Leveraging the Forecourt to Drive Impulse Sales
INDIANAPOLIS — Candy and snack items are often considered impulse buys, but that doesn’t mean retailers and brands can't give consumers a little nudge. That's where retail media networks can play a role.
Speaking at the 2024 Sweets & Snacks Expo in a session entitled "The Surprising Relationship Between Fueling Up & Shelling Out," Kristal Walton, senior vice president/general manager of retailer partnerships at GSTV, explained that retail media networks offer ad placements to monetize and create meaningful shopper connections.
[Read more: Convenience Stores Hit the Sweet Spot With Consumers]
As Walton laid out, there are three areas of the retail media proposition:
- Access to first-party data
- Closed loop attribute, allowing brands to draw a direct line from ad to purchase
- Return on the retailer relationship
Previously a popular marketing tool among other types of retailers, convenience store operators such as Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven Inc. (Gulp Media), Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's General Stores Inc. (Casey's Access) and Media, Pa.-based Wawa Inc. (Goose Media Network) have been making inroads.
Walton pointed out several factors that make the convenience channel "an excellent space" for retail media networks:
- Increased frequency: The average c-store shopper is in a c-store 2.5 times a week.
- Impulse oriented and impressionable ads at the pump: Forty percent of consumers would be enticed to go inside the store.
- Single-purchase channel: Nearly all in-store trips (95%) end with a purchase.
- Specific pack sizes: An overwhelming majority of consumers (71%) discover new products in convenience, allowing brands to trial, test and learn.
Retail media networks are not only a good fit for inside the store; c-store operators can also leverage their forecourt space, according to Walton.
"Consumers are getting things done," she said. "Eighty-one percent of fueling customers continue spending money — and most involve getting food."
Additionally, 68% of people say they notice ads on the way to shop in-person, she noted. That makes ad placement at fuel locations an ideal spot for brands. According to a GSTV study, within three hours of a fuel transaction, consumers spend more across all retail channels.
The 2024 Sweets & Snacks Expo took place May 14-16 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. The annual trade show features new product launches, business-building solutions and merchandising innovations. The event is sponsored by the National Confectioners Association, the leading trade organization for the $48 billion U.S. confectionery industry.