The convenience retail industry has experienced marginal declines in inside transaction counts, a trend that continues to be problematic.

The pandemic upended just about every operational aspect, although retailers were already experiencing marginal declines in in-store transaction counts every year from 2016-2021.

Last year’s NACS State of the Industry Summit revealed that inside transaction count growth increased 2.8% in 2022 over 2021.

“Transaction volume is one of the key components of driving sales and profitability,” notes the NACS State of the Industry Report® of 2022 Data. The report also notes that the top performers averaged more total transaction counts, and also saw larger sales dollars in those transactions:

“Merchandise sales of $4.46 per customer transaction for top quartile firms was 18.3% higher than bottom quartile companies, which averaged $3.77 per customer transaction.”

All signs seemed to be pointing up as the industry headed deeper into 2023; however, by Q4 there were signs of decay: Inside transaction counts were down -4.7%. Of course, bigger baskets and higher margins offset a decline in transactions. This year’s agenda features topline insights from experts in their field.

Here’s some of the highlights:

• Financial and Operation Lessons From 2023: Over the years, we’ve nicknamed this session “the numbers.” Varish Goyal of Loop Neighborhood Markets will break down 2023 industry benchmarks and dive into the watchouts.
• In-Store Performance Lessons From 2023: Annie Gauthier of St. Romain Oil/Y-Not Stop will deliver a holistic view of how sales and profitability has changed from 2022 to 2023.
• Which Technology Innovations Really Matter? Gray Taylor of Conexxus and Sanjeev Satturu of Casey’s will cut through the noise and help retailers of all sizes determine the technologies they should be thinking about in the near-term.
• Daypart Disruption—How Fluidity in Daily Patterns Can Spell Foodservice Opportunity for C-stores: David Portalatin of Circana will go deeper into the emerging daypart occasions that have growth potential.

Navigating the New Era of Retail Fuel Management: Nathaniel Doddridge of Casey’s and Jeff Burrell of NACS will talk about how to drive fuel profitability at your stores.

Register today to attend the 2024 NACS State of the Industry Summit in Chicago, April 3-5, to discover the latest data and how retailers are adapting to today’s business environment.