The past year has seen shifting trends in gas demand and fluctuating oil prices, inflation increases, a federal push for electric vehicle (EV) adoption and charger implementation, and growth in biofuel usage. These factors have all contributed to the fuel landscape in 2023 and its trajectory for 2024. Since one of the biggest draws bringing…
Homing in on Loss Prevention
Loss prevention is essential when running a successful and thriving c-store. Having different loss prevention strategies in place helps retailers keep a close eye on their stores while ensuring employees and customers are safe. However, as theft continues to rise in the U.S., c-store retailers must stay vigilant when it comes to upgrading the loss…
Staying Competitive in a Dog-Eat-Dog Industry
Knowing that the c-store industry is, and always will be, extremely competitive, it is as important as ever to know how you, as a retailer, can keep an edge over your competitors. To provide some guidelines on how to make this a reality, Ipsos recently conducted its annual Petro-Convenience Experience Competitive Benchmark Study to give…
The 2024 Social Media Awards
CStore Decisions, for the 12th consecutive year, is recognizing the convenience store chains performing best on social media platforms. This year we looked at performance across Facebook (FB), Instagram (IG), X — formerly Twitter — and TikTok. For the fourth year in a row, CStore Decisions partnered with Rival IQ to determine the winners. Rival…
Looking Ahead in 2024
As we begin 2024, it is the ideal time to look back at the past 12 months to hone in on the challenges retailers faced and look ahead to forecast the sales trends retailers can expect to see over the next year. It was relatively easy last year to predict that foodservice would continue climbing…
A Look Inside Rusty Lantern’s New Design
C-store retailer Rusty Lantern is no stranger to innovation — recently, the brand unveiled a completely new design that was in the works for more than a year and a half. The refurbished look has been rolled out at one location in Maine with two to come very soon. “I wanted to (do) something that…
Dealing With Retail Theft
Retailers didn’t need a survey to know incidents of theft are up and continue to rise. Whether that theft is from organized crime rings or an inside job, the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) National Retail Security Survey predicts that theft will continue to persist in the year ahead. NRF, which has conducted its Security Survey…
The Future of AI in C-Stores
AI is among topics in the c-store world (and the world in general) that are virtually impossible to avoid in common conversation. Now, convenience retailers are learning how to harness the power of AI to their benefit. In an exclusive CStore Decisions webinar hosted by editor-in-chief Erin Del Conte, industry professionals Derek Gaskins, chief marketing…
The Pizza Power Report
Kevin McIntyre — Online Editor, CStore Decisions and Rick Hynum — Editor-in-Chief, PMQ As convenience store operators continue to elevate their foodservice programs, the pizza parlor and the gas station are beginning to share more similarities. C-store operators are expanding their foodservice menus and, when it comes to a crowd-pleasing meal, there is no better…
Crafting a Corporate Communications Strategy
The art of corporate communications stems around the strategic management of information within an organization and its external stakeholders. It should not be left to chance. So, every internal message, public relations announcement, investor relations communication and overall brand messaging — they all have a cohesive, proactive purpose. The goal is to ensure a consistent,…