Lifting Beverage Sales Into Autumn

Beverage sales are heating up as c-stores prepare for the summer-tofall transition. Popular fall flavors, new products and promotions can help keep customers returning for drink purchases as summer ends.

Summer came early for much of the nation this year when heat domes settled over cities from the Pacific Northwest to the Eastern Seaboard as early as May and stuck around for most of the season. For convenience stores, hot temperatures typically translate into increased sales of cold beverages — packaged from the cold vault as well as dispensed carbonated sodas and frozen blended drinks.

For c-stores, hot temperatures typically translate into increased sales of cold beverages — packaged from the cold vault as well as carbonated sodas and frozen blended drinks.

“On the dispensed side, guests are continuing to move back toward fountain beverages after the impact of the pandemic over the last few years. Convenience retailers are once again investing in aggressive fountain promotions as a traffic-driving tactic this summer. At Casey’s, we are offering an 89-cent medium fountain or frozen dispensed beverage across our footprint this summer selling season,” said Chris Stewart, vice president of merchandising for Casey’s. The Ankeny, Iowa-based convenience store chain operates more than 2,500 stores across 16 states.

With September around the corner, does it pay for c-stores to turn their attention to fall beverages before the temperature outside drops?

Marketing Variety

An industry review released by Goldman Sachs in June, based on NielsenIQ data, revealed carbonated beverages in all retail channels, including convenience stores, racked up more than $39 billion over the previous 52 weeks ending June 3. Energy drinks also brought in more than $19 billion, as did

Drinks Up

bottled water. Sport drinks posted a respectable $10.1 billion. Tea, coffee and sparkling flavored waters also earned billions. Although some volumes were down, several subcategories experienced double-digit growth for the same period, including low-calorie carbonated beverages as well as energy and sport drinks.

Retailers enjoy sales gains across beverage product families.

Of course, category managers hope a prolonged hot summer this year means hot sales, but fall spices things up for the beverage category too. It’s the time of year when consumer desire for warm flavors kicks in. However, Stewart noted that in-store traffic tends to cool off somewhat in autumn, which puts more onus on beverage promotions to grab consumers’ attention.

“In relation to preparation, we will focus on fall flavor favorites, like pumpkin, along with ensuring our equipment is calibrated to be ready to serve the increased guest interest,” he explained.

Pumptoppers, bright oversized posters and other signage certainly highlight beverage deals, but loyalty programs create lanes to send marketing messages directly to customers. A growing population of c-stores have

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“Leveraging loyalty to drive differentiation continues to be an important tool for retailers in an increasingly competitive market,” said Stewart.

“Given the daily sales volume of beverages (both non-alcohol and dispensed), it creates an opportunity to drive traffic and repeat business.” The Casey’s Rewards program boasts more than 6.5 million members.

Loyalty programs also offer a prime platform to introduce new beverage products. According to

FAST FACTS:

• Twenty percent of consumers either closely or occasionally follow a sober-curious lifestyle, per NielsenIQ.

• Favorite fall flavors and promotions can boost beverage sales heading into autumn.

• Loyalty programs also offer a prime platform to introduce new beverage products.

the NielsenIQ “Sip Into Summer” report, some of the hottest trends in drinks right now have less to do with flavors and more to do with purpose. For example, the authors found that more than 20% of consumers either closely or occasionally follow a sober-curious lifestyle, thus promoting the emerging field of mocktails. What’s more, people are interested in creating their own mocktail recipes, and therefore, are keen on buying juices, tonics and mixers. Another trend highlighted is the demand for plant-based products poured from biodegradable packaging.

“Most of the successful new products coming into the marketplace are healthier, and in many cases, offer functional benefits as well,” noted Gary Hemphill, managing director of research for the Beverage Marketing Corp.

He also emphasized the unique role c-stores play in piquing consumer curiosity and why it pays to focus on new-product promotions any time of year.

“Convenience stores in particular are a key channel for new products because consumers are more likely to experiment with different drinks sold single-serve,” Hemphill explained. “Convenience store consumers are often more likely to experiment with their product choices than consumers in more take-home oriented channels like grocery stores.” CSD