C-Stores Reframe Convenience for the Omnichannel Shopper

With the acceleration of the digital shift, the role of the convenience store is changing. Where their physical locations were once at the core of their value propositions, conveniently located in gas stations and on corners, the rise of the bring-it-to-me economy has turned the c-store model on its head.

Where once the goal was to bring the store as close to the consumer as possible, now delivery services can bring goods right to their doorstep. Digitally native options, such as DoorDash’s DashMart or Instacart’s collaborations with supermarkets such as Kroger and Albertsons for 30-minute delivery, have made everyday essentials more convenient to obtain than ever before.

Now, brick-and-mortar incumbents must work harder to remain competitive in this rapidly evolving industry. While the convenience store industry may have succeeded on the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” model for decades on end, the model is broken — and savvy operators are doing all they can to fix it.

Oct. 5-8, the National Association of Convenience Stores is holding its annual NACS show, the association’s first in-person event since before the pandemic. Sessions cover topics including omnichannel availability, digital purchasing and mobile integrations. In fact, some sessions may have sounded like science fiction to operators back in 2019, with names such as “The AI-Powered Convenience Store of the Future is Now Open for Business.”

By the Numbers

PYMNTS’ research from the report “The Bring-It-to-Me Economy,” created in collaboration with Carat from Fiserv, finds that nearly two-thirds of consumers are now more likely to buy retail items online than they were before the start of the pandemic, and 58% have been ordering food online more often.

However, the study found that retailers have the opportunity to draw these online shoppers into physical stores by offering omnichannel integrations. Forty-four percent of shoppers would be encouraged to shop at physical stores if the store offered buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) options, and 42% would be encouraged to do the same if it offered buy online with curbside pickup. About a third would be encouraged to do so if the store offered payment with contactless cards and digital wallets.

You may also like: Bring-It-to-Me Economy Ascends as Consumers Embrace Home-Centric Lifestyles

What Insiders Are Saying

The goal is not to win consumers’ digital spending, but rather their omnichannel loyalty.

“We don’t push a digital-only shopper, because that’s not the best experience,” Art Sebastian, VP of digital experiences at Casey’s General Stores, told PYMNTS in an interview. “The best experience is when a guest engages Casey’s at the pump, online, in the app, in our store, and to them, it all feels like Casey’s … We try to be very clear with our guests [in terms of] here’s how to engage us, here’s what’s available.”

By integrating each of these channels into the same easy-to-use digital systems, c-stores can win consumers’ overall loyalty.

“You’ve got to be able to take the friction out of the overarching customer experience, and it doesn’t matter whether they drive up and go into the store as they have for 30 years, whether they insert their card, earn points in the store, earn points at the pump or pay with their mobile devices,” Bobby Koscheski, head of omnicommerce, fuel and convenience store solutions at ACI Worldwide, told PYMNTS earlier this year. “They just want convenience. They want the ability to shop and buy and make it really convenient.”

Read more: Casey’s Aims to Convert Fans to Superfans with Personalized Messaging

And also: ACI Worldwide: Fuel Sales Add Fire to C-Store Digital-First Efforts