According to NACS, foodservice continues to play a pivotal role in the 22nd consecutive record year of in-store sales growth at US convenience stores. How can c-store operators capitalize on this continued momentum, and what can be done to eliminate competition and foodservice leakage to QSR?
This month, NACS reported that Foodservice Sales, which includes prepared food, commissary, and hot, cold and frozen dispensed beverages accounted for 28.7% of in-store sales and 39.6% of in-store gross margin dollars in convenience stores in 2024- making it crucial to address foodservice leakage to competitors. Most foodservice sales are from prepared food, which has seen continued growth over the last five years and now accounts for 68.4% of foodservice sales.
Food-forward convenience stores have changed the game, driving trips and building meaningful customer experiences. Still, there is more to be done to combat QSR competition and secure the industry's rightful position as a foodservice provider, starting by closely examining where foodservice leakage occurs and how brands like VideoMining’s behavioral shopper insights provide the visibility to solve it.
According to the most recent Convenience Voices study from NACS, 28.7% of c-store shoppers intended to visit a QSR (quick service restaurant, such as a fast food chain), within 30 minutes of their convenience store visit. The top two reasons for this foodservice leakage, according to NACS, was a perceived lack of variety and options for shoppers.
To get to the bottom of this foodservice leakage opportunity, c-store retailers look to VideoMining to provide Behavioral Shopper Insights - both industry-wide, and specifically within the retailer’s own stores. Here at VideoMining, our Behavioral Shopper Insights don’t just track shoppers - they expose hidden friction points, missed opportunities, and subconscious shopper patterns that even the savviest retailers overlook. Here’s how we erase retail blind spots to help c-store retailers build smarter foodservice strategies.
Convenience stores sell an estimated 80% of the gasoline purchased in the United States yet the fuel-to-food conversion remains underutilized. How many in-store trips is the industry driving off of these roughly 4,000 gallons sold per-store per-day? Do you know who doesn’t sell gas? The fast food restaurant around the corner or the fried chicken spot one exit up the highway. When it comes to low hanging fruit, one of the lowest, and most substantial, opportunities to boost in-store sales starts by getting more fuel buyers through your front door.
Where's the Gap:
How many fuel buyers never cross the threshold into your store?
What direction and signage do fuel buyers glance while pumping gas?
How often do fuel buyers see, read, and respond to at-pump messaging about your foodservice offerings?
When fuel buyers pay in-store, do they happen across signage with inspiring and high quality foodservice items? If they do, how do they respond?
What dayparts merchandising are you highlighting at the pump? Which drive the highest pump-to-store conversions?
Why It Matters:
You’re losing “captive” customers who might not realize you offer quality foodservice items. VideoMining’s behavioral shopper insights reveals how signage, promotions, or pump-side menus could turn gas buyers into food buyers. What’s more, we help you segment these shoppers into precise and targeted buyer profiles to win across all dayparts and consumption moments.
NACS describes beverages as a “c-store juggernaut and the ultimate grab-and-go product, with more than 80% of shoppers consuming their beverage of choice within an hour of purchasing.” Refreshment trips have a natural synergy with foodservice categories, and remain one of the channel’s top trip drivers across the board. NACS reported that 37.4% of beverage buyers also buy food. But what about the 62.6% who do not?
Where's the Gap:
How do refreshment shoppers make their way to, and from, the cold vault?
Where in the journey are beverage shoppers exposed to foodservice merchandising?
Which beverage buyers pause in your foodservice zone - and exactly when do they break their journey?
What demographic segments of beverage buyers are the least likely to engage with your foodservice offerings? What categories do they interact with instead?
How does cooler door signage and bundle deals (Buy 1 soda, add a roller grill item for $X) inspire action among your core shopper group? Which signage copy is routinely overlooked?
Why It Matters:
Your cold vault could be the vessel to boost sales and reduce foodservice leakage. But if the beverage experience isn’t in sync with the foodservice zone, you’re leaving cross-purchases on the table, and missing out on valuable basket building opportunities. VideoMining removes all guesswork from the equation, giving you concrete evidence into purchasing patterns and micro-moments that shape the shopping experience into a +foodservice mission.
Guests are looking for convenience, speed, variety, and quality. This applies to all aspects of the c-store shopper’s experience, and extends to foodservice as well. Convenience stores, more than any other retail format, have a unique job to be won with consumers across every day part, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. Operators looking to combat QSR competition and strengthen their foodservice program know they need to reach shoppers with relevant, fresh, and convenient choices at every moment in time, for every consumption occasion - across set meal times (breakfast, lunch, dinner), to bridge meal snack solutions and indulgent “treat yourself” moments.
Where's the Gap:
What are your top performing cross-purchase categories by daypart?
How are you reminding morning guests that you have convenient, delicious foodservice options for late night?
Why does your hot prepared food case win at breakfast, but become nothing more than a road block by lunchtime?
What is the right way to merchandise prepared food to drive awareness to daypart menu programming?
How do traffic trends evolve near our foodservice counter throughout the day? What time of day do the most shoppers walk by on autopilot?
Why It Matters:
Dayparts aren’t just about what you sell. It’s also about how your shoppers move - how they explore, how they engage, and how they decide. If your hot dispensed coffee bar isn’t helping naturally shuttle breakfast shoppers towards the bakery items, what is it doing? Without aligning store layouts and storewide messaging to mission-based behavior, VideoMining’s patented Behavior Tracker™ eliminates the guesswork and provides action-oriented heatmapping for optimizing store layouts, shopper flows, and inspiring trip building through foodservice while reducing preventable foodservice leakage.
The Role of CPGs in the Foodservice Boom
For CPG brands, c-store foodservice growth isn’t just a retailer opportunity – it’s also your opportunity to drive category sales, basket size, and brand loyalty. Here’s why it matters for your bottom line:
Synergy = Sales: 37.4% of beverage buyers also purchased prepared foods (NACS). Snacks, sides, and premium beverages are natural companions to foodservice items - but only if merchandised strategically.
Bundling Power: CPGs have unlimited momentum to create meal-centric bundles that tap into c-store’s grab-and-go convenience advantage over QSRs.
Daypart Dominance: Breakfast, lunch, and late0night snack missions are prime moments for CPGs to align promotions with foodservice and increase their share of sales in low-performing dayparts.
The blind spots mentioned here are just the beginning. Every convenience chain, from global powerhouses to regional leaders and single store operators - have hidden gaps in their shopper journey: moments where intent fades, attention shifts, and foodservice leakage occurs as the QSR down the street steals a sale. What separates industry leaders isn’t just their menu or equipment innovation – it’s their ability to see and act on the invisible insights of shopper behavior that drive preventable foodservice leakage.
Learn how VideoMining helps retailers not just find the gaps, but reframe them as an opportunity for meaningful growth.