Wawa Takes First Place in Inaugural Convenience Store Study, ACSI Data Show
Denise DiMeglio 610-228-2102
denise@gregoryfca.com
The race for convenience store superiority is tight, but Wawa comes out on top with an industry-leading score of 82 (out of 100), according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) Convenience Store Study 2024.
QuikTrip finishes second at an ACSI score of 81, followed by Buc-ee’s and Murphy USA at 80 apiece.
The higher satisfaction chains have prioritized serving up a robust set of food options. Hoagies are a big draw for Wawa customers, while QuikTrip looks to install QT Kitchens® across the chain. Buc-ee’s has a reputation for a wide variety of on-the-go food options, and Casey’s General Stores, with a satisfaction score of 79 (same as Sheetz), is a go-to option in the Midwest for pizza, both traditional and breakfast varieties. In fact, Casey’s is now America’s fifth largest pizza purveyor by kitchen numbers.
That being said, nearly all reported chains have scores exceeding the industry average (76). The smaller group of convenience stores, which accounts for a sizeable portion of the industry, drags down the overall mark with a satisfaction score of 75, tying the nation’s largest convenience store chain 7-Eleven. Both are ahead of Shell, which scores 74.
Despite an 8-point difference between first and last place, most convenience stores are investing in enhancements to the customer experience by adding more customized food offerings, larger merchandise selections, enticing rewards programs, and mobile ordering services. Customers have taken notice.
“Convenience stores are no longer just a quick stop for gas and snacks – they are becoming serious competitors in the food service industry,” says Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI. “The top-performing convenience store brands are now on par with fast food chains in terms of food quality and variety, offering customers a wide range of fresh, gourmet options. By focusing on the in-store dining experience, while maintaining the speedy service that customers have grown accustomed to, convenience stores may have found the perfect recipe for success.”
Convenience stores living up to the name – and then some
At the industry level, convenience of hours and store location receive the highest ratings (83). Among the 34% of respondents who report using a store’s mobile app for ordering, strong ratings for app quality (81) and app reliability (80) and the effectiveness of mobile order pickups (80) show that apps are a valuable channel that’s further enhancing customer convenience.
But the success of these stores goes beyond just convenience. Many of the customer experience metrics measured overlap with attributes from food service-based studies, providing useful comparisons for these emerging competitors.
For example, while the convenience store average score of 80 for cooked food quality trails the fast food industry (84), stores like Wawa, Buc-ee’s, Casey’s General Stores, Kwik Trip, and Sheetz meet or exceed fast food chains on this metric. It’s a similar story with food variety. Overall, convenience stores (80) trail the fast food industry by 2 points, but Buc-ee’s, Wawa, Sheetz, and Kwik Trip outperform food fast chains here as well.
Different regions, same top players
If you’ve ever been part of a Wawa versus Sheetz debate, then you know how seriously folks defend their favorite hometown convenience store. So, in the friendly spirit of competition, the ACSI also measured customer satisfaction at the regional level. Once again, the top players prevail.
Wawa performs well in both of its primary markets, taking first place for customer satisfaction in the Northeast and second in the South. Buc-ee’s wins the South region, while Sheetz takes second in the Northeast.
Homophones QuikTrip and Kwik Trip take the top two spots in the Midwest. Satisfaction levels in the West trail other regions by a sizeable margin. A fragmented market led to fewer individual brands attaining sufficient data to report regional-level results. Here, 7-Eleven and Circle K, both with large footprints, tie for the top spot at 72.
The ACSI Convenience Store Study 2024 is based on 5,710 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between March and September 2024. Download the study, and follow the ACSI on LinkedIn and X at @theACSI.
No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the data and information in this release without the express prior written consent of ACSI LLC.
About the ACSI
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) has been a national economic indicator for over 25 years. It measures and analyzes customer satisfaction with approximately 400 companies in about 40 industries and 10 economic sectors, including various services of federal and local government agencies. Reported on a scale of 0 to 100, scores are based on data from roughly 200,000 responses annually. For more information, visit www.theacsi.org.
ACSI and its logo are Registered Marks of American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC.
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