Convenience Store Decisions, September 2018
Foodservice Marketing Promoting Your Foodservice Offering fresh delicious meals and snacks is only half of the equation of foodservice success for convenience stores Just as important is the strategic use and combination of marketing tools to satisfy hungry patrons By Marilyn Odesser Torpey Associate Editor I n a February 2018 research report global consulting fi rm AlixPartners found encouraging news for food forward retailers The report revealed that foodservice is the primary reason for consumers in store visits In fact c store is the fastest growing foodservice segment taking share from others such as quick service restaurants QSR and grocery stores Still there is a lot of room for growth in the c store foodservice sector explained Molly Harnischfeger a director in the restaurants hospitality and leisure practice at AlixPartners Only one quarter of the consumers polled for the study said that they would be likely to try new food offerings from places that have not traditionally sold food Half of those polled said they would be unlikely and another 25 said they were indifferent Sixty fi ve percent of those consumers who said they would not try the food offerings were baby boomers Two thirds of Millennials said they would be likely or indifferent to trying the new items Reaching such a diverse consumer population requires a multi pronged approach employing a variety of marketing tools Harnischfeger said One major factor for all groups is being in front of them when theyre making food deci decisions said Harnischfeger That makes in store and pumptop signage and sampling some of the most effective ways to move the needle SAMPLING SELLS Kent Kwik Convenience Stores with 44 locations primarily in Texas and one each in New Mexico and Oklahoma uses sampling both inside and at the pumps to encourage foodservice trial and showcase new items When we sample at the pump we usually see about a 20 lift in our foodservice sales that lasts about 60 days before it levels out said Meredith Bright Kent Kwiks director of corporate communications and brand development Ideally said Bright the stores would sample at the pumps continuously rotating every eight weeks between limited time offer LTO items either something brand new or a returning favorite such as street tacos and ones that are available every day The everyday items may be specially priced such as two breakfast burritos for 3 Fast Facts Sampling often sells a c stores program Utilize social media to entice younger customers Online ordering enables incremental sales 56 Convenience Store Decisions September 2018 cstoredecisions com
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