ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NACS continues to add an exciting line-up of speakers at the upcoming NACS State of the Industry Summit, taking place April 4-6 just outside of Chicago.

Nielsen consultant Todd Hale will look at the current retail and shopper landscape as the convergence of digital, mobile and brick-and-mortar collides with the new realities of todays’ shoppers. He will use this new developing landscape to examine sales/demand in and out of convenience stores. Hale will also provide insight into the future of retailing and how the convenience store industry must evolve strategically to expand its winning formula.

Andy Jones, president and CEO of Sprint Food Stores Inc., will present the industry category and subcategory trends within merchandising and foodservice. Jones will focus on convenience format insights using the newly released NACS State of the Industry survey data and selected insights from the NACS Convenience Tracking Program. Purchase decision-making undergoes constant change, and Jones will focus on the forces driving the individual categories as well as putting a contextual lens on how the key categories performed in 2016. 

SOI Summit attendees will also have the option to select from six focused breakout sessions on April 5 that examine financial, operational and category metrics by region. Each session will feature a panel of retailers and suppliers providing powerful insights that are targeted for that region of the country. By expanding the breakouts, NACS will be able to focus on one region per session, and the addition of a second track will enable retailers to view data from regions specific to their store portfolio.

Prior to the breakout sessions, SOI Summit attendees will hear from a slate of expert speakers both from within and outside of the industry, including Dr. David Nelson and RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. President Billy Milam. And, new to the SOI Summit stage, Dr. Oliver Schlake, will focus on what the collision of technology and consumer trends means for convenience retailers, and how to prepare for an uncertain future.

NACS also needs your help to grow the NACS/CSX industry database, which powers the data presented at the NACS SOI Summit—the more information we have, the better the benchmarks for the industry! Your data is kept strictly confidential. For questions about the annual NACS State of the Industry survey process, contact Bob Swanson, NACS director of research and statistics, at (703) 518-4219, or email rswanson@nacsonline.com.

Held over two days, the NACS State of the Industry Summit brings together top-ranked business professors, economists and convenience store retailers to help break down the newest consumer, financial and operational numbers as they relate to your business—all live from the stage. See who’s already planning to join us for this year’s event and register today.