The secret to driving sales and increasing business is not a secret at all.
By Kevin Miller, Senior Marketing Manager, Tyson Convenience Foodservice
Speed of service is a growing factor in our time-starved society as more consumers operate on a time crunch, and convenience stores are best equipped to meet on-the-go consumer needs. In addition to offering quick food options, convenience stores provide a breadth of product offerings and have extended service hours and an unmatched speed of transaction.
Understanding how to achieve consumer satisfaction is key for convenience retailers to remain relevant to shoppers and ensure repeat prepared food purchases, especially with the opportunity to capture market share from other convenient prepared food options.
To increase foot traffic and drive more convenience store purchases, operators should create strategies based on these five consumer purchasing triggers.
Offer Quality Products
Thanks to progress over the last several years, gone are the days of convenience stores as destinations for just fuel, cigarettes, lottery tickets or bland food. Convenience stores have become a food destination with the expectation that shoppers will find quality food options available any time of day. Many convenience stores now offer equal, if not superior, food experiences compared to other prepared food outlets.
Convenience store shoppers demand this higher level of quality and want satisfaction with their purchase experience. Stock up and offer foodservice brands consumers know and trust, especially ones that are top sales performers and deliver on quality, taste and appearance.
Tantalize Taste Buds
Operators can increase purchases by providing regional products geared toward the local tastes of their core consumers. For example, operators may cater to local flavors by offering Tex-Mex flavors in the Southwest or Cajun-spiced items in the Southeast.
On-trend flavors, such as hot and spicy offerings, can also trigger purchases. According to the Technomic 2014 Flavor Consumer Trend Report, 54% of consumers are in favor of spicy foods and sauces in both restaurants and quick-service restaurants. Convenience store operators have the opportunity to capitalize on this movement by providing shoppers a variety of flavorful taste options, such as spicy handheld sandwiches or limited time only (LTO) roller grill offerings, to generate more purchases and reach a greater consumer base.
Appearance is Everything
Making a good first impression is vital. The entire shopping experience must be taken into consideration, from the store’s cleanliness to the professionalism of the associates, helping create a shopping environment conducive to browsing and additional purchases. Having a firm grasp on operations and store appearance will provide shoppers with confidence in customer service and food safety.
Best practices include establishing processes for convenience store units to ensure each building is well-maintained, products are visibly appealing and the parking lot is clear of clutter and trash. Educating employees on the importance of cleanliness and organization is also important.
Clear Visual Communication Connects
If there are product differentiators worth communicating on signage inside or outside the store, be sure to highlight those attributes to educate and connect consumers. Clean and clear signage and featured product photography should also instill positive feelings. In addition, roller grill merchandising needs to promote the consistency and integrity of product, and the product photography featured needs to instill positive feelings of quality, taste and appearance.
Focus on Food Freshness
Fresh food preparation is a booming area of growth, and convenience stores are now positioned to deliver against this consumer need. Retailers that have established themselves as a fresh foodservice provider are now discovering opportunities to expand that positioning to sweet treats for grab-and-go sales.
The sweets category has been driven by the popularity of breakfast, where fresh-baked muffins and doughnuts now make up a significant portion of packaged sweet snack sales in convenience stores. Operators can capitalize on impulse purchases by purposefully placing fresh sweet goods in destination areas such as inside warmers when breakfast sandwiches sell out, and near the register and beverage bars.
When it comes to the driving factors behind food purchase decisions at convenience stores, consumers have shifted their focus and are more interested in quality, taste, appearance, clear visual communication and freshness. Once operators understand these insights, they can build consumer purchase strategies and establish best practices to influence convenience store shoppers and ultimately increase foot traffic, drive repeat visits and generate more positive recommendations for the store.
Kevin Miller serves as the senior marketing manager for the Convenience Store division of Tyson Foods, leading the team responsible for product development, channel insights, customer development and marketing communications for chain accounts in the convenience store channel. Kevin’s career at Tyson Foods has spanned over 10 years and involved a wide variety of roles, including supply chain, product management and product development. A native of Wisconsin, Kevin completed undergraduate studies at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and received his MBA from the University of Oklahoma Price College of Business, and now lives in Northwest Arkansas with his family.
