Convenience stores are the biggest driver of sales in alcohol beverages in the U.S., representing the largest percentage of sales, 43.3%, in 2025’s first quarter.
This insight comes from Jason Zelinski, vice president of convenience and growth accounts at Chicago-based NielsenIQ, speaking Wednesday at CSP’s Cold Vault Forum in Lombard, Illinois.
In alcohol beverage dollar growth, convenience stores are the only channel among four to see gains over the last year, he added.
In the 52 weeks ending April 19, according to NielsenIQ:
- Convenience channel: Up 0.8%
- Liquor open state: Down 1.2%
- Grocery: Down 1.5%
- Mass merchandiser, dollar, club, drug, military and others: Down 2.2%
Meanwhile, in sales, the 43.3% of beer sales at convenience stores is part of a steady year-over-year gain since 2021, when it was 40.4%.
“Shoppers are time starved and purchasing in close proximity to consumption, thus driving channel choice varying across categories,” Zelinski said in looking at where consumers shop.
Talking about the differences in how categories sell, Zelinski said that beer tends to be a mix between, “I am going to drink it within the next two hours or I'm going to drink it within the next two days,” he said.
When the intent is to consume beer in the next two hours, “That’s where the convenience store really plays their part,” he said. “And that does skew a little bit younger.”
However, he said, the purchase of spirits and wine is more of a longer-term plan.
“And in that respect, that’s where liquor stores and grocery stores—it gets on a shopping list, which is why they have more share of the product,” he said. “And then when we think about RTDs [ready-to-drink cocktails], that is skewing a lot more toward ‘I want to drink it now,’ and this is going to have some implications when we think about THC beverages and how consumers are thinking about those, but it is more about ‘I want to drink it now’ so, therefore, convenience is getting more share than the other channels.”
These intentions can be seen in NielsenIQ numbers that Zelinski shared.
In channel dollar share by category, c-stores lead in the beer (46%) and ready-to-drink cocktail (43%) categories, while liquor stores (66%) lead in the spirits category and grocery stores (43%) lead in wine. C-stores are 9% of dollar sales in spirits and 5% in wine.
Despite some of the strong c-store numbers above, when consumers were asked which channel—liquor, grocery or convenience store—is best for buying products by type, c-stores placed last in each of these four channels: beer, spirits, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails.
“The convenience channel has limited space and can lack depth of selection, impacting shopper expectations,” Zelinski said.
According to NielsenIQ data, 9% said c-stores are the best location to buy beer, versus 22% saying liquor stores and 25% grocery. Only 3% said c-stores are best for buying spirits, versus 54% for liquor stores and 9% grocery. While 29% said liquor stores are best for buying wine and 21% chose grocery, just 2% selected c-stores. Finally, 28% said liquor stores are best for buying ready-to-drink cocktails, 18% said grocery and 10% c-stores.
“It’s not all about price,” Zelinski said, regarding factors important to consumers when choosing a retailer for their alcohol beverage trips. “Convenience shoppers have many considerations in mind when choosing a store.” He added that shoppers value c-stores for their location, friction-free shopping and cold box.
Shoppers are time starved and have somewhere to be, he said, with a corresponding slide showing what drives shoppers to different channels when buying alcohol:
In addition, the convenience channel is a one that supports repeat purchase and cold-box space, Zelinski said, adding that c-store popularity is driven by same-day consumption. He cited NielsenIQ data showing c-stores solidly outpacing total U.S. sales:
- Hard seltzer: 69% total U.S. sales versus 96% at c-stores
- Super premium beer: 70% versus 95%
- Below premium beer: 75% versus 95%
- Premium beer: 62% versus 90%
- Flavored malt beverage: 74% versus 89%
- Import beer: 69% versus 86%
- Craft beer: 61% versus 86%
- Hard cider: 72% versus 85%
- Non-alcoholic beer: 74% versus 81%
“The convenience cold-box space for beer categories should balance sales revenue with consumer same-day consumption,” Zelinski said.
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