Dollars sales are up in the center store at convenience stores, but don’t let the numbers deceive.
C-store center store sales “aren’t so hot when it comes to unit sales,” Don Burke, senior vice president at Management Science Associates Inc., Pittsburgh, said Sept. 9 at CSP’s inaugural Center Store Forum in Schaumburg, Illinois.
- Also at Center Store Forum: Category Manager ‘Really Worried’ About Center Store Price Hikes at C-Stores.
Quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are “stealing a lot from convenience in terms of value meals,” Burke said. “Consumers are really dollar conscious and looking for an added benefit in what they buy.”
Overall, center store unit volume is down 7% from June 2023 to June 2024.
In the last 14 months, the numbers were at their worst in January and February of this year, when volume was down 9%
Burke noted that 71% of center store volume at c-stores occurs at chains, with the rest at independents. In the 52 weeks ending June 30, 2024, total center store unit sales are down 5.3%—and down 5.1% at chains and 5.7% at independents. Item count sales, meanwhile, are down 4.2% overall—and down 4.1% at chains and 4.4% at independents.
Confectionary, down 5.8% in the 52 weeks ending June 30, dominates center-store consumer unit sales at c-stores, Burke said, at 42.9% share at the end of 2024’s second quarter, down 0.4% from a year earlier. Elsewhere at the end of this year’s second quarter:
- Salty snacks: 13.4% share, up 0.2%
- Packaged sweet snacks: 13.4%, up 0.6%
- Alternative snacks: 12.7% share, down 0.1%
- Healthy and beauty: 5.8%, no change
- Edible grocery: 4.3%, no change
- General merchandise, 4.2%, down 0.3%
- Automotive products: 1.6%, down 0.1%
- Nonedible grocery: 1.5%, down 0.2%
“Confectionary really drives center store sales,” Burke said. “Salty snacks and alternative snacks are also very important.”
Diving deeper into confectionary, Burke noted:
- Chocolate is down 7.6% from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024
- Nonchocolate confectionary is down 4.5%
- Gum is up 1.6%
- Mints are down 6.2%
Burke said business is down quite a bit in terms of units but not dollars. “There have been significant increases in price,” he said.
Elaborating on confectionery by subcategory, Burke said chocolate is driving a lot of the decline, dropping 7.6% in units from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024.
He said chocolate might be down because “many might be looking for a lower calorie alternative today.”
If a retailer if going to emphasize a chocolate category, he said to focus on milk chocolate, which is by far the leader in unit sales at more than 1 billion. White chocolate and dark chocolate, meanwhile, are a small fraction of that and down 11.3% and 20.2%, respectively.
In chocolate by pack type, individually wrapped units, which Burke said are driving the category, sold more than 800 million in the 52 weeks ending June 30, though they were down 7.6%. Bagged chocolate is around 200 million units, down 6.8%, and box is about 33 million units, down 11.3%.
Gummies
Gummies, meanwhile, nearing 300 million units sold, “always sell very well,” Burke said, and had the smallest percentage drop, down 0.9% in the 52 weeks ending June 30. Chewy candy, though selling more than 350 million units, were down 7.5%. Hard candy sold just under 150 million units and was down 4.8%. Licorice sold about 40 million units and was down 6.9%.
In nonchocolate confectionary by pack type, “bag is really the way to drive nonchocolate sales,” Burke said, noting this sold about 560 million units in the 52 weeks ending June 30, down 4.7%. In second place is individually wrapped, at just more than 100 million units and down 5.4%. Roll/stick is about 60 million units sold and down 12%. Box is about 50 million units and up 0.6%
Elsewhere
Gum is one of the few categories that is growing, Burke said, up 1.6% in the 52 weeks ending June 30. Packaged gum is by far the leader, around 250 million units sold, up 2%. Bottle is a distant second, about 40 million units sold, up 3.6%.
Mints are down 6.2% in the same period, with tin packaging up 0.9% and selling more than 25 million units. Tin barely edges out roll/stick, down 12%, for first place.
Salty snacks are down 3.7%, with nuts and seeds doing pretty well, Burke said. The nuts/seeds subcategory tallied more than 100 million units sold in the 52 weeks ending June 30, up 0.1%. Crackers sold just less than 80 million units, down 5.1%. However, first place among salty snack categories is “all other,” around 115 million units sold, down 2.6%.
Bag is the top pack type for salty snacks, around 225 million units sold, down 1.4%. Single serve is second, around 55 million units sold and down 9.2%.
In packaged sweet snacks, down 0.9%, muffins/doughnuts are up 1% and cookies are up 1.5%. “These might be perceived as having a little bit less calories and more attractive to those seeking less calories than the snack cakes/pastries/desserts category,” which is down 2.2%, he said.
Alternative snacks are down 5.5%. “Consumers are really becoming more health conscious,” Burke said, noting meat snacks are the top subcategory with about 175 million units sold, down 8.9%. Meat snacks are followed by health/energy/protein bars around 120 million units sold, down 0.9%, fruit snacks around 25 million units, down 0.3%, and granola around 10 million, down 12.7%. “All other” is just under 50 million units, down 2.1%.
In meat snacks by pack type, packaged is down 9.2%. “This suggests consumers are buying a larger bag size due to a perceived value,” Burke said, noting that bag packaging is down the least, 2.2%, while stick is down 16.9% and “all other” is down 8.4%.
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