For a retail channel that sells items for immediate consumption, whether or not your customers are concerned about their finances or the economy can affect how much they’ll frequent a c-store.

Unfortunately, a new NACS consumer survey revealed that they are not feeling great about their finances compared to a year ago.

Concerns about finances echo findings from our December 2024 consumer survey, when 61% of consumers said that they worried about their finances and 55% were pessimistic about the economy. (Check out more insights in “The State of Eating in America” in the February 2025 issue of NACS Magazine.)

But there is hope that consumer perceptions will turn around: Most consumers think things are getting better in the area where they live.

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There is some great news related to favorability: Consumers overwhelmingly like convenience stores and the shopping experience associated with them.

Young adults ages 18-34 are most likely to enjoy shopping at convenience stores (86%). By contrast, nearly half (48%) of consumers 65 or older say they enjoy shopping at convenience stores.

As for rural consumers, who may not have a c-store nearby, they are less likely to enjoy shopping at one: 66% enjoy it while 21% feel like it’s a chore.

Here’s more great news: Perceptions of convenience stores are positive.

Younger consumers are most likely to have positive views of c-stores; both the age groups of 18-34 and 35-50 have 79% positive views (and only 4% negative).

Meanwhile those age 65 or older, while not nearly as thrilled with c-stores as younger consumers, still have a positive opinion of them by a more than 4:1 margin (54% positive vs 13% negative).

This excerpt is from the feature “Consumers Redefine Convenience as ‘Easy’” in the April 2025 issue of NACS Magazine.