By Chrissy Blasinsky

Chris Rapanick, managing director of NACS Research, shared where the industry stood at the halfway point of the year during his annual state of the industry Education Session at the 2025 NACS Show in October.

He shared that 2024 started sluggish but wrapped up strong, and hinted at whether that same scenario would play out in 2025. “We knew there would be some challenges to the back half of 2025,” he said in a recent Convenience Matters podcast, noting that this was not unexpected—especially to retailers who subscribe to the NACS CSX database.

“But here’s the good news: There were a few things we were worried about that look pretty good,” Rapanick said.

First, fuel margins. “The hope was that we would be able to grow a little bit in fuel margin, and we did,” he said.

John Eichberger, executive director of the Transportation Energy Institute, talked about fuel margins in the February issue NACS Magazine, noting that for several years, margins have been strong and helped support the c-store business. However, he cautioned that higher costs on everyday essentials could put pressure on convenience retailers “to rethink their pricing strategies, which could begin to erode margins.”

Rapanick also discussed direct store operating expenses (DSOE). “We've been really concerned about the growth in DSOE for years, whether it's wages, repairs and maintenance, utilities … the good news is we’ve seen a considerable decline in DSOE” among companies that have submitted their data thus far leading up the NACS State of the Industry Summit in April.

Looking ahead, Rapanick noted that consumer confidence is a big question mark, and that retailers should be preparing for continued caution from shoppers. This puts pressure on two key operational areas: driving higher basket value and unit growth.

“Units in this channel are not growing,” he said, adding, “At the end of the day, if you're not building basket value or you're not building inside transactions, then 2026 could be problematic.”

To hear more from Rapanick, download the podcast, “A Look at 2025 C-Store Performance Metrics.”

To be among the first to hear exclusive convenience industry operational and financial benchmarks and insights, make plans to attend the NACS State of the Industry Summit, April 14-16 in Schaumburg, Illinois.