Cigarette sales declined 3.3% year-over-year in the convenience-store channel when comparing results from 2022 to 2023, according to the Tracking Convenience Report by PDI Technologies and GasBuddy released this month.
Despite cigarettes experiencing a decrease in sales, the other tobacco category saw a 0.3% increase, the report said.
Independent Insights
Compared to chain retailers, independent stores experienced different year-over-year category sales from 2022 to 2023, with cigarette sales down 1.5% and other tobacco category down 1.4%. This reflects a growing trend of smokers considering wholesale purchasing options or downtrading from premium brands to mid-level or economy brands to save money, PDI said.
“Cigarette consumers tend to be more efficiency-focused than inspirational shoppers and CPG brands and retailers alike should carefully examine how premium pricing for cigarettes could erode overall sales or push consumers to alternative options,” the report said.
Age Verification
In March, PDI announced its new GasBuddy app offers, which leverages the technology company’s age verification capabilities for brands targeting 21+ consumers.
“We know that today, around 80% of nicotine product sales occur within the c-store, and this development of age- and identity-verified offers through GasBuddy underscores the importance of effectively, efficiently and responsibly marketing to one of the largest product categories in the convenience channel,” said Jamie Hudson, senior vice president of partner development at PDI.
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