Convenience Store News Industry Report 2024: A Trying Year

Heading into 2023, inflation, the ongoing labor shortage and motor fuel prices had convenience store retailers worried about their business prospects for the year ahead. It turns out they had cause for concern.

After hitting record-high sales in 2022, total U.S. convenience store sales declined 4.7% in 2023, going from $814 billion to $775.5 billion, according to the 2024 Convenience Store News Industry Report, the longest-running annual analysis of U.S. c-store industry performance. 

For the third consecutive year, in-store sales at U.S. convenience stores hit a new high of $287.7 billion last year, up 4.5% over the prior year. Much of that increase, however, was due to inflation pushing product prices higher throughout 2023. The consumer price index, which measures price changes over time, was 5.7% for the year, down slightly from 6.5% in 2022. 

In-store sales growth also came from a 1.5% increase in the industry’s store count, which now stands at 152,396 locations. Chains account for 39.8%, while single stores comprise 60.2%. The number of industry locations operated by chains rose 1.4% year over year, while the number of stores operated by single-store operators ticked up by 1.5%. 

The chief contributor to the overall sales decline was motor fuels. Fuel volume grew slightly, with gallons up 1.4% for the year. But lower gas prices drove the industry’s 2023 fuel revenue to decrease by 9.4%, going from $538.7 billion to $487.8 billion. 

As a result, the convenience store industry’s sales mix for 2023 still skewed more toward motor fuels, but in-store sales captured a larger slice of the pie than a year ago. In-store comprised 37.1%, up from 33.8% in 2022. Fuel comprised 62.9%, down from 66.2%. 

Click below to download the full 2024 Convenience Store News Industry Report.