Throughout the decade, fuel and convenience retailers will be tasked with answering a simple question: “why will the customer of 2030 visit my store?” Roadside retailing faces a variety of disruptive headwinds that threaten long-successful business models.
The report’s five authors call for an immediate repositioning around the needs of people rather than vehicles. “The global fuel and convenience industry is at a crossroads,” said lead author Scott Annan. “The internal combustion engine’s appetite for fuel is declining, and much of the demand for charging electric vehicles will be satisfied at consumers’ homes. Future opportunities are plentiful for those retailers who recognize that our needs for mobility and food remain interconnected.”
The Shape of Food Retailing in the New Normal: Roadside Retail is the fifth in a series examining how food retailing will pivot and adapt in a post-COVID-19 world. This latest iteration is the most comprehensive to date.
Key highlights include:
- Retailers must think bigger than electric chargers. The authors contend that retailers who pivot their roadside investment from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles without a strategic — and much larger — investment in fresh food for today and relevant local services will be disrupted and even disintermediated.
- The future is data-driven. Guest contributor Paul Boyle, CEO of UK-based Retail Insight, explores how leading retailers will leverage technology — including pivoting loyalty strategies from membership to personalization, automating decisions, item-level inventory management, and more.
- Challenges and opportunities in key growth areas. The authors dive deep into the dynamics of last-mile fulfillment and delivery, fresh food for today, daypart optimization, and servicing a broad range of consumer mobility needs.
- Four critical pillars of future success. The authors contend that thriving retailers will have a foundation of four critical success pillars: consumer relevance, consistent execution, willingness to embrace new operating models and meaningful brand identity.
- Timely insights from global retail leaders. Amongst the 65 contributing global retail leaders are Chris Gheysens, CEO of Wawa; Joseph Sheetz, CEO of Sheetz; Polly Flinn, EVP of Giant Eagle and GetGo; Chris Tanco, COO of 7-Eleven, Inc.; George Fournier, President EG America; Dr Henry Armour, CEO of NACS; Brian Donaldson CEO of Maxol; Theo Foukkare, CEO of the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS), and James Lowman, CEO of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). Darryl Burchell, one of the report’s co-authors, is BP’s former Head of Global Retail.