According to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, Valentine’s Day spending is expected to reach $23.9 billion this year — up from $21.8 billion in 2021 and the second-highest year on record. “Following the historic level of consumer spending over the winter holidays, it appears that…
What Do Delivery Services Really Deliver?
Should your convenience store embrace third-party, aggregated delivery services? As the pandemic stretches on, it’s time to re-examine the pros, cons, risks and costs. Could the pros of paying others for delivery services, ostensibly justified in net-new incremental sales, be far outweighed by the cons of unknowingly donating your SKU-level sales data to third-party intermediaries…
Snack Sales Heat Up
The snacking consumer returned to c-stores in 2021, driving double-digit sales increases for both salty and meat snacks. Hot and spicy flavor profiles are on fire in the category as supply chain disruption and an inflationary economy failed to douse flavor innovation and optimism for the coming year. “2021 has seen huge growth in center…
Beer Sales Balance Out
After a tremendous sales year in 2020, beer sales came back down to earth in 2021 as customers returned to life as usual. According to NielsenIQ Total U.S. Convenience data, total beer sales for the 52 weeks ending Nov. 20, 2021, decreased by 3.6% totaling $19 billion. One year earlier, for the 52 weeks ending…
Profiting With Pizza Programs
Whole pie or by the slice, pizza remains a foodservice favorite, and it continues to trend upward. According to Datassential’s 2021 Pizza Keynote report, 88% of consumers were eating more or the same amount of pizza as the previous year, and 95% of restaurant, retail and on-site operators believed their pizza sales would increase or…
Fuel’s Unpredictable Future
Electric vehicles are grabbing the headlines. Auto manufacturers like Ford have committed to an all-electric F-150 pickup truck, while convenience store chains, concerned about the future of fuel sales, are exploring options for installing electric vehicle charging (EVC) stations. Carbon neutral remains a buzz-phrase hanging over the oil industry, while the Biden administration released new…
Tobacco Braces for 2022
Although 2021 may not have felt “normal” as COVID-19 continued to wreak havoc, key market indicators suggest the tobacco category settled back into more predictive patterns for convenience stores. C-store retailers are looking to tobacco’s Q4 performance and the regulatory landscape for clues on what to expect for tobacco in 2022. Cigarettes Whereas 2020 cigarette…
Street Corner’s Post-Pandemic Reinvention
Street Corner may not be the new kid on the block — it first entered the market in the mid-1980s — but the chain’s reinvention post-pandemic positions it as a cutting-edge, modern c-store business. With a new CEO at the wheel, Street Corner recently debuted a revamped foodservice menu and is aggressively rolling out three…
Security Strategies for 2022
If COVID-19 weren’t challenging enough for convenience retailers, the start of the pandemic saw an increase in crime, said Sean Sportun, a security expert who’s spent almost 18 years in the convenience store world, 15 of which were with Circle K, leading the company’s Central Canada Loss Prevention Department. “People, it seemed, felt very comfortable…
Chicken Sales Flying High
C-store retailers are raking in foodservice profits with chicken programs and finding the versatile protein helps make them a destination for food, while opening the door to easy menu expansion. Chicken is more than a part of the foodservice offering at Fremont, Ohio-based FriendShip Food Stores; it is the crux of it, according to Kirk…