What’s In Store for 2025?

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From exciting new flavors to getting started with AI, we’re taking a look at some of the trends c-stores are exploring.

January 10, 2025

2025_Trends_CM_blogpost_380x254.pngLauren Shanesy, editor and writer at NACS, talked about key trends for 2025 in a recent Convenience Matters podcast, focusing on AI, popular flavors and consumer buying behavior.

Artificial Intelligence

AI has its place in various practical applications, such as security, inventory management, and customer service. Retailers who are using AI are finding ways to increase efficiency and streamline operations.

To define what this could look like for your organization, retailers suggested looking at the time-consuming menial tasks that could be streamlined. What tasks do employees dislike the most, and can they be automated? “By giving employees that time back, you can make a significant difference,” she said, even if it’s just 15 to 20 minutes each day.

Retailers speaking at the 2024 NACS Show presented practical ways they were using AI, such as for security. Other instances include using camera analysis to monitor various activities, such as tracking cars on the forecourt and analyzing conversion rates inside the store.

Additionally, AI camera analysis can monitor foodservice operations like the roller grill by tracking how long items have been there and alerting employees when they need to be changed or refilled, thereby reducing food waste.

AI can also assist with administrative tasks like drafting emails, briefs, and job descriptions.

Flavor Profiles

Trends like sweet and spicy, pickle, hot honey, and tropical flavors are all popular, as are what Shanesy described as maximalist flavors—where a flavor needed to be more extra or elevated (e.g., extra spicy, extra sour). “I talked with some manufacturers at the NACS Show that said consumers don't think sour flavors are sour enough. They needed to be ultra sour,” she said.

Fitting into this trend are also flavor profiles that are “fully loaded,” like taco-flavored chips. “All these bigger flavor profiles are fitting into a maximalist category,” she said.

Shanesy said the notion is also finding its way into functional beverages that offer additional benefits like protein and vitamins. “Whether it's functional beverages or enhanced water, we’re seeing this need to get more out of your drink.”

Another flavor trend is dirty sodas, where customers mix fountain drinks with cream, flavored syrups, and sometimes fruit juice and share their concoction on social media. The trend has become large enough that Coca-Cola launched a limited time offer based on a viral customer creation: Sprite + Tea.

Better-for-You Options

 A soon-to-be released NACS consumer survey suggests that 55% of Americans say they feel they should be eating a healthier diet. Whether they follow through or not is another thing, but we know they’re thinking more about the foods they eat.

One of the big better-for-you category drivers is protein, particularly in snacks. “I think healthy is an arbitrary term in some capacity because that is going to mean something different to everyone, but having better-for-you high protein snack options are really key,” said Shanesy.

More Bang for Your Buck

While inflation is still a consideration in terms of consumer spending, it doesn’t mean consumers won’t splurge if there is a perceived value in the products they purchase. Shanesy said that many experts she’s talked with say consumers are not necessarily down trading.

“What is happening is that people are spending more intentionally … they're buying the same things or actually treating themselves a little bit more, but less often,” she explained, adding that customers are looking at “this total value equation and saying, ‘What can I get for my money? How can I treat myself without breaking the bank?’ They're treating themselves in that way and spending more intentionally instead of spending less.”

To hear more insights from Shanesy, listen to the full “Top C-Store Trends for 2025” podcast.

You can also check out even more convenience retail trends in the NACS Magazine cover story, “On the Retailer Radar in 2025.”