Once the stepchild of brand retailing, in a world of high-RPM consumers, convenience stores may become the next darling of channel marketing. Credit for this shift in perception goes to not only an increasingly on-the-go shopper, but also to savvy c-store retailers who have adapted technologies and trends from outside their own category.
“C-stores have become very adept at borrowing ideas from other channels,” says Don Hilbert, VP, Ryan Partnership. “Whether it’s the smell of gourmet coffee that draws you in, á la Starbucks, or a salad bar stocked with fresh produce just as in a grocery store, other channels are informing the way quick marts are merchandising.”
The new emphasis on freshness is just one way c-stores are going after a neglected customer segment: women.
“How many bottles of nail polish have we sold lately?” asked Tommy Hunt at a recent conference. Hunt, the president of Calloway Oil Co. was jokingly referring to the competition his E-Z Mart division faces from drug chains and supermarkets when it tries to attract female shoppers.
In response, c-stores are cleaning up there acts, designing stores with wider aisles, less signage, better lighting and less clutter.
“That puts pressure on brands to deliver more pull-through per square inch of shelf space,” Hilbert says. And retailers must still find ways to get women in the stores.
Over the past two years, Calloway Oil has invested $4,000 at each of its sites to install coupon dispensers at its gas pumps. In just the month of March, customers of the Maryville, TN-based chain printed at the pump and then redeemed in-store 1,672 coupons for free milk and 1,800 coupons for a free pint of ice cream.
Other scanning technologies, using cards or fobs at checkout, are seen as ways to build purchase volume per-visit, as well as return business.
“We used to think we knew who was coming into our stores, but now we know so much more about our customers,” says Kim Gianakos, image director for Meridian, MS-based-Deweese Enterprises and its Super-Stop chain. Deweese’ loyalty program relies on hardware at the pumps and an in-store interface to reward customers. Participation rates among the chain’s base have exceeded 30%.
“Our women customers love it.”
More Than a Pit Stop
Convenience stores are becoming far more than the source of a quick carton of milk while the tank of the SUV is refilling. Brands and retailers are leveraging the following trends to build loyalty:
Keeping it fresh: Bistro-to-go salads and other lightly processed food offerings move beyond the microwaved burrito to meals that are taken home to be enjoyed.
Launch central: Convenience stores are becoming a key channel platform for new products, especially in the beverage, confectionery and snack categories. Certain chains (especially 7-Eleven) are winning launch exclusives.
Day-part specific merchandising: Emerging technologies are helping in-store personnel to not only trade out the breakfast muffins for the lunchtime sandwiches, but choreograph merchandise messaging with greater relevance to the time of day.
— KMJ
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