DALLAS -- Forever 21 may be a fashion-retail brand to most, but for convenience store retailers, it's an important demographic trend to stay ahead of, according to research conducted by Technomic Inc. in partnership with CSP magazine.
At the opening session of CSP's Convenience Retailing University (CRU) conference in Dallas, Donna Hood Crecca, senior director for Chicago-based Technomic, revealed five demographic trends identified through a survey of 1,500 convenience store customers, with one of the biggest being the need to court youth.
With the total population encompassing five generations, the youngest three make up two-thirds of adults. "What's become known as the Gen X, millennials and Gen Z are critical," Crecca said.
Concerning millennials, Crecca said they surpassed other groups on many fronts, including being highly diverse, highly educated and varied in their life stages--from entering adulthood to forming families. Adding in the other groupings, Crecca said today's youth culture is tech savvy, fast-paced and multi-tasking, all qualities that lend themselves to the concept of convenience.
"They're excited about convenience," she said, pointing out how half of the Gen Z (teens to 21 year olds) and half of the millennials surveyed looked forward to visiting their favorite convenience store. "You've got a hold of this consumer group."
But staying relevant to this consumer group means several things, including leveraging categories they like such as tobacco, foodservice and beverages, which are desirable to this demographic.
Other trends revealed in the CSP-Technomic research:
- Customization, especially in foodservice. Allowing people to customize their meals increases their perception of quality, value and their overall experience.
- Do better at core competencies, such as fuel and tobacco. Providing alternative fuels or promoting brands (be it major oil or convenience store brands) are becoming expectations, while more varieties and flavors of tobacco products are also becoming consumer priorities.
- Go big. Consumers who are expecting more customization are also buying into the larger-format stores. Where traditional formats are in the 1,500-to-2,400-square-foot range. Many of the newer stores are 4,500 to 6,300 square feet, said Mitch Morrison, vice president and group editor for CSP, who also co-presented with Crecca at the session.
- Back to basics. The top reasons why consumers frequent the channel include variety of options, convenient locations, good food, good prices and friendly staff--all of which are the foundation of today's convenience proposition, both Crecca and Morrison said.
"It's about the basics of convenience retailing," Morrison said. "Are we prioritizing them?"
The speakers advised retailers to take these concepts "to the next level," providing healthier options, more "made to order" opportunities, expanded tobacco sets and relevant technologies.
But in doing so, retailers must continue to "be authentic," Crecca said. "Brand is like a rubber band--it can be stretched, but if it snaps, it's going to hurt."