CHICAGO — I walked away from this year’s Convenience Retailing University conference totally energized.
As I talked with category managers about their trials and tribulations, as well as their successes, one thing resonated with me: These retailers do not want to wallow in reports that c-store traffic is down, or that the industry is overly dependent on fuel sales and margins. Instead, they are focused on selling more stuff in their categories and beyond.
These retailers want to be the best—but they also want to blow past the storyline that competition from outside the industry is eating their lunch. Don’t compare me to everyone else, they seem to say. Compare me to me.
This special April issue of CSP is aimed squarely at those folks. In the pages here, you’ll find data and insights capturing the past year in c-store sales for major in-store product categories. With this information, retailers can understand macro trends and how they apply to local consumers so they can improve sales compared to the year before.
For the first time, we’ve included data on sales of cannabidiol (CBD) products, including the top-selling brands in c-stores, other retail channels and dispensaries. Through CSP’s exclusive partnership with IRI and BDS Analytics, a provider of cannabis dispensary market research, this is a first-ever look at full-year sales data in this new and budding category.
This issue also spotlights CSP’s 2020 Category Manager of the Year award winners and their takes on the biggest opportunities and issues facing their respective categories.
Enjoy the insights, and let me know what else we can provide to help you accomplish your goals for the coming year and beyond.
Steve Holtz is the Content Director for Winsight's convenience retail group CSP. He has been covering the convenience-store industry for two decades. Contact him at sholtz@winsightmedia.com.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.