Hispanic consumers are starting to pull back on c-store visits.
This insight comes from Boris Oglesby, executive vice president and practice leader of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at Chicago market research firm Circana.
“The dynamic there is very real, including in the tobacco and alcohol beverage categories,” said Oglesby, who spoke Sept. 15 at CSP’s Tobacco Plus Forum in Schaumburg, Illinois. “We have connections with distributors who distribute products along the borders and they have seen a market decrease in sales.”
Oglesby explained that Hispanics are not going out as much, including visiting their local convenience stores.
“You used to see a lot of Hispanics in convenience stores,” Oglesby said. “Hispanic consumers have told us they’re not going out as much and the gap between Hispanic c-store traffic and non-Hispanic c-store traffic has really closed.”
Job and immigration fears are leading to shifts in shopping habits, Oglesby said.
“There is a real fear that they’re going to get snatched up and sent somewhere,” he said. “Hispanic consumers are favoring large-format stores for lower prices and a greater sense of anonymity,”
Despite Hispanic households accounting for 15% of consumer spending, growth has stalled, according to Chicago-based Numerator. The data and tech company in the market research space on Sept. 15 issued a report, The State of Hispanic Spending, that combines verified purchase data from Numerator’s Total Commerce Panel and a Verified Voices survey of more than 1,600 U.S. consumers. The findings reveal growing financial caution among Hispanic consumers, driven by ongoing economic pressures and uncertainty.
While rising prices topped concerns for all consumers, Hispanic consumers ranked immigration and public safety notably higher than the general U.S. population.
The leading issues identified by Hispanic consumers were rising prices (40% of respondents), immigration policy and issues (30%), financial security/personal debt (24%), public safety and crime (23%) and health (22%), according to the Verified Voices Consumer Survey Findings in the report.
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