C-Stores: The challenges of the pandemic

Despite the positive numbers and outlook, convenience stores have not escaped the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit much of the retail landscape hard.

Consumers who weren’t commuting to work also weren’t filling up their cars and trucks, snagging that early morning beverage, or grabbing a banana.

“At its peak, fuel sales were down 50 percent, and that’s not back yet,” says Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Nonetheless, gas remains the top reason consumers visit C-stores. Nielsen reported in 2019 that convenience stores sell about 80 percent of all gasoline sold in the United States.

With the hope that retail sales will bounce back as workplaces reopen, Joe Watson, vice president of membership and engagement for the Newark, DE-based Produce Marketing Association, BB #:153708 says C-stores are uniquely positioned to capitalize on fresh produce sales.

“Convenience stores have the luxury of the accidental purchase,” Watson says. “With snacking now making up a large percentage of our daily food consumption, convenience stores play a big part in how and where those calories are consumed.”

Lenard and Watson agree that easily consumed foods—like fresh produce—do better than others.

According to Lenard, a 2019 survey showed that 83 percent of customers who purchase food at a convenience store consumed it within an hour, and 65 percent consumed it immediately.

“It’s important to make it healthy, fresh, and convenient,” Lenard says. “Eating a banana at 60 miles per hour is a whole lot different than eating a salad at 60 miles per hour.”

This is an excerpt from the cover story of the November/December issue of Produce Blueprints Magazine. Click here to read the full feature.

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