Convenience Store Visits Continue Monthly Uptick Trend
LOS ALTOS, Calif. — Convenience stores have continued to maintain steady sales growth throughout 2024, with customers' changing retail preferences and perceptions toward the silo driving much of their traffic.
Convenience stores are increasingly viewed not only as places to fuel up, but as affordable destinations for quick meals, snacks and other necessities, according to new data from Placer.ai.
Despite lapping a strong 2023 in the first half of the year, visits to the channel either exceed last year's levels or held steady during all but one of the first eight months of 2024. Only in January did c-stores see a slight dip, likely reflecting a weather-induced exaggeration of the segment's normal seasonality, with foot traffic tending to peak during the summer and slowing during the winter.
Placer.ai also found regional chains like Wawa Inc., Buc-ee's and Sheetz Inc. benefiting from the industry's popularity, with the chains expanding outside of their traditional operating territories in recent years. Between January and August, year-over-year visits to Wawa were mostly elevated, while Buc-ee's outpaced its already-strong 2023 performance, and Sheetz continued to expand its presence into states like Michigan.
Analyzing convenience store dwell times, or the amount of time a customer spends inside a store, revealed some substantial differences in visitor behavior. During the first eight months of 2024, coastal states (with the exception of Oregon) tended to see shorter average dwell times (between 7.5 and 11.8 minutes). On the other hand, in states like Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota, average dwell times ranged between 21.2 and 28.2 minutes.
Placer.ai found the states with the longest dwell times also had some of the highest percentages of truck traffic on interstate highways, which suggests longer stops may be partially driven by long-haul truckers looking for a place to rest and grab a bite to eat.
Limited-time offerings additionally helped drive customers through c-store doors. This year's annual Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven Inc. drove significant foot traffic, with visits to the convenience store chain, jumping 127.3% on July 11, relative to the retailer's year-to-date daily average.
More information on Placer.ai's findings on 2024 foot traffic, along with charted averages, is available online.
Placer.ai is a foot traffic analytics platform which allows anyone with a stake in the physical world to instantly generate insights into any property for a deeper understanding of the factors that drive success. The platform can be utilized by professionals in the retail, commercial real estate, hospitality and economic development spaces.