The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) is out with its annual State of the Industry report, saying that "total convenience industry sales were $906.1 billion, of which $302.8 were from in-store sales, which accounted for 33.4% of industry sales. Overall, in-store sales increased 9.0% in 2022. Packaged beverages, other tobacco products, salty snacks, candy and packaged sweet snacks all had double-digit sales growth year over year. The average basket—what customers spend per visit—increased 4.9% to $7.52."
NACS said that "the strong in-store sales came as the result of a variety of factors. First, the convenience industry store count increased 1.5% to reach 150,174 stores. Industry growth was fueled by an increase in single-store operators, which increased 1,087 to 90,423 stores (60.2% of all convenience stores). Second, inflationary pressures pushed prices higher in 2022; the annual merchandise CPI increased 7.9% and the foodservice CPI increased 9.7% last year.
"The third factor increasing in-store sales was the continued growth of foodservice and as industry operators continue to focus on providing restaurant-quality food. Overall, average foodservice sales represented 25.6% of average, monthly in-store sales and 36.1% of in-store gross margin. . Convenience store foodservice includes prepared food, commissary, and hot, cold, and frozen dispensed beverages. Prepared food accounted for 67.3% of all foodservice sales in 2022, while commissary contributed 9.5%, followed by hot dispensed beverages at 9.2%, cold dispensed at 8.0%, and frozen dispensed at 6.0%."
