First Things First

First Things First

August 2019   minute read

With about 40 million Americans purchasing gas every day, they’re bound to reveal some interesting behaviors at the pump. A recent NACS report—“9 Habits of Gas-Buying Customers”—reveals the habits that customers who purchase fuel are likely displaying at the nearly 122,000 convenience stores in the United States that sell fuel.

Case in point, habit No. 8: Customers do not shop for gas in the same order.

Some customers prefer to buy gas first and then go inside the store, while others prefer to go inside the store and then buy gas. And interestingly, there are regional differences: Compared with the rest of the United States, Midwesterners leave their vehicle at the pump after they fill most of the time (71%), while consumers in the Northeast are most likely to re–park and free up a fueling position after they buy gas (50%).

While share has remained largely the same for bottled water, its sales have increased $547 million in the past five years, while carbonated soft drink sales have declined $656 million.

Source: NACS 9 Habits of Gas-Buying Customers, www.convenience.org/fuels