Convenience Stores

Industry Profile Report

Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters

Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.

Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.

Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.

Industry Profile Excerpts

Industry Overview

The 85,300 convenience stores in the US sell a limited selection of merchandise in high traffic locations. The majority of convenience stores in the US sell gasoline. Most convenience stores are independent operators – 92% of c-stores have a single location.

Reliance on Fuel Sales

Managing fuel sales is a critical yet risky part of C-store operations.

Rising Credit Card Fees 

The cost of credit/debit fees continues to grow and can exceed the pre-tax profits for a C-store.

Industry size & Structure
Industry Forecast
Convenience Stores Industry Growth
Source: Vertical IQ and Inforum

Recent Developments

Mar 18, 2024 - Payroll Costs Rose in 2023
  • Employment by convenience retailers grew 3% in December compared to a year ago after rising 3.1% in the previous annual comparison, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average wages at grocery and convenience retailers were $17.36 per hour in December, up 5.2% year over year, just pennies shy of their record high in November, per BLS wage data. Rising consumer spending in 2023 helped support higher payroll costs for convenience stores. The industry added to its store count in 2023 ending the year at 152,396 convenience stores across the US, a 1.5% increase from the prior year’s tally, according to the 2024 NACS/NIQ Convenience Industry Store Count.
  • Cigarettes are rapidly losing share of the nicotine market to smokeless alternatives including vape pens and oral nicotine pouches, The Wall Street Journal reports. Cigarettes’ share of the US nicotine industry fell to 60% in 2023, down from 80% in 2018, according to data from the tobacco giant Altria. If the trend continues, it will only take another three years for cigarette share to slip below 50%, according to WSJ. Last year, the number of cigarettes sold in the US declined by about 8%, double the long-term average. The cause of the rapid decline in volume is a source of debate in the tobacco industry. Inflation and price increases may be behind the downward trend. A Goldman Sachs survey of 67,000 US convenience stores and gas stations that sell cigarettes found retailers think recent price increases are causing smokers to look beyond the cigarette category altogether.
  • Average US retail gasoline and diesel prices are forecast to decrease this year and in 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s January 2024 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). The latest STEO forecast is for motor gasoline (regular) to fall from an annual average of $3.52 per gallon in 2023 to $3.36 this year and $3.24 in 2025. Likewise, on-highway diesel prices are forecast to fall from $4.21 last year to $3.92 and $3.85 in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The EIA credits increased inventories, new refinery capacity, and a slight reduction in motor fuel consumption for the declines. Additional refinery capacity came online last year, raising US operable refinery capacity from 18.06 million barrels per day (b/d) in January 2023 to 18.31 million b/d in December 2023.
  • Violence and theft are impacting the convenience store industry at unprecedented levels, Convenience Stores News (CSN) reported in February. According to the FBI, 4.5% of all reported violent crimes in 2022 took place at a gas station or convenience store, and C-stores and gas stations combined were the site of 13.8% of robberies. Moreover, the National Retail Federation's "2023 Retail Securing Survey" reported that the average shrink rate – the percentage loss resulting from the damage, expiration, or theft of unsold products – for the 2022 fiscal year increased by 1.6%, up from 1.4% for the prior fiscal year, representing a loss to the industry of more than $40 million a day.
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