflect habitual, repeating behaviour rather than overall store visit frequency.
| Mission | Avg missions per week |
|---|---|
| Top Up | 1.30 |
| Food To Go | 1.20 |
| Meal Occasions | 1.12 |
| Treat | 1.08 |
| Newsagent | 1.07 |
| Entertaining | 1.03 |
| Gifting | 1.02 |
Average missions completed per week by members · 2025
Top Up at 1.3 and Food To Go at 1.2 reflect missions embedded in weekly routines. Entertaining and Gifting at 1.03 and 1.02 reflect occasion-driven missions, completed rarely within any given week.
Activate this intelligence
in your category planning.
Compass is Co-op Media Network's data and insight product. It gives advertisers access to mission-level data and shopper segmentation, and targeted campaign capabilities. Everything in this report is available at member and store-level granularity through Compass.
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