Skupos Data Update: Week of April 5

SAN FRANCISCO — In-store and fuel purchases continued to decline in convenience stores during the first week of April, but at a substantially slower rate than the previous month. Meanwhile, beer sales have moderated and diesel fuel sales declined by double digits, according to the latest data from analytics firm Skupos.

"Over the past four weeks, data suggests that increasing numbers of consumers have opted to include convenience stores when considering where to purchase goods," the company said in its latest blog post. "This indicates that although revenue is down, stores have the opportunity to expand their customer base and sustain that new base once stay-at-home orders are lifted."

With COVID-19’s drastic effect on the market, Skupos continues to monitor data trends in the c-store industry. Here are a few insights from the week ending April 5 ...

For the week ending April 5, weekly revenue for in-store purchases and fuel dropped 3% and 6.5%, respectively. "Compared to percentage changes from the month of March, which decreased an average of 6.5% for in-store and 14.5% for fuel per week, we’re seeing revenues begin to stabilize in April, with smaller percentage change rates each week," Skupos said.

After a decline in beer sales throughout February, weekly beer revenue has slowly worked its way back up to pre-coronavirus figures. "Although overall store revenue has dipped, beer revenue has held steady, creating a more stable category for stores during this time," Skupos said.

As of April 5, national diesel fuel consumption had decreased by an average of 26.8% since January. "Restaurant closures and changes in customer spending have impacted the transportation and shipping industry, with trickle-down effects seen in diesel consumption," Skupos said. "When shelter-in-place orders are lifted, we expect to see demand bounce back."

Here's a regional breakdown:

• West: -34.3%
• Midwest: -23.9%
• Great Lakes: -19.57%
• Northeast: -30.6%
• South Central: -25.2%
• Southeast: -21.7%

San Francisco-based Skupos drives revenue growth and operational efficiency across all segments of the retail industry through the collection of billions of transactions every year. More than 13,000 customers across the United States rely on Skupos’ platform to provide actionable insights that enable brands, distributors and retailers to increase sales volume and employee productivity.