Buc-ee’s tops convenience-store brand equity study

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Buc-ee’s is the top U.S. retailer in dunnhumby’s Convenience Retailer Preference Index (RPI), the customer data services firm’s national brand equity study that examines the approximately $860 billion U.S. convenience-store market.

Buc-ee’s outperformed the other 40 convenience-store chains surveyed, scoring 17 points higher than Sheetz, which ranked second. Wawa, Kwik Trip and Walmart c-stores rounded out the top five convenience retailers with each excelling through distinct strategies focused on quality, affordability, frictionless transactions, visibility and product variety.

The Convenience RPI ranks U.S. C-store banners on their ability to deliver customer loyalty and growth beyond fuel. The retailers ranking in the top 13 (first tercile) include a mix of national and regional operators, as well as traditional c-store operators, chains that are extensions of core grocery chains or traditional gas brands, demonstrating there are multiple pathways to success.

The top 13

1. Buc-ee’s, Lake Jackson, Texas (No. 136 in CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains)
2. Sheetz, Altoona, Pennsylvania (No. 13)
3. Wawa, Wawa, Pennsylvania (No. 10)
4. Kwik Trip, La Crosse, Wisconsin (No. 11)
5. Walmart convenience stores, Bentonville, Arkansas
6. Safeway Express, Pleasanton, California
7. Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh Express, West Des Moines, Iowa (No. 44)
8. 76, Houston (brand owned by Phillips 66)
9. QuikTrip, Tulsa, Oklahoma (No. 9)
10. GetGo (acquired by Alimentation Couche-Tard, Laval, Quebec, No. 2)
11. Casey’s General Stores, Ankeny, Iowa (No. 3)
12. Stewart’s Shops, Ballston Spa, New York (No. 22)
13. United Dairy Farmers (UDF), Cincinnati (No. 49) 

“We're at an inflection point in convenience retail. The stores that are thriving aren't just keeping pace—they're reimagining what matters most to their customers,” said Matt O’Grady, dunnhumby's president of the Americas.

Highlights 

• Top-tier retailers are growing nearly two to three times faster than bottom-tier retailers, and when the c-store industry contracts, the top-tier still manages positive growth.
• Top-tier retailers have adopted three main strategies to be at the top of the rankings: Converting over half of their customers to consider them as a meal destination; outperforming 90% of c-stores in terms of quality of products, food taste and store experience; and maintaining clean, well-organized stores as well as providing core c-store needs such as fuel savings, while delivering affordable products. 
• Frictionless transactions: Easy meal customization, convenient ordering and pickup is the third most important customer perception pillar. This is particularly vital for c-store shoppers who see these stores as meal destinations. Thirty percent of c-store customers say they usually visit a QSR within 30 minutes of leaving a c-store, and the QSR channel has been growing foot traffic for the past three years, while the c-store channel has been flat. C-stores that are meal destinations today have superior meal item variety to QSRs.
• Top-tier c-store retailers have superior personalization engines compared to bottom-tier retailers. They are driving greater app adoption (33% of their customers use their app vs. 19% for bottom-tier), greater loyalty program adoptions (51% vs. 30%): two critical sources of data for delivering a personalized and, therefore, frictionless experience. 
• A tale of two divergent paths emerges between the top-tier and bottom-tier. The top tier is full of c-store chains that are increasingly blurring the lines between traditional c-store, QSR and grocery offerings. In contrast, the bottom tier has been slower to change their established practices. The cost to retailers who do this is clear in this study, dunnhumby said.

The Convenience RPI score is a measure of customer perception of the c-store offering, giving more weight to those dimensions that have a stronger association with sustainable retailer results. The study includes the largest 41 c-store retailers in the industry. The financial data used in the dunnhumby model comes from Flywheel, and it sources the customer perception data from a survey of 10,500 U.S. c-store shoppers. The six drivers of the customer value proposition are quality, affordability, frictionless transactions, visibility, product variety and traditional convenience and speed.

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