In addition to a traffic and sales boost in the second quarter, NPD's Convenience Store Monitor, which tracks the consumer purchasing behavior of more than 49,000 [image-nocss] c-store shoppers in the United States, reported that the average number of visits consumers made to a c-store in an average 30-day period grew to 6.4 in second-quarter 2010 from 6.1 visits for the same quarter in 2009.
A recently released NPD report entitled Food, Beverages & C-Stores, which combines the company's prepared foods, beverage and packaged snack foods consumption research with Convenience Store Monitor data, pointed out that a "convenience location" and "in-and-out quickly" continue to be the top two reasons why consumers visit c-stores. With these as the driving factors for c-store visits, store only visits are increasing while pay-at-the-pump visits are steady, and dual visits, pay-at-the-pump plus store, are declining.
"Convenience and the need for grab and go will continue to be motivators for c-store visits, and after sharp visit declines in 2009, because of these continuing needs, we're seeing visits rebound in 2010," said David Portalatin, industry analyst for NPD's c-store research. "Less-volatile gas prices are also helping the channel, although minimal growth in miles driven and competition from grab-and-go offerings from other retail channels still pose a threat to convenience stores."The NPD Group, headquartered in Port Washington, N.Y., is a leading provider of consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,700 manufacturers, retailers and service companies use NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national and local market levels. NPD helps clients identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys and wireless.Source: The NPD Group/Convenience Store Monitor, quarter ending June 2010.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.