Distributor Data: General Merchandise
Calendar year 2013
McLane shipments of motor oil fell nearly 7% by dollars in 2013, with accessories up more than 7%. In other general-merchandise items, battery shipments dropped nearly 17%.
| Automotive Products | |||
| Segment | Avg. shipments per store per week (in dollars) | Avg. shipments per store per week (dollar growth) | PCYA |
| Motor oil | $34.68 | -$2.46 | -6.6% |
| Accessories | $13.28 | $0.89 | 7.2% |
| Additives | $12.52 | -$0.14 | -1.1% |
| Antifreeze | $10.72 | $0.89 | 9.0% |
| Window solvent | $6.82 | $1.60 | 30.7% |
| Transmission | $2.60 | -$0.50 | -16.2% |
| Total automotive products | $80.63 | $0.29 | 0.4% |
| Other Products | |||
| Batteries | $9.92 | -$1.98 | -16.6% |
| Seasonal | $8.41 | $0.01 | 0.1% |
| Sunglasses | $3.84 | -$0.82 | -17.7% |
| Wearing | $3.23 | $0.27 | 9.1% |
| School/office supplies | $1.84 | -$0.17 | -8.5% |
| Telecommunications hardware | $1.51 | -$3.89 | -72.0% |
| Gaming/novelty | $0.91 | $0.03 | 3.8% |
| Hardware/tools/electrical | $0.73 | -$0.27 | -27.2% |
| Film/photo | $0.48 | -$0.17 | -26.2% |
| Floral | $0.08 | -$0.11 | -59.6% |
| Other | $5.66 | $3.37 | 147.1% |
Source: McLane Co.
Battery Trends
C-store sales, 52 weeks ending Dec. 29, 2013
C-store sales of batteries continued to decline in 2013, falling 9% in dollars and nearly 15% in units, according to IRI. Duracell Coppertop alkaline batteries gained nearly 5% of dollar share last year.
Batteries by Brand | ||||
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA |
| Duracell Coppertop | $48.7 | 3.4% | 9.4 | 1.1% |
| Energizer Max | $40.9 | -14.6% | 7.8 | -17.1% |
| Private label | $8.4 | 13.7% | 1.8 | 2.6% |
| Rayovac | $5.5 | -21.2% | 2.4 | -40.9% |
| Sony | $5.3 | -5.2% | 1.4 | -8.0% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $125.1 | -9.0% | 27.4 | -14.7% |
Source: IRI
Distributor Data: Batteries by UPC
Calendar year 2013
The top-shipped battery UPC from McLane in 2013 was the four-count Duracell AA alkaline.
1. Duracell Alkaline AA (4-count)
2. Energizer AA (4-count)
3. Duracell AAA (4-count)
4. Energizer AAA (4-count)
5. Duracell Alkaline 9V
Source: McLane Co.
Cross-Category Opportunity
In a ranking of the top single-item transactions in a c-store, the list was dominated by general merchandise, showing an untapped opportunity for adjacencies. According to recent research by Management Science Associates that examined point-of-sale data at three midsize c-store chains, here are the top 10 categories purchased in a single-item transaction:
1. Automotive products, such as gas cans, fuses and emergency items
2. Telecommunications hardware
3. Antifreeze, coolants and window solvents
4. Family-planning items
5. Maps
6. Transmission/brake fluids
7. Prepaid telecommunications
8. Batteries
9. Milk
10. Coffee and coffee refills
Automotive-Product Trends
C-store sales, 52 weeks ending Dec. 29, 2013
Motor-Oil Trends
C-store dollar sales of motor oil slowed in 2013, growing less than 1%, according to IRI, while unit sales declined 3%. Pennzoil supplied nearly 20% of category dollar sales in 2013.
Motor Oil by Brand | ||||
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA |
| Pennzoil | $104.8 | -0.5% | 17.7 | -3.6% |
| Private label | $47.4 | -0.8% | 10.1 | -2.3% |
| Formula Shell | $35.3 | -2.4% | 7.0 | -7.3% |
| Shell Rotella T | $34.1 | -2.8% | 2.1 | -6.3% |
| Havoline | $29.1 | -3.4% | 5.9 | -5.2% |
| Road Tech | $23.7 | -16.8% | 5.9 | -15.6% |
| Castrol GTX | $16.5 | -21.8% | 2.9 | -24.0% |
| Chevron Supreme | $14.5 | 43.3% | 3.0 | 45.2% |
| Mobil 1 | $14.1 | 31.0% | 1.4 | 24.7% |
| Duplex | $13.8 | -6.0% | 4.2 | -7.6% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $524.2 | 0.8% | 100.6 | -3.0% |
Source: IRI
Automotive-Treatment Trends
C-store dollar sales of automotive treatments increased nearly 8% in 2013, while units declined slightly, according to IRI. Power Service and Howes Lubricator brands both had significant lifts in dollar and unit sales, and they also gained dollar share.
Automotive Treatments by Brand | ||||
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA |
| STP | $59.8 | -2.7% | 15.8 | -3.6% |
| Power Service | $17.7 | 59.6% | 1.5 | 50.4% |
| Lucas | $16.3 | 21.2% | 0.7 | 15.1% |
| Howes Lubricator | $15.8 | 77.0% | 1.0 | 71.7% |
| Gumout | $14.1 | -2.7% | 4.1 | -5.6% |
| Terra Cair | $10.0 | 9.9% | 0.7 | 17.6% |
| Road Tech | $9.5 | -12.9% | 3.0 | -9.6% |
| Private label | $7.5 | 6.7% | 2.0 | 4.4% |
| Autoguard | $5.9 | -3.8% | 1.9 | -3.7% |
| Mag 1 | $5.7 | 1.5% | 1.9 | -3.8% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $237.7 | 7.9% | 49.9 | -0.6% |
Source: IRI
Antifreeze Trends
C-store sales of antifreeze rebounded in 2013, growing more than 5% in dollars and up nearly 4% in units. Peak claimed nearly 40% of the segment’s dollar share, according to IRI.
Antifreeze by Brand | ||||
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA |
| Peak | $50.7 | 3.4% | 4.5 | 1.5% |
| Shell Zone | $8.2 | -18.8% | 0.7 | -22.7% |
| Road Tech | $7.0 | -19.6% | 0.7 | -18.5% |
| STP | $6.9 | 106.8% | 0.6 | 92.3% |
| Polar | $6.0 | 19.5% | 0.5 | 15.8% |
| Pride | $4.7 | -12.0% | 0.4 | -7.8% |
| Final Charge Global | $3.8 | 43.2% | 0.3 | 40.9% |
| Texaco | $3.5 | 1.6% | 0.3 | -0.4% |
| Autoguard | $3.2 | 1.8% | 0.3 | -4.3% |
| Zecol | $2.6 | 144.5% | 0.3 | 155.7% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $124.0 | 5.3% | 10.9 | 3.6% |
Source: IRI
All Other Auto-Fluid Trends
The “all other auto-fluid segment,” a catchall for everything from flat fixers to windshield-washer fluids, saw strong growth in 2013. According to IRI, it was up nearly 26% in dollars and 27% in units, led by growth in the top two brands—Peak and Splash.
All Other Auto-Fluid by Brand | ||||
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA |
| Peak | $21.0 | 35.6% | 6.4 | 29.2% |
| Splash | $15.9 | 61.1% | 5.0 | 53.8% |
| Pennzoil Fix a Flat | $11.2 | -2.1% | 1.3 | -3.2% |
| Camco | $5.3 | 61.6% | 1.7 | 50.6% |
| Private label | $3.9 | 10.8% | 1.3 | 7.3% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $101.7 | 25.7% | 27.8 | 27.0% |
Source: IRI
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