Methodology For Csnews' 38th Annual Industry Report

217 firms, 22,000 stores and loads of data from Nielsen, gov't sources

The 38th annual Convenience Store News Industry Report features data from a variety of sources in order to provide a complete picture of the convenience store industry.

CSNews commissioned Preston/Rogers Associates Inc., based in Medfield, Mass., to conduct a survey among a random sample of c-store retailers on a confidential basis, and to coordinate the various data used in this report. A total of 217 companies, representing approximately 22,000 c-stores, are included in the Industry Report results.

Store census data was provided by Nielsen TDLinx, which maintains a national count of both chain and single-store retail locations.

Dollar sales and unit volume data for a variety of categories was provided by Nielsen from its Convenience Track retail measurement service, which is based on UPC sales and other retail conditions that are measured through the use of point-of-sale scan data, as well as from data captured via electronic invoice and sales audits.

Data for competitive channels was also provided by Nielsen through its Strategic Planner retail measurement service.

Additional data for the tobacco categories was provided by Altria Client Services.

Government sources utilized include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Energy and the Federal Tax Administration.