A few have been so incensed by the 0.5% commission rate and the 13p cap on individual transactions that they have thrown out the terminal, but the vast majority have just got on with it. After all, there are always plenty of other areas of the business which need more immediate attention.
However, as competition in the neighbourhood market has been ratcheted up during the last few months, with Tesco buying T&S and Co-operative Group buying Alldays, independent retailers have been forced to take a fundamental look at their businesses to check that every aspect is paying its way. And now, instead of individual retailers disputing the returns they are making, it is symbol group bosses representing thousands of members who are asking the questions.
More worrying still for the utilities companies and their agents who are currently using the services of the independent sector is the suggestion that those bosses might find common purpose in pressing for change. The symbol groups will still be involved in cut-throat competition for members, but for the first time their leaders might sit down and collaborate in negotiations with suppliers. The groups have joined forces before on wider issues such as Sunday opening hours and the national minimum wage, but never like this.
Spar UK md Jerry Marwood is in no doubt that the atmosphere in the retail sector has changed in the last few months.
"Margins are under threat as never before, and I think there is a realisation that there are some areas where we could collaborate.
"We are still in intense competition with each other, and each symbol group has a unique business model that it believes is the best, but what unites us is helping independent retailers stay in business."
In situations such as taking utility payments through terminals, he argues, the real competition is not between individual retailers, but with other payment methods, such as the banks' direct debit. "None of our competitors who are processing utility payments do it for less than it costs, and that's the message we have got to get across to these companies," he says.
Costcutter chairman and chief executive Colin Graves agrees that a common front would be a good idea, but he urges caution. "This is an important part of our business and we don't want it moving into other stores." But even he admits: "There is a lot of cash handling involved and a lot of responsibility. Basically, our members are acting as an unpaid bank for the utilities and they deserve to get more out of it. This issue needs resolving."
He says it would be a "good idea" for the symbol group leaders to sit down together to broker better terms.
Terry Bedford, Londis sales director, agreed. "When compared to the profit margins available to independent retailers from other services, such as up to 90p per ATM transaction and 5% from the lottery, the case for a retailer offering utility payments as a customer service doesn't stack up. Londis has always sought to build a relationship with the utility payment providers, most recently with PayPoint when the congestion charge was introduced in London. However, we have been unable to negotiate acceptable terms."
At present there is constant attrition as disenchanted retailers leave the network. Two years ago hundreds of terminals were ditched by TM Retail when it decided the system didn't pay. A more attractive deal, endorsed by the symbol groups, might help operators reduce the cost of locating, equipping and training a constant stream of new recruits to the network.
{{ANALYSIS }}
However, as competition in the neighbourhood market has been ratcheted up during the last few months, with Tesco buying T&S and Co-operative Group buying Alldays, independent retailers have been forced to take a fundamental look at their businesses to check that every aspect is paying its way. And now, instead of individual retailers disputing the returns they are making, it is symbol group bosses representing thousands of members who are asking the questions.
More worrying still for the utilities companies and their agents who are currently using the services of the independent sector is the suggestion that those bosses might find common purpose in pressing for change. The symbol groups will still be involved in cut-throat competition for members, but for the first time their leaders might sit down and collaborate in negotiations with suppliers. The groups have joined forces before on wider issues such as Sunday opening hours and the national minimum wage, but never like this.
Spar UK md Jerry Marwood is in no doubt that the atmosphere in the retail sector has changed in the last few months.
"Margins are under threat as never before, and I think there is a realisation that there are some areas where we could collaborate.
"We are still in intense competition with each other, and each symbol group has a unique business model that it believes is the best, but what unites us is helping independent retailers stay in business."
In situations such as taking utility payments through terminals, he argues, the real competition is not between individual retailers, but with other payment methods, such as the banks' direct debit. "None of our competitors who are processing utility payments do it for less than it costs, and that's the message we have got to get across to these companies," he says.
Costcutter chairman and chief executive Colin Graves agrees that a common front would be a good idea, but he urges caution. "This is an important part of our business and we don't want it moving into other stores." But even he admits: "There is a lot of cash handling involved and a lot of responsibility. Basically, our members are acting as an unpaid bank for the utilities and they deserve to get more out of it. This issue needs resolving."
He says it would be a "good idea" for the symbol group leaders to sit down together to broker better terms.
Terry Bedford, Londis sales director, agreed. "When compared to the profit margins available to independent retailers from other services, such as up to 90p per ATM transaction and 5% from the lottery, the case for a retailer offering utility payments as a customer service doesn't stack up. Londis has always sought to build a relationship with the utility payment providers, most recently with PayPoint when the congestion charge was introduced in London. However, we have been unable to negotiate acceptable terms."
At present there is constant attrition as disenchanted retailers leave the network. Two years ago hundreds of terminals were ditched by TM Retail when it decided the system didn't pay. A more attractive deal, endorsed by the symbol groups, might help operators reduce the cost of locating, equipping and training a constant stream of new recruits to the network.
{{ANALYSIS }}
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