Competing for Share of Stomach

According to the 2024 Convenience Store News Realities of the Aisle Study, which surveyed 1,500-plus consumers who shop a c-store at least once a month, purchase incidence of prepared food in the channel is up significantly from a year ago. Nearly seven in 10 surveyed shoppers said they purchased prepared food at a convenience store at least once in the past month — an impressive jump of 14 points year over year. There is still work to be done, however, to convert non-buyers and protect existing sales in the face of strong cross-channel competition. The study uncovered the following insights: