ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NACS has released the industry’s most comprehensive collection of firm-level, store-level and category data and trends based on the convenience store industry’s 2006 performance in the new 2007 NACS State of the Industry report.
Examining totals, trends and averages for the industry, the 108-page report features more than 100 charts and tables focusing on every area of the industry’s 2006 performance, including financials, store operations, merchandising, motor fuels sales and quartile analysis. The report also features a three-year perspective of same-firm data from the CSX retail database. NACS acquired CSX LLC earlier this year.
“Retailers who want to improve their operations and communicate the industry’s perspectives on motor fuels sales and other industry trends rely on the information contained in the annual State of the Industry report,” said NACS Director of Research and Statistics Bob Swanson, noting that retailers use the report as a resource for benchmarking store performance.
According to the 2007 report, convenience store sales hit new highs in 2006, climbing 15 percent to reach a record $569.4 billion. Inside the store, revenues grew 8.3 percent to reach $163.6 billion, with merchandise revenues increasing 8.7 percent to hit $144.8 billion and foodservice revenues growing 5 percent to reach $18.8 billion. On a per-store basis, combined in-store sales surpassed hit a record $1.14 million per store.
While revenues increased, so did expenses. Credit card fees continued to burden retailers in 2006, costing the industry $6.6 billion – a staggering 22.2 percent increase over the $5.4 billion in card fees in 2005, according to the report.
The 2007 NACS State of the Industry report also reveals that customers continue to purchase the vast majority of gasoline at convenience stores – more than 80 percent of all fuel purchased in the United States – and inside the store, the top 10 categories combined accounted for more than 88 percent of all in-store sales.
Complimentary copies of this year’s report have been shipped to companies that participated in the annual survey. “We are extremely grateful to those who submitted data for this year’s survey. Not only does the State of the Industry report serve as the industry’s premier benchmarking tool, the industry numbers compiled are critical to our outreach efforts in quantifying the industry and its priority issues, whether on Capitol Hill or in the local newspaper,” said Swanson.
The 2007 report features a number of additional research supplements:
- CSX Same Firm Trends for 2004-2006: Data from 84 firms with 3,626 company-operated stores to facilitate “apples to apples” comparisons for benchmarking.
- Same-Store Trends: A sample group of 507 stores, selected to be representative of the industry, are part of a NACS Index Group that tracks same-store data and comparisons for 2005 and 2006.
- Technology: A total of 209 companies, representing 18,239 stores, provided data on key technology metrics in more than a dozen categories, including capital investments, scanning, payment methods and wireless technology.
- Motor Fuels: An update on sales and new realities confronting motor fuels retailing.
Purchasers of the State of the Industry report will also receive the NACS Convenience Store Industry Fact Book CD-ROM. The 20th edition of the Fact Book provides a detailed statistical account of industry data over the past several years – or in some cases, decades – as well as a historical recap of the industry and key definitions and events that have shaped it. The Fact Book will be shipped in September.
To order the 2007 NACS State of the Industry report/Convenience Store Industry Fact Book CD-ROM package, visit www.nacsonline.com or call NACS Customer Service at (800) 966-6227.
The 2007 NACS State of the Industry report and the Convenience Store Industry Fact Book CD-ROM are available to NACS member companies (order number 40022025) for $150 ($500 regular price). Additional copies of the SOI report/Fact Book (order number 40022026) are available to NACS members for $30 ($150 regular price).