3 Big Numbers is a weekly column that looks at a few key details from around the c-store industry.
Tariffs, lingering inflation concerns and overall economic and geopolitical uncertainty battered retailers this year.
For instance, 79% of consumers in a recent survey by Upside said they’ve changed their shopping habits this year due to tariffs. And while c-stores saw a 0.6% increase in revenue, that was outpaced by category inflation of 2.5%.
Amid all of this, shoppers are growing less willing to stick to one brand.
In this week’s “3 Big Numbers,” we take a closer look at the Upside survey and what else it suggests about changing customer habits.
3.2
The average number of c-stores a consumer shops at each month.
Convenience retailers are working hard to build loyal customers — the sort who have a favorite c-store and will go out of their way to visit that chain.
Those efforts may be backsliding in the face of inflation fatigue.
Customers visited an average of 3.2 convenience stores per month. They visited the same number of grocery stores each month, but slightly more restaurants, according to the report. However, the c-store cross shopping was 17% higher than last year — an increase more than twice as large as either grocers or restaurants felt.
Shoppers also visited an average of 2.6 gas stations per month, up 7%, showing that fuel decisions are not changing as much year over year.
54%
The percent of gas customers that compare prices between locations some or all of the time.
Upside found that 54% of shoppers in need of gas engaged in a little market research in their search for low prices.
Lower prices were among the top two criteria for fuel, convenience stores, grocers and restaurants. However, a convenient location was the other top-two consideration for fuel and c-stores, and the most important criteria for the latter.
“Price-checking is up in each retail category we analyzed,” Upside noted in the report. “The practice is most common in fuel and grocery, which makes sense because customers in those categories said price is the top factor in their decision-making.”
About 60% of grocery shoppers said they compared prices before selecting where to shop.
38%
The percent of c-store shoppers who use loyalty rewards and discounts at least most of the time.
So if shoppers are looking for low prices, what does that mean for c-store rewards programs, which usually offer discounts and specials?
Maybe less than you’d think.
Roughly eight in 10 consumers say loyalty is at least moderately important, but only 38% of c-store consumers who replied to the survey said they use loyalty rewards or discounts “most of the time” or “always.” Further, in a separate survey of retailers, about half of companies said neither loyalty participation nor loyalty customer behavior was changing much.
“For all the investments retailers are making on this front, they’re not getting better returns,” the report noted.
