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NACS Magazine June 2026

Page 90

11% Basket size increase when customers bought from an open cooler instead of a closed-door cooler with the exact same merchandise.

RETHINKING THE COLD CASE Strategic merchandising helps customers shop faster, drives impulse purchases and builds bigger baskets.

F

or another consecutive year, foodservice led convenience inside sales in 2025. Foodservice accounted for 28.5% of the total sales mix—up from 11.9% in 2005—and 38.9% of in-store gross profit dollars. Across the industry, a pattern continues to

86 JUNE 2026 convenience.org

become clear: Foodservice is a growth and profit opportunity for operators. “C-stores are in a perfect spot right now to capture market share of foodservice customers,” said Danielle McMiller, vice president of marketing at Structural Concepts,

a manufacturer of temperaturecontrolled display cases. “They are positioned to meet the new betterfor-you health trends and changes in consumer eating habits due to GLP-1s, and are keeping their stronghold on packaged beverages.”