Word of advice to convenience retailers regarding packaged beverages: Sharpen your online shopping and ordering capabilities because ecommerce is the latest retail player to threaten your dollar and unit share.
Sharpening means not simply offering online shopping and delivery but making it as convenient and focused on value as possible.
Non-convenience store-centric ecommerce—from third-party providers to big box retailers such as Walmart—are cultivating their offer to provide convenience via easier search and value via competitive price points, said Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief advisor of consumer goods and foodservice insights for Chicago-based Circana.
Walmart’s Sparky AI Shopping Assistant, for example, is just one solution that helps guests find favorite items, synthesize reviews and make informed purchases with confidence.
“Consumers trust ecommerce more as the walls are breaking down and people feel they can zero in on purchases,” said Lyons Wyatt. “Delivery fees have often been waived. Ecommerce can’t offer the impulse advantages c-stores do…and when people are out and about, they’ll stop at c-stores.” But ecommerce remains a viable threat nonetheless.
C-store vulnerability to ecommerce is a direct shot to categories that include packaged beverages. In 2023, U.S. convenience enjoyed solid dollar sales for packaged drinks but lost those gains to more price-friendly and value-oriented club, mass and ecommerce channels.
Packaged beverages registered flat dollar share for total U.S. c-store in 2025, losing 0.04%, with winners being sports drink mixes at 96% dollar hike (bottled sports drinks fell less than 1%) and energy drinks, growing 10.1% for the 52-week period ending Dec. 28, 2025, according to Circana.
The flat performance is actually “a plus because the channel didn’t bleed share (like the year prior),” said Lyons Wyatt. “C-stores are higher priced, but still vital, particularly for singles, and they have impulse as a strength.”
Losers across the broad category were packaged beer (2.2% dollar loss) and wine (4.2%) on the adult side, according to Circana.
On the non-adult side, bottled water and carbonated soft drinks logged 1.3% dollar growth for the former to zero growth for the latter. Bottled water was a tale of two narratives: seltzer/sparkling/mineral grew double digits for both flavored and non-flavored while traditional still bottled water fell 2%, according to Circana.
Adult segments saw canned, ready-to-drink cocktails excel, with dollars up 57.6%. Total packaged spirits expanded dollars 13.5%. For beer, the domestic segment fell 2.9%, with domestic super-premium gaining 2.9% dollars, said Circana. Non-alcoholic beer led the pack with robust growth of 31.5%.
To Seth Carter, category manager of packaged beverage for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based OnCue Express, a conundrum of new and vibrant introductions but a premium on in-store space has led to hard category management decisions.
“I rely on a 50/50 blend of volume and dollars when decisions are close. I evaluate item performance at both the market and store level, comparing SKUs within their subcategory and against the overall category,” said Carter. “This ensures we’re balancing breadth, productivity and local relevance.”
At OnCue Express, which owns and operates 75 stores, subcategory spacing is determined through a collaborative, data-driven reset process that allows customer demand to guide decisions, said Carter. “I review performance monthly, quarterly and annually using each cadence to make informed adjustments while avoiding reactionary changes.”
- OnCue is No. 99 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
OnCue Express believes in giving “innovation a fair chance.” New items receive a minimum trial window of 13 weeks, with a preferred evaluation period closer to 26 weeks. “Resets are early in the year, where we take a hard look at velocity and dollars by subcategory, brand and SKU,” he said.
A snapshot of the packaged beverage category in convenience reveals a mixed bag of performance narratives.
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