LAS VEGAS – Beginning with a skit involving college students who personified key reasons why teens shop – or don't shop – convenience stores, attendees at the NACS Show session "The Inside Track to Successfully Marketing to Teens," heard compelling reasons why retailers must target the teen customer to grow their businesses.

Wawa CEO Howard Stoeckel commented that as the industry's core customer retires, retailers "need to develop a new generation of consumers."

Stoeckel kicked off the session by sharing the findings and discussing the validation of the Convenience Teen study developed by the NACS/Coca-Cola Leadership Council.

From Wawa's perspective, the company sought to validate the findings as to what would resonate with its customers. Among the findings: teens expect you to sell gasoline; freshness and visibility for food and its preparation are paramount; and customers love no-fee ATMs. Interestingly, for cleanliness, there was a gender gap: males noticed dirtiness ("We don't like sticking to the floor") while women notice cleanliness.

The Parker Companies also sought to validate the study's findings with a focus group of college students from Georgia Southern University, several of whom appeared in the opening skit.

Many of the findings echoed those of Wawa, noted session speaker and NACS Board member Greg Parker, president of The Parker Companies in Savannah, Georgia. But there were other study findings of note.

Teens "love, love, love chewable ice," said Parker, adding that cleanliness is also important. However, he noted the irony: "Their cars are awful, their rooms are awful, but guess what – they're germophobic."

Echoing Sonja Hubbard's comments from the Tuesday session, "Industry Leaders Roundtable: Presented by NACS Magazine," Parker stressed that you need to anticipate customer demand. "You want to arrive at the solution at the same time the customer arrives at their needs."

Takeaways abounded in the session, and they were neatly summarized by Travis Sheetz, vice president at Sheetz Inc. in Altoona, Pennsylvania, who presented a top 10 list, divided into categories, with numbers 10 through 6 applicable to all retailers, and the top five applicable only for the truly committed:

10. Make restrooms appealing.
9. Don't run out of regular items. "They're not looking for any item; they're looking for their brand," said Sheetz.
8. Make it easy for teens to find things they're looking for. "They're multi-tasking – put it in their faces."
7. Maintain a steady stream of new products. "Teens are early adopters; don't underestimate their power on pop culture."
6. Treat teen customers like you want to keep them for a lifetime. "This means be nice to them" and not treating them as a potential thief.
5. Give teens something for nothing. "They've grown up expecting rewards for participating, not winning."
4. Give teens control of their ordering. "The life of a teenager is customized" with ring tones, iPod mixes, etc. "Put the ordering in their control" and "provide a perfect mix of style and functionality."
3. Give teens something at your store to talk about. "They will tell their friends about good and bad experiences," both in person and online.
2. Set up product tastings at teen events and in their spaces. "We need to bring out brands to them."
1. Give teens a compelling reason to shop at your store. "Teens don't consider convenience stores the only place to get convenience," citing competition from drug stores and other channels.

Ultimately, noted Sheetz, retailers need to stay true to their offer, then figure out how to appeal to teens.

Log on to the NACS/Coca-Cola Leadership Council Wed site and click on the "NCCLC" tab to read more about the study's findings.

The NACS Show 2007 will take place November 6 to 9 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.