It’s “full speed ahead” as NACS prepares for the can’t-miss 2022 NACS Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 1–4, where attendees can expect unparalleled networking with peers, exciting new vendors and insight into how industry superstars are solving hot-button issues such as staffing and supply chain challenges.

This year’s NACS Show theme builds on the momentum of last year’s “We Got This” theme as the industry moves beyond the pandemic and defines the future of convenience. “All signs point to the 2022 NACS Show being the biggest and best Show yet,” said Henry O. Armour, NACS president and CEO. “Since last year’s Show, the excitement and momentum has been building toward the time when we can all regather as an industry—including with our international partners—to explore innovative new products, ideate around solving current challenges and reconnect with each other, live and in person. We can’t wait to welcome you to Las Vegas this October.”

The NACS Show provides the most comprehensive look at products and services for the convenience retailing industry. Retailers come to discover proven ideas and strategies that enable them to increase sales, attract new customers, build their brand and improve their bottom line. Suppliers exhibit at the Show to establish a presence in the convenience channel, obtain sales leads, increase product exposure and introduce new products. Historically, 23,000+ people attend the NACS Show from over 70 countries, and more than 1,200 companies regularly exhibit. 

EXPLORE THE EXPO

The expo, open October 2-4, covers more than 420,000 net square feet of exhibit space, with 1,200+ companies committed to delivering thousands of innovative new products and technologies in six key categories:

1. Merchandise

2. Candy and Snacks

3. Technology

4. Facility Development and Store Operations

5. Fuel Equipment and Services

6. Food Equipment and Foodservice Programs

There is a dedicated area for first-time exhibitors, as well as a featured section for Cool New Products, giving attendees a first look at never-before-seen products that are ready to hit the shelves.

The Cool New Products Preview Room is segmented into seven areas to help you easily locate new products: Green (eco-friendly), Health & Wellness, New Design, New Flavors, New to the Industry, New Services and New Technology. Here, you can capture product details and access exhibitor contact information, as well as save your custom “shopping list” for a visit to the main expo. Get an early and up-close look at industry novelties, trends and must-haves since this room is open earlier than the expo for retailers.

Be the first to engage with the latest technology, products and companies entering the convenience store market, including emerging categories by visiting the New Exhibitor Area. Located on the expo, this area features only first-time exhibitors to the NACS Show. Get ahead of the game and your competition with the latest technology, products and companies entering the convenience store market, including new categories. This area opens earlier than the expo so retail buyers can be the first to see these new products and companies before anyone else. 

LEARN FROM THE BEST

Who better to learn from than the real-world industry insiders and retailer superstars who are shaping our industry’s future? NACS Show education sessions are designed—by industry peers—to make you and your entire team better. With learning opportunities ranging from category best practices to fully reimagining business operations to implementing technology innovations, there are education sessions specific to every convenience role and pain point.

This year’s 45+ education sessions were ideated and crafted by the NACS Convention Content Committee—your industry peers—with the goal of delivering the most relevant and stimulating content for NACS Show attendees.

Choose topics that best fit your needs, from foodservice to mobile technology to customer experience and more. Sessions will help you solve the problems you are facing today. Here are just a few of the exciting sessions planned: 

• Reinvigorating Dispensed Beverages
• Telling Your ESG Story
• EV Economics: Fact vs. Fiction
• Turning Private Label Into a Powerhouse Brand
• Mergers and Acquisitions Town Hall
• Supercharge Your App
• Self-Checkout Strategies
• Supply Chain Success Stories
• Menu Optimization: Think Like a Restaurant
• Building a Digitally Enabled C-Store
• Insights and Advice From Industry Veterans
• Leveraging Carwash Potential
• Revisiting Store Design for Your Streamlined Workforce

There’s no other gathering, workshop or school on earth that can match the industry-specific educational opportunities found at the NACS Show.

To guide your session selection, NACS has developed three segments based on where you are in the business life cycle in a certain topic: Launcher, Experimenter or Transformer. To use the segments when planning your education experience at the NACS Show, read each session description and look for the segment identifier to understand if the session is designed for your current needs. You might fit into all three segments during the Show depending on where you are in your business.

Get even more from your NACS Show experience by adding one of our pre-conference workshops to your registration: NACS Advanced Category Management Certification and NACS Food Safety Conference. Pre-conference workshops take place on October 1, day one of the NACS Show.

During the NACS Advanced Category Management Certification workshop, attendees can earn their NACS Certified Convenience Advanced Category Management certification by completing a hands-on, six-hour education session on October 1, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. PDT.

“We received a fantastic response from last year’s category management program attendees, so we are bringing it back for 2022,” said Doug Spencer, director, NACS Solution Center. “This hands-on training will allow attendees to improve brand strategy, integrate customer behavior into merchandise planning and so much more—all without missing a minute of the NACS Show.”

Comprised of key strategic planning and analytical skill-building, the interactive workshop is tailored for experienced category management and merchandising professionals from retailer and supplier companies. 

Drawing on the fundamentals included in the online NACS Advanced Category Management curriculum, the program will incorporate NACS State of the Industry data and offer collaborative work sessions.

Attendees will learn how to develop a holistic brand strategy and identify points of differentiation. They will discover how to integrate consumer shopping behavior to create winning space and assortment strategies— with an emphasis on how COVID-19 has impacted the industry. A deep dive into price elasticity modeling, utilizing some behavioral economic principles, will guide attendees on how to optimize price, promotions and overall profitability.

Speakers include Liza Salaria, senior principal consultant, Impact 21, and Lucia Romanello Crater, executive vice president, sales and business development, Impact 21.

The program is limited to 60 participants and is open to buyers and suppliers. Pre-registration is required, and the cost is $499 for NACS Show attendees and $599 for NACS Show exhibit staff.

New this year is the NACS Food Safety Conference, where food safety, foodservice, quality assurance and risk management professionals will lead a first-of-its-kind industry-specific event for the global convenience retail community. The conference will be held October 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. PDT.

Learn how a company’s food safety culture can support, align and contribute to a company’s vision and mission. Understand behaviors and how to create interventions aimed at organizational decision makers, professional food handlers, store-level managers and employees: the gate keepers of safe food.

Discover collaborative solutions to today’s safe food handling challenges, including supply chain issues, staffing and training and innovations that can help save time and costs.

Pre-registration is required, and the cost is $329 for NACS Show attendees and $499 for NACS Show exhibit staff.