Building a C-Store Channel Vision for 2030

The US market has had approximately 150,000 service stations every year for the past 15 years. Predictions for the future are for those numbers to start declining as hybrid, EV, and fuel-efficient vehicles make refueling more about human comfort than vehicle performance. This means that c-store operators looking for profit growth must focus on reinventing the store rather than building more stores. Consolidation will intensify.

In this session, we will review the store of the future from three perspectives: The role of store for human comfort and entertainment, its position as a ‘food-for-now’ destination, and the changing nature of category contributions to traffic, basket, and profits.

Ray Gaul will present Retail Cities review of ‘store of the future concepts’. Mike Bach will discuss strategies for suppliers who find their roles shifting over time – for instance from traffic-builder to basket-builder. Special guest, Shell, will describe their Store of the Future Vision and the thinking that went behind it. iSEE Store Innovations will outline how new technologies like NFC and AI will benefit the channel.

Host or Publisher Retail Cities Global Inc