Convenience-store customers are increasing their demand for higher grades of gasoline, according to retail technology company Upside, Washington, D.C.
From 2023 to 2024, the average station sold 2.5% more gallons of premium and 1.6% more gallons of midgrade gasoline. The data is from over 22,000 of Upside’s partner fuel stations in the U.S. open from December 2022 through December 2024.
- Read more about in-store customer data here.
“More customers are choosing premium and midgrade gasoline despite their higher price,” said Thomas Weinandy, senior research economist at Upside. “This is a bright spot for stations because those types of fuel tend to be more profitable.”
Weinandy said that he thinks it is highly unlikely that U.S. gasoline demand will ever return to its 2019 peak.
“Each day consumers are trading in their older vehicles for more fuel-efficient alternatives,” he said. “This represents long-term trends that will force gas stations to find new ways to remain profitable.”
When it comes to the most popular grade of fuel in the forecourt, regular is at the top, Upside finds.
“Regular still remains the most popular grade of fuel, making up about three out of every four gallons sold for a gas station (73.1%),” Upside said.
“More customers are choosing premium and midgrade gasoline despite their higher price.” —Thomas Weinandy, Upside
Demand for diesel, which Upside said fluctuates widely throughout the year, saw volume sales per site drop 1.1% from 2023 to 2024.
“Diesel represents 5.8% of the transactions at a typical station; however, due to larger fill-ups, diesel also represents an average 11.7% of the volume sold,” Upside said.
When it comes to the fuel retail business, “higher demand for premium and midgrade fuel boosted station performance at a time when every gallon counts,” Weinandy said.
“Sites not selling these grades missed out last year, but given the high cost to reconfigure dispensers, many businesses will rightly choose to maintain their current fuel offerings.”
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for Dallas-based GasBuddy, which was acquired by Alpharetta, Georgia-based PDI Technologies in 2021, tells CSP that while he hasn’t seen any “seismic shifts” in the fuels Americans are buying, work-from-home flexibilities stemming from the pandemic have continued to lead to “softer-than-normal” demand during the morning and evening commutes.
“But the long-term trend shows Americans buying more premium gasoline than decades prior, as auto manufacturers build more efficient engines that can benefit from higher octane, leading the differentials between premium gasoline and regular at the highest levels we’ve ever seen,” he said.
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