Fact Sheets
Facts and figures about the industry and its top-selling products and services.
The U.S. convenience store industry has 144,000-plus stores that account for more than $624 billion in sales. Here are more details.
-
Convenience Stores Offer More Convenience: Convenience stores offer speed of service to time-starved consumers who want to get in and out of the store quickly. These shoppers recognize this channel of trade for its convenient locations, extended hours of operation, one-stop shopping, grab-and-go foodservice, variety of merchandise and fast transactions.
-
U.S. Convenience Store Count: The number of convenience stores is 144,541 as of December 31, 2009, a decrease 0.2 percent. This is the second straight year the count has declined and only the fourth time in the last 15 years that the industry’s store count has declined. The count also declined in 1994, 2003 and 2008.
Convenience stores sell approximately 80 percent of the gasoline purchased in the United States each year.
-
Motor Fuel Sales: Convenience stores sell the majority of gasoline purchased in the country — more than 80 percent of all fuel sold in the United States in 2008. Of the 144,875 convenience stores in the United States, 114,673 sell motor fuels (79 percent).
-
Gasoline Myths... and Facts: Any time consumers face higher gasoline prices, conspiracy theories and urban legends are sure to follow and proliferate, especially via e-mail. Here are a few of the more common myths – and the actual facts -- about gasoline – with the debunking courtesy of the popular site that examines urban legends, Snopes.com.
-
Gasoline Theft: When gas prices increase, many gasoline retailers report an increase in gasoline theft, or "drive-offs."
-
Hypermarkets Entering Petroleum Marketing: "Hypermarkets" -- the term collectively refers to the group of mass retailers that includes supermarkets, discount retailers, and warehouse clubs -- are increasingly entering the market to sell motor fuels.
The industry has a number of critical issues, including outrageous credit card fees, gasoline retailing misperceptions, debit card holds and more.
-
Credit Card Fees a Growing Challenge for Convenience Stores: While convenience stores sought to rein in most of their expenses in 2008, a significant expense continued to grow: credit/debit card fees. In 2008, these fees again surpassed industry pretax profits, and are expected to grow even more in the coming years.
-
Debit Holds for Fuels Purchases: As gas prices and the use of plastic at the pump have increased, consumers are increasingly concerned about the debit "holds" on their accounts.
-
Foodservice at Convenience Stores: While convenience stores have offered fresh, prepared foods for years, it is only over the last decade that the trend has accelerated. The result is that convenience stores have continued to evolve from gas stations that happen to sell food to restaurants that happen to sell gas.
-
Youth Access to Tobacco: Sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products to adults are important to the economic viability of the convenience store industry, making up 36.6 percent of in-store sales in 2008. Therefore, the convenience and petroleum retailing industry works hard to ensure tobacco products are kept out of the hands of minors.
Facts and trends about the top in-store merchandise categories and services of the convenience and petroleum retailing industry.
-
Beer Sales: Nearly 80 percent of convenience stores sell beer, accounting for nearly one-third of all beer purchased in the United States, about 93 percent of which is sold cold. In fact, the U.S. convenience store industry sells more than 2 billion gallons of beer a year – roughly one-third of all the beer purchased in the Unites States.
-
Candy Sales: Candy is a high-impulse item in convenience stores. In fact, many shoppers (49 percent) report that their candy purchases were unplanned, according to global research firm Envirosell.
-
Coffee Sales: More than three out of four adult Americans say that they drink coffee either daily or regularly, according to the National Coffee Association, and convenience stores are one of the preferred destinations for coffee drinkers. Consumers stop to buy coffee more than they fill up their cars, providing convenience stores with a great opportunity to build loyalty and repeat sales.
-
Technology: The integration of technology into convenience stores continues at a fast pace. Over the past decade, the convenience store industry has gone from being a technology laggard to a technology leader in using new technologies to deliver convenience.