Lavina Suthenthiran Senior Retail Analyst
State of Convenience Stores 2026: Closing the Execution Gap Between Convenience and QSR
Table Of Contents 04
Where automation meets the moment of truth
07
Connecting the digital and physical store
09
The trip doesn't end at the door
10
What ties it together
Sponsored by: 2
There are 151,975 US convenience stores, per National Association of Convenience Stores/NielsenIQ, generating $817.5 billion in total sales in 2025. That's a reach few formats can match. Yet roughly 1 in 3 c-store shoppers plan to stop at a QSR within 30 minutes of leaving the store, citing variety and availability, according to NACS. They cite variety and availability, and the trend has built for 5 years as QSRs sharpen their offers. Those shoppers were already in a c-store, already spending. Their next food purchase is the format's most evident growth opportunity. The upside is clear in foodservice, which made up 28.5% of inside sales in 2025 but 38.9% of inside gross profit, per NACS. Prepared food is now the largest in-store category by both measures, but the basket as a whole isn't holding up. After expenses, the average in-store transaction went from 1 cent of profit in 2024 to to a 7-cent loss in 2025, per NACS data reported by PDI Technologies. Fuel is covering the difference. “One is fuel-supported retail. The other is retail-supported fuel. If fuel tightens, that whole model falls apart,” Mike Wilson, COO at Cubby's, said at this year's NACS State of the Industry Summit. Charlie McIlvaine, chairman and CEO of Coen Markets, was blunter: “With fuel, everyone's fine. Without fuel, everyone's exposed.” So why do shoppers still leave for QSR? QSRs have built their pull on consistency and connection. Customers know what they'll get, it's ready when they arrive, and loyalty apps keep them coming back.Sales to McDonald's loyalty members hit about $30 billion in 2024, up 30%, per the company, and across QSRs, loyalty transactions grew 28.5% in 2025, per PAR Technology. C-stores hold an edge of their own: consumers have noticed higher prices at QSRs, but not at convenience stores, per NACS.
The gap is in delivery.
Everyone knows what to do. It's a cultural issue, - Mike Wilson, chief operating officer, Cubby's
That's the execution gap: the distance between what the best operators know works and what most stores deliver every day, at scale. Close it, and the QSR stop never happens. Wall Street punishes inconsistency. Casey's, one of the chains most associated with foodservice, grew inside same-store sales 3.2% for the quarter ended July 31, 2026, down from 4.3% a year earlier, per its Q1 results. Revenue climbed to $5.68 billion, and the stock still fell sharply. Investors want consistency, store by store.
+3.2%
$5.68B
Inside same-store sales for the quarter
Revenue for the quarter
4.3%
−7%+
Same-store sales growth a year earlier
Stock move after the news
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Shoppers want it too.
Value is a trend that's not going away. - Chris Rapanick, managing director of NACS Research
For convenience, delivering value means the same speed, availability, and quality on every visit.
Convenience retail is built around one thing: time. Every point of friction, at checkout, on the shelf, or during fulfillment, takes away from the very thing customers came in to save. This report examines three critical areas where that friction shows up: checkout, shelf and inventory accuracy, and fulfillment. It also explores whether solving these challenges could give convenience stores a decisive advantage.
Where automation meets the moment of truth Self-checkout is being reconsidered across the industry. What was framed for years as a straightforward gain in efficiency, fewer lanes staffed and faster throughput, is now a live debate. Where does automation remove friction, and where does it shift the work onto the shopper? For convenience specifically, the story doesn't map cleanly onto grocery and big-box. Tobacco, alcohol, and fuel already require associate control regardless of checkout format, so unmanaged self-checkout isn't the central risk it can be elsewhere. Compliance and product mix do most of the work. The real decision is a 4 part sequence:
1
What experience does the operator want to deliver?
2 What's the transaction mix? 3 What are the speed requirements? 4 need to stay for compliance?
Where does associate interaction
Circle K shows where that sequence leads: a middle ground between staffed lanes and fully unattended checkout, one that keeps the speed benefit while preserving the human touch where it's needed. Its parent, CoucheTard, committed in 2022 to rolling out countertop AI self-checkout across more than 7,000 stores, per Chain Store Age
4
That same sequencing logic extends to labor. Casey's, which ended its latest quarter with 2,959 stores, per its Q1 results, has framed self-checkout and kiosks around solving its labor shortage, a distinction that matters most in the rural markets where finding workers is hardest. Whether that framing holds up depends on intent. Automation works best when it's deployed to improve execution, helping a smaller team keep the store operating consistently during peak periods and coverage gaps. For convenience specifically, the stakes differ from grocery in another way too. C-store transactions are smaller, faster, more habitual. A shopper grabbing coffee and a snack has near-zero tolerance for even 10 seconds of added friction, and even less for a false stop that forces an unnecessary human intervention. Foodservice draws the visit, but checkout decides whether it's worth repeating. It's also where c-stores can make the trip more personal.
Circle K
Casey’s
7,000+
2,959
stores rolling out countertop AI self-checkout
stores at the end of the latest quarter, framing self-checkout and kiosks around its labor shortage, most acute in rural markets
Stefano Lai, head of sales expert for the Smart Vision AI portfolio at Diebold Nixdorf, points to fresh produce as a clear example of where the technology makes the difference. Shoppers get lost in pick menus that differ at every retailer, and a wrong selection drives loss straight back to the store. Vision AI fixes both sides at once: better recognition improves stock accuracy and speeds up the transaction. "A twofold benefit for the shopper and the retailer at the same time," Lai says. Basket size is the real divide from grocery, says Sarah Reichert, global advisory services at Diebold Nixdorf: "The shopping itself is really, really fast," so checkout has to match that pace exactly, 2 or 3 items, in and out. “It's to buy a drink, a snack, whatever,” Lai says. "The technology and the checkout should reflect and fit the customer journey." That shows up in loss prevention. Lai frames it as a mindset shift, from flagging every anomaly as a red light to a system that detects, assists, and lets the shopper selfcorrect first. About 80% do, he says, escalating to a person only when they can't. Reichert adds the staffing angle. Fewer interventions mean associates spend less time on checkout problems and more on their actual job, a real advantage for an industry struggling to retain staff. Ask either of them where the biggest friction sits today, and the answer is the same.
Speed is definitely the most important factor. - Sarah Reichert, global advisory services, Diebold Nixdorf
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Lai's point is about what the technology can detect and correct in the moment. Just as important is the sequence of business decisions that determines whether it gets deployed well in the first place. That's why some retailers have needed to rebalance their approach while others are scaling it further. Walmart, for instance, pulled selfcheckout from its South Philadelphia Supercenter in 2026, per the Philadelphia Inquirer, while confirming plans to remodel more than 650 stores nationwide. The best-run stores know which transactions benefit most from automation: quick, habitual purchases. Others still need a person: age verification, loyalty issues, anything a camera can't judge. Behind that call is a labor question too. Thinner budgets and harderto-fill shifts are pushing operators toward hybrid models, with one associate covering multiple lanes, machines handling the routine, and people handling the rest. Done right, it's automation protecting the store experience.
Key takeaway Start with the customer's mission, then choose the technology: automate quick, routine purchases, and keep staff where compliance or judgment matters. in order: experience, transaction 1 Decide mix, speed, then compliance.
Experience
2
6
Transaction mix
Use automation to help a smaller team run every store consistently.
Speed
Compliance
to smarter of shoppers can fix errors 3 due systems
80%
themselves, freeing staff for the floor.
Connecting the digital and physical store Checkout is the most visible friction point but it isn't the first one. Before a customer ever reaches the register, the store has to have what they came in for, visibly, on the shelf. That's 2 problems stacked on top of each other.
The physical store generates an enormous amount of operational data, but too much of it has traditionally been invisible, says Mark Propes, chief business development officer at Vusion. The gap that matters is the distance between what a system believes and what a shopper actually finds on the shelf. Closing the gap early, before a customer feels it, is what separates a missed sale from a trip that still goes right.
Visibility
Can a customer, or a picker fulfilling a delivery order, actually see and reach the product?
Accuracy Does the inventory record reflect reality in the first place?
By connecting the shelf to digital systems, retailers can turn that data into action, and improve availability, productivity, and customer experience - Mark Propes, chief business development officer, Vusion
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The case for making that connection has real evidence behind it.A 2025 Journal of Marketing study, run with German signage startup Cyreen, analyzed 237 campaigns and roughly 30 million shoppers found that exposure to in-store digital signage increased the probability of purchasing the featured product by 8.1%, with a 14.8% lift in overall category purchase probability, meaning the effect wasn't limited to the exact SKU advertised. The study's stores were in Western Europe, so the numbers are evidence of mechanism rather than a US benchmark, but the direction is clear: connecting shelf data to digital systems changes what customers actually buy. Underneath that connection sits a second gap, the distance between what a system believes is in the store and what's actually there, down to the individual SKU.
QSR operators figured this out first. Their speed was the result of consistent execution and connected operations - pricing, inventory, and workflow all pulling in the same direction, according to Propes. He says convenience retailers have that same opportunity: connect pricing, inventory, shelf conditions, and associate workflows through one shared system instead of running each in isolation. Real-time shelf data lets a store catch problems earlier, put labor where it's actually needed, and respond faster when conditions change. Grocery and big-box retailers are already moving on this. Albertsons expanded its instore digital pilot from roughly 80 to 800 stores this year, and Kroger and CVS are pushing similar screen deployments, per eMarketer.
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IN-STORE DIGITAL SIGNAGE DRIVES PURCHASES
8.1%
higher probability of purchasing the featured product.
14.8%
lift in overall category purchase probability.
Convenience hasn't moved at that pace yet, which is either the format's biggest gap or its biggest opening, depending on who closes it first. For Melissa Lessard, president and general manager, Boutique d'animaux Chico, the opening depends on how operators build it. Retail media “needs to be treated as part of the overall store experience and aligned with customer needs,” she says. Loyalty is the unlock, especially at checkout, where offers can be personalized. “But it only works if what's on the screen is aligned with what's actually on the shelf and in stock, and if the programs are practical for operations teams to execute. That operational reality should never be underestimated.” Foodservice is where both problems compound fastest. Prepared food is now the largest in-store category by both sales and gross profit, and foodservice sales grew 1.7% in 2025, to $341.2 billion, per NACS. A madeto-order item is only as fast as the slowest link behind it, which puts real pressure on closing these execution gaps as the category keeps growing. Morning meal traffic tells a stronger story: fast-food breakfast traffic rose just 1% over a recent 3-month period, while “food-forward” c-store visits climbed 9% in the same window, according to David Portalatin, SVP of Circana.
Key takeaway Make sure the shelf matches the system: connect inventory, pricing, and store workflows in one place so problems get fixed before a customer notices.
1
Two things must hold: shoppers and pickers can find the product, and the inventory record is accurate.
2
QSRs got fast by connecting operations, and c-stores have the same opportunity.
3
In-store digital screens lift sales of featured products and their whole category.
4
Foodservice is where this matters most, and c-store breakfast visits are growing faster than fast food.
The trip doesn't end at the door Delivery has extended the convenience trip beyond the store, and c-stores are scaling it fast. 7-Eleven's delivery platform, 7Now, reached $979 million in digital sales in fiscal 2025, per CSP, growing about 25% a year over the past 4 years, and the company plans to add around 200 stores a year to the platform through 2030. “The very definition of convenience itself is changing,” says Stephen Hayes Dacus, president and CEO of Seven & i.
The delivered basket is also bigger. 7Now orders average nearly $16, about 1.7 times the size of in-store baskets, per C-Store Dive. That extension carries its own friction risk. A customer who gets a substitution, a late order, or a stockout they didn't see coming loses trust just as fast as one who hits a slow checkout line in person. And every delivery order depends on the same problem the shelf section describes: if the inventory record is wrong, the order is wrong before anyone picks it. The stakes are rising as AI starts building the order. Instacart launched Clementine in September, an AI assistant that turns a recipe, a screenshot, or a handwritten list straight into a ready-to-buy cart. Anthropic released retail-agent blueprints the same month, and Reuters reported one retail partner saw cart sizes rise 30-35% and purchase completion rise roughly 60%. When a system builds the order, a substitution or stockout costs more, because the customer never chose the item in the first place.
Key takeaway Treat delivery as part of the store: the order is only as reliable as the inventory behind it.
1
C-store delivery is scaling, and delivered baskets are larger than in-store ones
2
A wrong inventory record means a wrong order before anyone picks it.
3
As AI builds more carts, substitutions and stockouts cost more trust.
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That moment is getting more complex. Visa, Mastercard, and Ant International announced work in September on a shared "Know Your Agent" framework, letting payment networks verify trusted purchasing agents before a transaction goes through, per PYMNTS. As AI agents start placing orders, the payment moment has to carry trust as well as speed. Convenience is further from that shift. “I think much of this shift will play out elsewhere in retail first and will take longer to reach checkout in convenience store settings, because this is a predominantly in-person buying environment with a fair amount of impulse purchasing based on what appeals to the human shopper in the moment,” says Sky Canaves, principal analyst, retail, at EMARKETER. She expects agentic commerce to take hold first in routine replenishment, such as weekly grocery. At the c-store counter, the buyer is already there to verify.
What ties it together Checkout, shelf and inventory, and fulfillment don't work in isolation, and payment sits underneath all 3. Whether it's a contactless tap at self-checkout, a delivery order settling at the door, or a loyalty transaction tied to a personalized offer, the payment moment is where every other part of the trip either comes together or falls apart.
The nearer-term opportunity looks a lot like what QSRs already do well. C-stores can improve the experience and stay competitive “through apps that integrate mobile ordering, loyalty benefits, and stored payments, as well as through AI applications that support store operations such as inventory management, food quality and freshness, and troubleshooting for customer service issues,” Canaves says. A customer who hits friction anywhere rarely blames the specific system behind it. They just remember the trip. Lessard's test for retail media applies to every layer: it's valuable “if customers see value in the experience and the data it generates translates into a clear, measurable impact on the business.” That's why the leading operators treat all 4 layers as one.
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Where it breaks
What leading operators do
How it keeps the food trip in the store
Checkout
Added seconds, false stops
Decide in sequence, then automate routine purchases and keep staff where judgment matters
Adding food to the trip stays quick and easy
Shelf and inventory
The system says in stock, the shelf says otherwise
Connect inventory, pricing, and workflows in one shared system
The food shoppers want is there when they look
Fulfillment
Substitutions, late orders, surprise stockouts
Treat delivery as part of the store, backed by accurate inventory
Delivered orders are as reliable as the in-store trip
Payment
Trust and verification at the last step
Treat payment as the moment that completes the whole trip
Every purchase, in store or by agent, closes cleanly
Friction point
Many c-store food offers are already on par with QSR, per NACS. What sets QSRs apart is consistency: the same experience, every time, at every location. C-stores already have the reach, the value perception, and a shopper standing in the store. What closes the gap is running checkout, shelf, fulfillment, and payment as one system, where each layer reinforces the others instead of running as 4 separate vendor relationships solving 4 separate problems. The operators who get that right keep the shopper's next food purchase where it started: in the store.
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Key takeaway Run checkout, shelf, fulfillment, and payment as one connected system, so every trip delivers the consistency shoppers now get from QSR.
1
Start with the app: connect mobile ordering, loyalty, and stored payments in one place.
2
Put AI to work in store operations first: inventory, food quality and freshness, and customer service.
3
Watch agentic commerce, but expect it to reach grocery replenishment before the c-store counter.
Editorial Contributors Lavina Suthenthiran, Senior Retail Analyst Jeremy Goldman, VP, Editorial & Insights Annie Petrova, Graphic Designer
Contributors Sky Canaves, principal analyst, retail, EMARKETER Stephen Hayes Dacus, president and CEO, Seven & i Stefano Lai, head of sales experts for the Smart Vision AI portfolio, Diebold Nixdorf Melissa Lessard, president and general manager, Boutique d'animaux Chico Charlie McIlvaine, chairman and CEO, Coen Markets Alex Miller, CEO, Alimentation Couche-Tard David Portalatin, SVP, Circana Mark Propes, chief business development officer, Vusion Chris Rapanick, managing director, NACS Research Sarah Reichert, global advisory services, Diebold Nixdorf Mike Wilson, chief operating officer, Cubby's
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