C-Store Spending Rises as Restrictions Ease

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Consumer spending and trips continued to improve last week as some areas of the country began gradually lifting stay-at-home restrictions and more Americans received stimulus payments, according to the latest weekly report from PDI and NACS on how COVID-19 is impacting consumer behavior.

Here are some key insights for the week ended April 26, 2020:

Although dollars per transaction slipped compared with the prior week, nearly every category saw improved performance. The hard-hit candy category chalked up positive spend numbers for the first time since March, and packaged beverages also experienced a surge. The alcohol and other tobacco products (OTP) categories continued to outperform other categories. Non-edible groceries and frozen foods, although small, are still seeing growth.

Spend per trip stood at 24.9% last week, down slightly from 25.5% for the week ended April 19.

The decline in year-over-year dollar sales continued to ease (-1.8% for the week ended April 26 vs. -5% for the week ended April 19), primarily because trips aren’t down as much (-21.3% for the week ended April 26 vs. -24.3% for the week ended April 19).

Federal stimulus checks, states easing restrictions and consumers’ fatigue with stay-at-home orders all likely contributed to the deceleration in trip decline.

Powered by PDI Insights Cloud, the report provides consumer trip and basket-level data and analysis that will enable essential businesses around the United States to deliver what their customers want and need right now.

Click here to read the free two-page summary, and click here to get the full report from PDI.

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