Beyond Convenience : Conexxus 2025 Highlights the Value of Breaking Bread with Customers

This week was the 2025 Conexxus Annual Conference. For those wondering, Conexxus is THE industry group focused on developing technology standards for the benefit of the convenience store and fuel retail industry.

In their own words:

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“We define strategic technology roadmaps and create flexible standards to navigate the evolving retail environment, ensuring your operations stay ahead in the competitive landscape.”
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Something fascinating that sets this industry apart from many others is how the many vendors, suppliers, and participants coalesced around a standards-based approach many years ago. The adoption of standards means greater interoperability of tools and systems, greater efficiencies, and ultimately, greater opportunity to focus on applying technology for the benefit of the business rather than wasting resources building dozens of custom integrations.

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While many industries are ruled by a fierce survival of the fittest battle of proprietary ecosystems, c-store technology is a beautiful demonstration of cooperation.

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Conexxus is the organization that stewards and cultivates these standards. Conexxus exists to minimize the need for each brand to reinvent the wheel. The annual conference is where those devoted to this mission come together.

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This specific event is a four day marathon of workshops and deep dives with two hundred subject matter experts across various topics. There is no exhibit hall. There are no lavish parties. There is no traditional Vegas takeover where everyone scatters. This is a serious affair. Given the stunning scale of this industry (over 152k locations by their count) it is no surprise that such an event attracts the best and brightest minds to focus on moving this industry forward.

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The Untapped Potential of Convenience

Most people associate c-stores with fuel stations, and while there is certainly a great deal of overlap, they are two distinctly different businesses. In fact, the two functions are often different businesses operating under the same roof in an elegant symbiosis. Customers arrive for fuel. They are able to make time saving purchases while they wait, and get back on the road quickly and easily. This window of time to engage the customer is brief, but regular, and raises the question “what else can we offer the customer to enrich their experience?”

More clearly stated, how can a c-store be more convenient?

Emergent C-Store Trends

Consumer traffic trends are evolving

With a dramatic pandemic driven shift to remote work the frequency of visits to a fuel station declined sharply, for obvious reasons, in recent years. Remarkably, c-store traffic remained more robust. There are lots of explanations for this, but it would be remiss to overlook that in tough times we all seek our comforts, and make no mistake, the local c-store is a temple of comfort to a great many people. Luckily, traffic to these locations has been on a path to recovery, but consumer affinity for c-store convenience clearly extends beyond the idea that they only visit because they happen to need fuel. People are visiting convenience stores because they are conveniently located and represent a simpler, faster way to make small purchases on a regular basis. Consumers are prioritizing convenience, to the detriment of other industry segments, but to the benefit of retailers specializing in convenience.

Food is the untapped potential of convenience.

Second, people like to eat, and when given the choice, many of them would rather have something more than the candy and chip staples of c-store dining. In fact, as more c-stores have experimented with food a remarkable trend has risen to prominence. More consumers are buying more prepared foods from more convenience stores. This isn’t an outlier, this signal from the market is loud and clear. Year over year foodservice sales have grown more than double that of other c-store merchandise sales. Food is the untapped potential of convenience.

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According to the NACS Convenience Voices program, nearly one of two (46%) shoppers describe their c-store visit as a meal or snack occasion, and three out of the top five reasons why people stopped at convenience stores related to food. Additionally, 23.3% of people reported that they would shop more at convenience stores if they had higher quality food.

New Opportunities and New Requirements

So how does a c-store make the leap to unlock the revenue potential of foodservice? Here are some key areas to consider:

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• A c-store is the ideal companion to a quick service restaurant (QSR). The convergence of known and respected QSR brands with trusted c-store brands gives consumers 2x as many reasons to visit. Available fuel is an additional bonus. Survey your customers to find out what foods are in most demand in your market. Partner with an existing foodservice brand, or create your own.
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• Many customers want a high quality snack, not a meal. Consider smaller portions that satisfy them now, but encourage them to return for more.
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• Just like traffic flows evolved during the pandemic, so did dining expectations. A majority of diners no longer require a sit down experience to be satisfied. Adequate appealing options, value sensitive pricing, quick service, and clean welcoming facilities are a winning combination.
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• Many foodservice guests are accustomed to loyalty programs. There is an ever increasing expectation of a personalized experience. This can be challenging to deliver, but loyalty programs make it a lot easier. Know your customer, understand their behaviors, and reward them to build an enduring relationship. These programs don’t run themselves, but with some slow steady investment they can become powerful allies.
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• Technology won’t do the work for you, but it can make it so much easier. Choose products that work together. If it makes your life more difficult, it isn’t the answer. Customers are your business, not building custom software. Organizations like Conexxus work hard to make it possible for products to work together. Use this to the advantage of your business!
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• Be inspired! Go visit some local QSR brands and see what you can apply to your own business. Replicate success for a shortcut to success.
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• Remain vigilant on the fundamentals. Watch your costs and always keep those payment fees in check. That is your profit, you want to keep it.
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• Meet your customers where they are, and know that most of them are on a mobile device. Mobile ordering, mobile payment, and digital wallets are powerful accelerators that are easily adopted. They are also table stakes with a new generation of customers!

Checking Out and Summing it Up

The 2025 Conexxus Annual Conference underscored the critical role of technology standards in the convenience store and fuel retail industry, fostering interoperability and efficiency. As consumer preferences shift, c-stores are increasingly recognized as more than just fuel stops, with foodservice emerging as a major growth opportunity. To capitalize on this, businesses must embrace technology, loyalty programs, and QSR partnerships while maintaining operational fundamentals and adapting to evolving customer expectations.