Inside the Consumer Mind: Serving the Customer

"Checking out" used to mean one thing: waiting in line, going up to a register staffed by an employee, and paying for the goods you wanted to purchase. Today, "checking out" has multiple meanings in the convenience store space: it can mean mobile ordering/payment and picking up goods curbside; it can mean online ordering/payment and getting goods delivered; it can mean self-checkout at an in-store kiosk; it can mean contactless checkout powered by sensors placed throughout the store; and the list goes on and on. Fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ways in which c-stores serve the customer have significantly expanded. The 2021 Convenience Store News Realities of the Aisle Study, which surveyed 1,500-plus consumers who shop a c-store at least once a month, uncovered the following insights around c-store services: