TREND FORECAST
Here Today … & Tomorrow
The pandemic prompted changes in the convenience channel, many of which are here to stay By Melissa Kress Convenience Store News looks into its crystal ball — with a lot of help from market research reports across the retailing space — to identify a few trends that convenience store operators should keep an eye on for the coming 12 months.
AS EACH NEW YEAR STARTS,
However, if 2020 taught us anything, it's that you can only expect the unexpected. So this year, we’re doing something a little different. As the novel coronavirus hit the United States, consumer demands shifted and convenience retailers learned to pivot. From the decrease in gas buying trips to the rise of contactless payments, here we present seven trends that were born from the pandemic but are here to stay — at least for now.
1
Hands Off
Since the start of the pandemic, 53 percent of today's shoppers have used a mobile contactless payment option for the first time, according to a survey by Inmar Intelligence. Indicative of a larger trend toward all cashless payments, this is further underscored by the company's finding that the majority of shoppers have been avoiding paying with cash in general since the pandemic struck in mid-March. Contactless payment is so important to some shoppers that nearly one-third of survey respondents said they will avoid a retailer that does not offer the option, in favor of one that does. Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores became the latest convenience industry player to expand its contactless payment options when it added tap-and-go credit cards, mobile phone payment options, and Mobile Pay via the Love's Connect app in November.
2
Hit the Curb
According to NACS Research, 21 percent of convenience retailers added curbside pickup since COVID-19 began to spread across the U.S. Among the adopters are Casey's General Stores Inc., Wawa Inc. and Cumberland Farms. It appears consumers are enjoying the convenience: Rakuten Ready found that
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the number of grocery-specific click-and-collect orders has grown 57 percent since the start of 2020, and more than 82 percent of consumers have used order for pickup from restaurants, grocery stores and other retailers in the past six months. With much of the country experiencing a second wave of the virus, and mass vaccine availability still months away, expect curbside pick up to, well, pick up. But be sure to not make your customers wait; according to Rakuten Ready, customers who wait less than 2 minutes to pick up their order are four times more likely to repeat-purchase.
3
At the Touch of Your Fingers
Mobile ordering goes hand in hand with curbside pickup, so it is certain to tick up in popularity as well in 2021. Zebra Technologies' annual Global Shopper Study found that 72 percent of shoppers used mobile ordering, and 82 percent of those are highly likely to continue using it. Millennials and Gen Xers are the primary users, but it might surprise some to learn that nearly half of Boomers (47 percent) are adopting this technology, too. Proof of its continued future potential lies in the numbers. According to supplier partner Paytronix, Gen Z — currently aged nine to 22 — was on track to make up 40 percent of all U.S. consumers in 2020 and more than five in 10 members of Gen Z use their smartphone five or more hours each day.
4
A Return to the Kitchen Table
For some consumers, dining out is a treat, a way to celebrate a special occasion, or a reward for a long workweek. For others, it is the norm. But that all changed in 2020 as government restrictions shuttered the majority of indoor dining in the U.S. — and became a driving force behind shifting eating patterns. For several years, 80 percent of meals in the U.S. have been sourced from home, compared to 20 percent sourced from restaurants and other foodservice outlets. During the pandemic, that gap has widened to as much as 87 percent of meals sourced from home, according to The NPD Group. With more people staying home, the “new normal” is likely to become the normal for many in 2021 and beyond. Sure, some consumers will be itching to visit their favorite restaurants this year but, for most, the return of the family dinner around the kitchen table is comforting in this time of uncertainty.
5
Health & Safety Never Go Out of Style
As Americans wait for COVID-19 vaccines to become widely available, most expect retailers to continue taking precautions when it comes to shopper safety. In a survey of more than 14,000 consumers, Shopkick found that they want to see continued efforts around the availability of disinfectants (67 percent), plexiglass barriers at checkout (57 percent), employees wearing protective face coverings (52 percent), 6-feet social distancing markers (52 percent), and other shoppers wearing protective face coverings (50 percent). In terms of personal pre-