3 Big Numbers is a weekly column that looks at a few key details from around the c-store industry.
Foodservice continues to play a vital role in convenience retail. The category made up 28.5% of sales for c-stores in 2025, according to NACS data, and accounted for almost 40% of in-store gross profit dollars.
While those figures encompass an array of items, including dispensed beverages, prepared foods made up nearly three-quarters of those sales.
But what drives customers to choose the food at one chain over another?
In this week’s “3 Big Numbers” we examine two reports outlining what consumers are looking for in their c-store dining occasions.
44%
The percentage of c-store diners who say they select a location to buy from based on the quality of the food.
A study from Canopy, which makes AI that monitors unsupervised technology like ordering kiosks and self checkout kiosks, found that 44% of people who dine at convenience stores said the quality of the food was a deciding factor in figuring out what to eat. This was the highest-ranking response to that question, outpacing price by eight percentage points, according to the report.
That mirrors the findings of a Tillster report earlier this year.
While the location of the store may be a vital consideration for consumers buying gas, it’s not as important to diners. The Canopy report noted that “the corner lot ranks behind every other leading factor.”
28%
The percentage of customers who say they choose fresh food at c-stores when they need a meal fast.
Less than a third of respondents to Canopy’s survey said that speed was a consideration when selecting where to eat, but that’s still a significant contributor. Convenience retailers fare decently well on that metric, with Canopy finding that 28% of c-store diners said they choose fresh food at c-stores when they need a meal quickly.
Although fast food restaurants were the preferred destination among survey goers for a quick, fresh meal, the report noted that c-stores have the ability to own that niche.
“C-stores enter that race with an edge no restaurant can copy, since the customer is often already in the store,” Canopy said.
60%
The percentage of shoppers who visit c-stores at least once a week, according to WGST and Imagine.
A strong foodservice program can turn a c-store into a repeat destination. Around 60% of shoppers visit c-stores at least once a week, according to a fresh food trends report from design and communications firm Imagine and trend forecasting company WGSN.
The report noted that this outpaces the number of weekly restaurant visitors, though it did not share the figure for that cohort.
Imagine called c-stores “the fastest-evolving food service format” as the industry moves away from Cokes and smokes and toward becoming a “genuine food destination — with the weekly visit frequency to make loyalty economics work.”
