The convenience-store industry is in the middle of a dramatic transformation when it comes to its fresh food programs, Paytronix said.
Eighty-five percent of U.S. shoppers have tried made-to-order food at a c-store, according to the 2026 Paytronix Loyalty Report. And the lines between c-stores and restaurants continue to blur.
There is both opportunity and risk as customers increasingly see c-stores as a viable alternative to quick-service restaurants and turn to c-stores for food instead of fuel.
“The opportunity is higher margins on food versus fuel,” Paytronix said in the report. “The risk is that as electric vehicle adoption accelerates, c-stores dependent on fuel revenue face existential challenges. The brands that win are the ones converting fuel guests into food guests before the transition becomes urgent.”
That’s where loyalty programs come in.
Loyalty programs are the conversion mechanism that turns fuel customers into food buyers, Paytronix said. C-stores can use fuel purchases to trigger bundled rewards, such as frequent fill-ups earning discounts on breakfast sandwiches or free coffee.
“You can create tiered programs where fuel spending unlocks food benefits, then track which guests cross over and which don’t,” Paytronix said in the report. “Target the non-crossover segment with personalized incentives that pull them inside the store.”
Seventy-two percent of shoppers are already in a c-store loyalty program, Paytronix said, and 85% would join if rewards were personalized.
Signing people up is only half the job, though, Paytronix said. The 90-day window after enrollment is where loyalty is either built or lost.
“Concepts that are winning have found ways to make that window feel personal, rewarding and worth returning for, and the data suggests the gap between those programs and everyone else is widening,” Paytronix said.
Newton, Massachusetts-based Paytronix, an Access Group company, is a cloud-based digital guest engagement platform for the hospitality industry. Its platform provides loyalty programs, online ordering, gift cards, branded mobile applications and strategic insights to more than 1,800 restaurants and convenience-store brands.
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