NielsenIQ & NACS Release Inaugural Global Convenience Store Report

CHICAGO — NACS and NielsenIQ are making good on their goal of enhancing global convenience retail analytics and insights.

Six months after announcing their long-term partnership, the trade association and retail measurement and consumer analytics firm released their inaugural global convenience retailing industry report.

Industry-leading data, macro trends and analysis across 23 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions are featured in the report.

Highlights of the report include:

• Thirteen countries experienced growth in convenience store sales during the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021, while 10 countries experienced sales declines.
• Nine of these 13 growth countries were from the Asia-Pacific region, while European countries accounted for eight of the 10 countries with sales declines.
• U.S. convenience stores, which sell an estimated 80 percent of the fuel purchased in the country, saw revenues per store per month increase 32 percent in the first quarter of 2022 vs. the same time period in 2021, largely a result of higher gas prices.
• Canadian convenience store dollar sales underperformed vs. other retail channels (-0.8 percent vs. +2.1 percent).
• The U.K. fuel and forecourt industry continues to thrive, with sales (excluding fuel) expected to rise to £47.1 billion by 2024. Sales now account for over one in five pounds spent on grocery items.
• The three most significant convenience development trends in China are digitalization, foodservice and e-commerce.

"With more than 1 million convenience stores globally, it is critical that convenience retailers and manufacturers who serve this industry are prepared for the future. This report uncovers the issues, opportunities, and challenges that exist globally, and contributes to a global understanding of trends impacting individual trade areas," stated NACS President and CEO Henry Armour.

The full report is available for download here.

"The last two years have seen unprecedented disruptions across the global retail and consumer products industries," said David Johnson, president, global retail for NielsenIQ. "With ongoing supply chain issues, inflation and shifting consumer behavior, robust data, analytics and insights are critical to understanding the convenience channel market dynamics. Convenience retailers and brands must continue to adapt and intensify their focus on customer loyalty, digital transformation, supply chain management, and collaboration to effectively meet the challenges the industry faces."

Chicago-based NielsenIQ, part of Advent International's portfolio, is a global information services company with operations in 90-plus markets, covering more than 90 percent of the world's population.

NielsenIQ and NACS announced an enrichment of their existing relationship in February. NielsenIQ now serves as the lead global analytics provider to NACS across several critical areas in this long-term agreement, including providing NACS access to NielsenIQ's Connect Platform with omni sales measurement data, detailed sales metrics and historical data to help guide and improve the convenience retailing industry globally.

Additionally, NielsenIQ provides NACS members discounted access to NielsenIQ's Byzzer platform, developing an exclusive quarterly NielsenIQ/NACS global convenience retailing report, sponsorship and support of the NACS Marketing Leadership Program at the Kellogg School of Management and support of NACS events around the world.

Alexandria, Va.-based NACS is the leading global trade association dedicated to advancing convenience and fuel retailing. It advances the role of convenience stores as positive economic, social and philanthropic contributors to the communities they serve and is a trusted adviser to more than 1,500 retailer and 1,500 supplier members from more than 50 countries.