Distributor Data: General Merchandise
Calendar year 2014
Average shipments per store per week of motor oil from McLane in 2014 rose 2.5%. By that same measure, battery shipments grew 4.5%.
Automotive Products
| Segment | APSW** (in dollars) | APSW dollar growth | PCYA* |
| Motor oil | $38.10 | $0.94 | 2.5% |
| Additives | $14.64 | $1.24 | 9.3% |
| Accessories | $14.47 | $0.25 | 1.7% |
| Antifreeze | $12.38 | $0.90 | 7.9% |
| Window solvent | $8.65 | $1.52 | 21.3% |
| Transmission | $2.61 | -$0.18 | -6.5% |
Source: McLane Co.
* Percent change from a year ago
** Average shipments per store per week
Other Products
| Segment | APSW** (in dollars) | APSW dollar growth | PCYA* |
| Batteries | $11.10 | $0.48 | 4.5% |
| Seasonal | $9.82 | $0.87 | 9.7% |
| Telecommunications hardware | $5.85 | $1.43 | 32.2% |
| Miscellaneous | $3.41 | -$0.04 | -1.2% |
| Sunglasses | $3.29 | -$0.78 | -19.3% |
| Wearing | $3.02 | -$0.41 | -11.8% |
| School/office supplies | $1.46 | -$0.01 | -0.6% |
| Gaming/novelty | $0.93 | $0.03 | 3.1% |
| Hardware/tools/electrical | $0.43 | -$0.23 | -33.8% |
| Film/photo | $0.08 | -$0.43 | -84.9% |
Source: McLane Co.
* Percent change from a year ago
** Average shipments per store per week
Battery Trends
Battery Brands
C-store sales, 52 weeks ending Dec. 28, 2014
IRI data shows that c-store sales of batteries continued to slide in 2014, down 7%, with unit sales off more than 9%.
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA* | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA* |
| Duracell Coppertop | $52.3 | -0.3% | 10.2 | -1.5% |
| Energizer Max | $32.8 | -17.9% | 6.3 | -20.0% |
| Private label | $9.4 | 19.2% | 1.9 | 10.1% |
| Rayovac | $6.0 | 18.4% | 2.3 | 0.4% |
| Sony | $4.9 | -2.3% | 1.3 | -5.7% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $116.9 | -7.0% | 25.1 | -9.1% |
Source: IRI
Distributor Data: Batteries by UPC
Calendar year 2014
The top-shipped battery UPC from McLane in 2014 was the four-count Energizer AA alkaline.
1. Energizer AA (4-count)
2. Energizer AAA (4-count)
3. Duracell Alkaline AA (4-count)
4. Duracell Alkaline 9V
5. Energizer 9V
Source: McLane Co.
Category Insight
According to a 2014 analysis of c-store POS data by Management Science Associates, sales of general merchandise were markedly higher on the weekends. According to the research, more than half—or 51%—of general-merchandise sales occurred on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, with Saturday the peak at 19% of sales.
Automotive-Product Trends
C-store sales, 52 weeks ending Dec. 28, 2014
Motor-Oil Brands
C-store dollar sales of motor oil declined in 2014 by 1.6%, and unit sales fell 3.6%. Pennzoil continued to hold on as the top brand.
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA* | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA* |
| Pennzoil | $102.9 | -0.2% | 17.0 | -2.4% |
| Private label | $47.9 | 1.8% | 9.9 | -1.1% |
| Formula Shell | $40.1 | -2.2% | 7.8 | -4.6% |
| Shell Rotella T | $38.2 | 1.8% | 2.4 | 1.4% |
| Chevron Havoline | $27.6 | -10.0% | 5.4 | -11.3% |
| Road Tech | $20.7 | -4.9% | 5.0 | -8.1% |
| Mobil 1 | $20.4 | 12.3% | 1.9 | 10.4% |
| Castrol GTX | $19.6 | -11.0% | 3.3 | -13.1% |
| Chevron Supreme | $17.7 | 1.9% | 3.8 | 0.5% |
| Mobil Delvac | $13.8 | -9.6% | 0.8 | -10.3% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $543.3 | -1.6% | 101.6 | -3.6% |
Source: IRI
Automotive-Treatment Brands
C-store sales of automotive treatments grew in dollars and units in 2014. STP led the category but Power Service saw the greatest growth.
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA* | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA* |
| STP | $62.2 | -1.1% | 16.3 | -1.7% |
| Power Service | $32.0 | 50.0% | 2.6 | 49.7% |
| Howes Lubricator | $24.2 | 35.1% | 1.5 | 33.2% |
| Lucas | $20.4 | 0.8% | 0.8 | -0.6% |
| Peak Blue | $14.9 | NA | 1.1 | NA |
| Gumout | $14.1 | -3.0% | 4.0 | -4.6% |
| Terra Cair | $11.9 | 4.2% | 0.9 | 8.5% |
| Road Tech | $8.1 | -11.2% | 2.5 | -13.9% |
| Private label | $7.7 | 8.0% | 2.0 | 5.1% |
| Mag 1 | $7.2 | 10.1% | 2.4 | 9.6% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $296.1 | 14.4% | 55.2 | 4.8% |
Source: IRI
Antifreeze Brands
Peak had nearly 42% of dollar share in c-store antifreeze sales in 2014. The category saw dollar sales up nearly 7%, according to IRI.
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA* | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA* |
| Peak | $60.1 | 5.8% | 5.3 | 4.8% |
| Shell Zone | $9.3 | 14.7% | 0.8 | 15.1% |
| Polar | $8.3 | 21.1% | 0.7 | 17.7% |
| Road Tech | $6.8 | -4.0% | 0.6 | -6.2% |
| STP | $6.7 | -2.7% | 0.5 | -6.3% |
| Pride | $5.8 | 8.0% | 0.5 | 7.2% |
| Peak Final Charge Global | $5.3 | 39.7% | 0.4 | 32.2% |
| Autoguard | $4.4 | 22.5% | 0.4 | 23.2% |
| Texaco | $3.4 | 5.1% | 0.3 | 6.4% |
| Zecol | $3.1 | 28.0% | 0.3 | 24.2% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $143.4 | 6.7% | 12.2 | 4.5% |
Source: IRI
All Other Auto Fluid Brands
The “all other auto fluid” segment, which includes everything from flat fixers to windshield washer, grew dollar sales more than 9%.
| Brand | C-store sales ($ millions) | PCYA* | Unit sales (millions) | PCYA* |
| Peak | $24.5 | 12.5% | 7.2 | 9.0% |
| Splash | $17.6 | 5.4% | 5.2 | 0.8% |
| Pennzoil Fix a Flat | $11.9 | 2.2% | 1.4 | 0.9% |
| Camco Xtreme Blue | $5.5 | 15.1% | 1.7 | 5.6% |
| Zecol | $5.3 | 52.8% | 1.7 | 50.3% |
| Total (including brands not shown) | $115.8 | 9.3% | 31.2 | 8.0% |
Source: IRI
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