Las Vegas is known as the town that never sleeps, but it is unique in another way. When thinking of Las Vegas, we are drawn to the images of casinos, glitz and The Strip. However, Las Vegas has seemingly two sets of consumers: a large population of residents with convenience store needs similar to those of consumers in most other U.S. cities; and a group of new, visiting consumers who are looking for convenience stores to take care of a more defined set of needs.
In a service town going 24/7, beverages such as carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), coffee and energy drinks are top beverages purchased, each included in 25% (CSDs), 13% (coffee) and 8% (energy drinks) of purchases, providing a resource for a caffeine pick-me-up. Energy drinks in particular are included in purchases more often in Las Vegas than in total U.S. convenience stores (8% vs. 3%, respectively).
Although there is a higher percentage of light visitors (one to three times per month) in Las Vegas, the proportion of heavy/super heavy users (eight or more visits per month) is close to that of the total United States (17% vs. 20%, respectively). This indicates that convenience stores are being leveraged by more permanent members of the community.
Although we see convenience stores in Las Vegas operating similar to that of other cities, growth opportunities exist. On average, consumers are visiting c-stores six times per month. While there is a strong presence of heavy users, visits to c-stores in
Las Vegas are about five times per month, just short of the total U.S. average, leaving room to increase traffic.
The industry has turned to foodservice as a means of drawing in new consumers and increasing frequency of current visitors. In the mornings (6 to 10 a.m.) and midday (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Las Vegas c-stores are capturing traffic similar to that of c-stores in the rest of the country. Opportunity lies in the core quick-service-restaurant day-part times of 2 to 6 p.m., in which Las Vegas c-stores do not capture as much traffic as an average c-store (19.1% compared to 30.7%). By focusing on this day-part, it will fulfill the needs of both consumer types in this area.
So while late night is what Vegas is all about, midday is where it’s at!
Percent of Traffic by Day-Part
Convenience stores in Vegas have the opportunity to grow the midday day-part, which experiences less traffic than that of c-stores in other parts of the country.
Source: The NPD Group/Convenience Store Monitor
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