Why You Should Attend the NACS State of the Industry Summit

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Registration is under way for the NACS State of the Industry Summit (SOI Summit), a one-day-only virtual event taking place live on April 14 from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET.

Convenience retailers and the NACS Research team are gearing up to offer a unique and immersive digital experience that allows for live discussions, informative sessions, deep-dive regional breakout discussions and opportunities to engage one-on-one with industry partners.

The insight-rich State of the Industry Summit dives right into 2020 performance with Charlie McIlvaine, chairman and CEO, Coen Markets, as he brings to life convenience retail benchmarks through the eyes of an operator who has successfully grown his business during the tumultuous challenges of 2020.

Next, Leroy Kelsey, NACS director of research, will debut shopper insights from the new NACS Convenience Voices program. Learn how shopper behaviors, motivators and trip drivers play in the path to purchase, and stay tuned as Kelsey unlocks new perspectives and ideas that connect you with convenience shoppers in this period of widespread retail disruption.

No State of the Industry Summit would be complete without revealing in-store category performance, hosted this year in 30-minute Category Deep Dive sessions by retail experts from some of the industry’s standout retail organizations: 

• Laura White, category manager, cigarettes, for RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. will debut industry performance data for cigarettes, tobacco and OTP in what can only be characterized as one of the largest twists in a year full of twists!
• Heather Davis, director of foodservice at Parker’s Corporation, will present the NACS State of the Industry foodservice data and share insights on the strategies employed at Parker’s Kitchen to remain relevant and top-of-mind with their customers. 
• Jim Jacko, category manager at Coen Markets Inc., will review NACS data for packaged beverages and its subcategories, highlighting not only the trends and changing shopper behaviors retailers successfully navigated in 2020 but also what emerging trends and expectations he anticipates in the future.
• Kelley Gutierrez, category manager, candy and snacks, at MAPCO Express, will break down 2020 data for the impulse-driven candy and snacks categories and share her perspective and insights from the strategies employed at her stores.
• Erick Dowling, beer, wine and spirits category manager at Maverik, will also look at beer, wine and spirits, recapping category bright spots that drove sales and margin growth, as well as highlight the operational agility required in 2021 for the industry to successfully navigate economic recovery.

And for the first time at the SOI Summit, Jake Vogel, director of category management and procurement, Kwik Trip Inc., will dive into “Hidden Gems,” a session that will highlight the performance and staying power of categories that shined in 2020, as well as the potential role and strategies retailers should consider for the future.

We’ll also head to the forecourt with a “Future of Fuels in Convenience” session with Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst, OPIS/IHS Markit, as he breaks down the 2020 energy landscape and gives shape to the long-lasting implications we can expect as we move to form new contours of normality in a post-virus fuel marketplace.  

State of the Industry region-specific data returns to the Summit, with six leaders from high-performing retail companies discussing the unique performance metrics and benchmarks that make each geographic region stand out. Each session will feature live Q&A—don’t miss the opportunity to engage with these leaders as the learnings, opportunities and priorities for your region are discussed live.

As we near the final hour of the SOI Summit, Lori Stillman, NACS vice president of research, will share a provocative and insightful outlook of the road ahead for convenience retailers, with the lessons of 2020 as the backdrop for the key priorities that operators must embrace to rebuild and deliver profitable growth in 2021 and beyond. NACS President and CEO Henry Armour will wrap up the event by bringing back the six convenience retailers who led the regional breakout sessions with an intimate conversation on how their companies are navigating the industry’s future.

“If you’re looking to see what’s next in convenience, you can’t afford to miss the Summit. No one else can provide the financial and performance data that NACS can on the c-store industry with our 50-plus years of strategic analysis of industry metrics and trends,” said Andy Jones, NACS vice chairman of Research & Technology and CEO of Sprint Food Stores. “Retailers and suppliers rely on proprietary data from the Summit to benchmark their performance by chain size and region, see what’s working and not working for others across key categories, learn what drives the consumer to enter their store and purchase what they do—or decide to not come inside the store or purchase items. It’s the only event where you can get the newest industry data, retailer insights and fresh ideas on how to bridge the gap and take your business to the next level.”

New for 2021, all registered attendees will receive a free digital license for the NACS State of the Industry Report® of 2020 Data when it’s published in mid-June.

For all NACS State of the Industry Summit details, a link to register (including how to attend the Summit for free by submitting data), speaker profiles, the full agenda and registration rates for retailers and suppliers, visit the event landing page at convenience.org/SOISummit.

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