ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Ask any convenience retailer how often they compare their stores to others in the industry and the answer is bound to sound something like this:
“Yes. All the time.”
That’s the response from Kevin Smartt, president and CEO of Kwik Chek in Texas and the current chairman of NACS, who relies on benchmarking to find out how well his company is performing, both operationally and financially, and pinpoint areas that need attention. “That’s really the difference-maker for being a better company,” he said. (Hear more from Smartt in “The Evolution of Convenience Through Data”.)
This week is the last week for retailers to make sure their data is included in the annual NACS State of the Industry Survey, which powers the NACS State of the Industry Report®. Companies that submit their data will also be the first to see insights and analytics from the highly anticipated 2020 data revealed at the one-day, immersive State of the Industry Summit on April 14.
“Our company relies on NACS State of the Industry (SOI) data,” said Varish Goyal, president and CEO, Loop Neighborhood Markets, Fremont Calif. “The SOI data provides valuable benchmarking metrics, and as we venture into new business areas, the data allows us to see what success looks like—giving our teams a clear direction of their targets. When evaluating our core business, the data also shines a light on areas of deficiency.”
NACS Research is building the annual benchmarking SOI Report now and needs your data to make it the most robust and comprehensive collection of industry data and trends. This year’s report will establish new benchmarks after a disruptive 2020 and post-pandemic retail and economic climate by providing in-store category performance, an overview of the retail fuels market, evolving consumer behaviors and actionable recommendations from veteran industry analysts.
Be a part of the industry’s most valuable data set by confidentially submitting your company data. Download the firm-level data submission form, which takes a few hours to complete.
In exchange for your company’s data, you will receive:
- Two digital access licenses to the NACS State of the Industry Report® of 2020 Data.
- One complimentary registration to the 2021 NACS State of the Industry Summit held on April 14, 2021, as a live, virtual event.
- A custom report of your company’s data in comparison to the NACS State of the Industry 2020 aggregate data metrics to assist your internal analysis of your performance.
- A complimentary NACS Convenience VoicesTM region-specific Shopper Report capturing convenience retail shopper sentiment from more than 7,000 consumers across the U.S., segmented by NACS regions. These insights delve into consumer motivations for shopping the store and their purchasing behavior. The data sheds light on topics like promotional effectiveness, the fuel-only customer and what drives loyalty.
In addition, in a NACS first, this year’s report will include detailed regional data for an expanded number of metrics.
As with all sensitive company data, NACS SOI Survey data are kept completely confidential and will only be used in aggregate for analysis with data from other participating retail companies.
The deadline for responding is Friday, March 5. Submit your data today. For questions about the survey and data submission process, contact Chris Rapanick, director, business development, at crapanick@convenience.org.