Behind the cooler doors in convenience stores are some of the hottest products in the industry. Whether they are sports drinks, bottled water, soothing herbal teas, Chai teas, iced cappuccinos or nutrient-enhanced New Age beverages, single-serve drinks are more popular than ever -- and convenience stores are known for their single-serve sales. (Unless otherwise indicated, all statistics are from the NACS 2006 State of the Industry report).
Convenience store industry trends:
- Iced teas, sports drinks, bottled water and alternative beverages all saw increased sales in convenience stores in 2005.
- On average, per-store sales for noncarbonated beverages were $71,958 in 2005, roughly equal to the per-store sales of soft drinks ($72,131).
Bottled water:
- An estimated one out of every five bottles of water sold in the country is purchased in a convenience store.
- Bottled water sales are projected to increase 110 percent between 2002 and 2007 (Source: Beverage Marketing Corp.).
- Bottled water is the second-most-popular packaged non-carbonated beverage sold in convenience stores, with 2005 sales of $2.5 billion.
- Flavored waters have emerged as a big trend in the category.
- The portability of PET packaging has been a major factor in the growth of the category that did not exist 20 years ago.
Sports drinks:
- Convenience stores/down-the-street stores lead all retail channels in sales of sports drinks (acounting for 44 percent of total sports drink sales in 2004), outpacing supermarkets (26 percent), mass merchandisers (11 percent) and drug stores (6 percent), mass merchandisers (11 percent). The remaining 13 percent was sold at club stores, vending and foodservice outlets (Source: Beverage Marketing Corporation).
- Total sales of sports drinks in convenience stores topped $1 billion for the first time in 1999, and reached $1.3 billion in 2005.
- Per-store sales in convenience stores of sports drinks/isotonics were $9,121 in 2005.
Juices/Juice drinks:
- Juice/juice drink sales in convenience stores in 2005 were $2.7 billion, averaging $19,178 per store.
- Orange juice is the most popular juice (54 percent of total juice sales), followed by cranberry juice/cocktail (15 percent), apple juice and cider (12 percent), juice blends (10 percent) and grapefruit juice/cocktail (5 percent) (Source: Information Resources, Inc.).
Alternative beverages:
- Alternative beverage sales in convenience stores continue to grow. In 2005 convenience stores sold $2.3 billion in alternative beverages -- $16,657 per store.
Iced teas:
- Sales of ready-to-drink iced teas in convenience stores were $715 million in 2005.