For Nick, it’s a morning ritual: a medium coffee at his favorite northern New Jersey convenience store.
On this overcast day in early April, Nick grabs a seat with his buddies and the three start analyzing last night’s NCAA final between Duke and Wisconsin.
What is an ordinary conversation for these sports junkies is extraordinary for the convenience-store industry.
A few years ago, CSP partnered with VideoMining to delve into the habits of c-store shoppers. In addition to gleaning more about the consumer’s in-store movements and behaviors, the study gave us insight into the critically important speed of transaction.
The big number: 121. That’s how many seconds the typical customer spent in the store, from entering the building to fiinalizing the transaction. Fast, quick, efficient: Everything was about speed.
But a new movement is afoot. It lacks bullhorns or open demonstrations. Yet it is nonetheless extraordinary and necessary if we as an industry are to grow and grab share from the channels against which we compete.
We at CSP have coined a term for this phenomenon. We call it “stay awhile.”
From single-store operators to some of the industry’s most-respected chains, retailers are adding cushioned seats, tables, fireplaces, free Wi-Fi and other items that encourage our customer to linger. Our comprehensive cover story by Melissa Vonder Haar, Samantha Oller and Angel Abcede delves into the multiple factors driving this metamorphosis.
Our story, frankly, emerged almost by accident, in the best of ways. The editorial team was brainstorming. Every month, we debate and discuss ideas for the magazine. The most passionate, not surprisingly, come to the fore when we get to the cover story. In this particular discussion, great ideas were rampant: the rise of single-person households, the expansion of foodservice into a culinary destination, the increasing ubiquity of Wi-Fi in stores.
Like a skilled photographer, we pulled back the lens to see the panorama of ideas. Were they separate, or did they have something in common?
The answer was clear: There was a bigger story, much bigger. Something is changing, whether in a constricting 1,600-square-foot box or a vast 5,000-square-foot footprint. We are bifurcating our stores into two zones: impulse and customized.
We are responding to customers’ desires to customize their fountain drinks and their coffees and empowering them to build their own sandwiches and choose their own pizza toppings. In short, we are welcoming the DIY generation.
There is a practical reality. If I’m going to customize my sandwich or beverage, I’m not concerned about getting to the checkout line in 1 minute. And if I’m comfortable trusting a store’s food, I’m implicitly suggesting something far more profound: loyalty.
Food is intimate. It is about cravings, satisfaction and, of course, necessity. It tells me that you are more than just a seller of products.
You are the creator. You are the maker of the coffee I drink in the morning, the sandwich I enjoy for lunch and the soup that warms me over dinner.
When you pull back from the myriad details, logistics and spreadsheets of must-dos, you realize that what is happening in our industry is a most radical change in the most evolutionary of ways. We are transforming our business model in a way that will have QSRs shaking and casual dining shuddering.
I remember Terry Marks, the former president of The Pantry who came from the world of Coca-Cola, saying that the convenience channel had an extraordinary advantage if only it realized it.
You don’t go into a McDonald’s or Starbucks, he said, and walk out with a half-gallon of milk, a snack, cough medicine and pack of cigarettes. Imagine if we could master fresh foodservice while servicing traditional impulse needs.
Such thinking goes back even further. ExxonMobil’s On the Run concept separated food from convenience fare. True, the concept reflected foodservice in its absolute infancy, and the design continued to underscore speed. But in many ways, it was a forerunner for much more sophisticated styles being unveiled by operators such as RaceTrac, NOCO and Wawa.
We are telling customers they can have it their way. You want the 2-minute get in, get out? No problem. But if you want to build a sandwich and fountain drink, hang out for awhile and check your emails or text your friends? Cool.
The notion of staying awhile will not jibe with every c-store or every market. There’s still room for the traditional convenience store. But such will not earn you loyalty and fidelity. Rather, yours will be a store of utility.
The great stores of tomorrow are rising today. They are the stores not merely of habit, but of love—the place where I must go, I need to go. It is the store that says to me: stay awhile.
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