Inside Serendipity’s store-level approach to itsu’s UK retail growth

Bridging digital visibility and in-store performance across multi-site retail estates is one of the central challenges facing UK retailers seeking sustainable growth.

With footfall and shopper traffic declining (down 2.9% year-on-year in December), a critical challenge for multi-site operators is how to accurately measure and optimise digital performance at the level of an individual store, rather than just the brand as a whole.

With a retail portfolio of 77 stores nationwide, itsu, like other UK market leaders, has turned to external experts to address that question. Founded by Julian Metcalfe, itsu has built a reputation and a market-leading business on a simple belief: that people deserve convenient food that’s also high-quality and nutritious. Backing its ambition to help the UK “eat beautiful”, itsu shared plans to expand its restaurant and retail estate, targeting approximately 100 new outlets following investment by Bridgepoint Capital in 2021.

To support its commercial ambitions, itsu has appointed London-based retail growth specialist and digital marketing agency Serendipity. The partnership is designed to reach more customers through search-based discovery, while holding itsu’s long-standing position against fried-by-default convenience food; a stance the brand has built on since the late 1990s.

Across a complex physical retail estate where commercial outcomes vary by location, footfall, and live trading conditions, no amount of category-level visibility will move the needle on its own. Instead, this data-led, performance-driven digital strategy will focus on strengthening brand presence, driving retail and online sales, and creating clearer connections between digital engagement and real-world commercial performance.

The work spans SEO, content, paid media and advanced measurement, beginning with foundational technical SEO audits and the development of a content and search strategy to surface where visibility can be improved. From there, Serendipity will use itsu’s search infrastructure – keyword authority, audience data and content positioning – as the upstream signal, applying store-level measurement to convert that signal into till receipts.

Launching the work as a test-and-learn programme across local search, paid and organic channels, Serendipity will establish performance benchmarks across the full estate and build a data driven approach to identify growth opportunities and align with location specific user demand. Supporting this analysis is a measurement framework designed to clearly link online activity to real in-store behaviour at each site, rather than at brand level. The result will be a clearer view of how customers move between digital, physical retail and grocery channels. For itsu, that means a measurable line from digital spend back to commercial outcomes.

Rukshan Warnacula, founder of Serendipity, said: “At a time when eating well and sustainably matters more than ever for our communities and our planet, itsu continues to lead the way with Asian-inspired, healthier menus that support health and wellbeing. We’re proud to play a part in connecting people with food that is fresh, convenient and healthy.”

The methodology is built on a longer track record. Serendipity has worked with itsu’s grocery business for five years, a partnership that has delivered 60% UK gyoza category visibility, more than 900 top-three keyword positions across core category terms, and 23% of gyoza-related AI responses now referencing the itsu brand. The agency’s case study on the itsu grocery partnership lays out the category-level mechanics.

Rukshan Warnacula added: “Using our data-driven approach at a store level, this framework will equip itsu with insights into both store performance and growth opportunities across all locations.”

The appointment builds on Serendipity’s existing five-year partnership with itsu’s grocery business. The retail growth specialist has delivered 60% UK gyoza category visibility and more than 900 top-three keyword positions across core category terms for the brand.