---
title: "What Products Sell Best in Convenience Stores at Gas Stations?"
description: "With the advent of the automobile era, there are about 100,000 gas stations in China, with Sinopec and PetroChina accounting for about 50%. Meanwhile, single fuel services can no longer meet the diverse needs of car owners, making non-fuel services increasingly important. In the U.S., 95% of gas stations have convenience stores, and profits from these stores account for 20%-40% of total gas station profits. In China, the gas station convenience store market has attracted attention and become a new competitive battleground. For example, Sinopec has launched convenience store operations in over 30,000 of its gas stations, with more than 20,000 now operating convenience stores."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-11-09"
language: "en"
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---

# What Products Sell Best in Convenience Stores at Gas Stations?

> With the advent of the automobile era, there are about 100,000 gas stations in China, with Sinopec and PetroChina accounting for about 50%. Meanwhile, single fuel services can no longer meet the diverse needs of car owners, making non-fuel services increasingly important. In the U.S., 95% of gas stations have convenience stores, and profits from these stores account for 20%-40% of total gas station profits. In China, the gas station convenience store market has attracted attention and become a new competitive battleground. For example, Sinopec has launched convenience store operations in over 30,000 of its gas stations, with more than 20,000 now operating convenience stores.

With the advent of the automobile era, there are about 100,000 gas stations in China, with Sinopec and PetroChina accounting for about 50%. Meanwhile, single fuel services can no longer meet the diverse needs of car owners, making non-fuel services increasingly important.
In the U.S., 95% of gas stations have convenience stores, and profits from these stores account for 20%-40% of total gas station profits. In China, the gas station convenience store market has attracted attention and become a new competitive battleground. For example, Sinopec has launched convenience store operations in over 30,000 of its gas stations, with more than 20,000 now operating convenience stores. For brand owners, gas station convenience stores are not only numerous but also a rapidly growing channel. A certain gum brand has maintained an annual sales growth rate of over 20% in gas station convenience stores in recent years. Today, Xiaoling will take you to explore gas station convenience stores, looking at their main customer groups, peak business hours, and products sold (data below comes from gas station store visits published on the Ailingong platform):
Scope of visits: 1,000+ highway gas station convenience stores
Method: observation and inquiry
Content: product categories, brands, prices, sales volume, consumer profiles, etc.

**Who are the consumers visiting gas station convenience stores?**
Among those who enter gas station convenience stores to make purchases, 70% are private car owners/passengers (Figure 1), of which 3/4 are male (Figure 2). Private car owners and passengers have higher spending power and relatively more free time, allowing them to stay longer at gas stations or service areas. At the same time, the main consumers are male. Direct and clear product information is more likely to drive male consumers to make purchases.

**When do consumers typically visit gas station convenience stores?**
According to the visit results, 43% of gas station convenience stores report that dinner time (17:00-20:00) is the busiest, while 30% report the afternoon period (13:00-17:00) as the busiest. See Figure 3 below.

**What are the most common product categories in gas station convenience stores?**
Due to the specific customer base, beverage products are clearly the most common category, with 4 of the 6 categories with over 90% distribution being beverages. However, unlike regular convenience stores, 97% of stores carry functional drinks, second only to regular bottled water. Juice and carbonated drinks also have a distribution rate of over 90%. Tobacco products, mainly targeting male consumers, are only available in 68% of stores. See Figure 4 below.

Next, Xiaoling will take you deeper into the gas station convenience stores. We selected several common categories to examine their specific performance.

**Bottled Water**
Bottled water is a category available in every convenience store, but the brand selection is not particularly wide. In Sinopec gas station convenience stores, the bottled water brand "Easy Joy Zhuomaquan" (co-created by Sinopec) is the most common and occupies the largest in-store resources. Other common brands such as C'estbon, Master Kong, and Nestle have lower distribution. The best-selling product is Zhuomaquan. (Figures 1 and 2)

**Functional Drinks**
Functional and sports drinks help drivers replenish energy during long journeys and occupy an important position in gas station convenience stores. Red Bull has the widest distribution among functional drinks, with 95% of sampled stores carrying Red Bull products, while Dongpeng Special Drink has a distribution rate of 81%. In the vitamin sports drink category led by Mizone, 89% of stores sell Mizone, followed by Pocari Sweat, while the old sports drink Gatorade has the lowest distribution rate at only 41%. Similar to distribution, Red Bull and Mizone are the best-selling brands. (Figures 3, 4, and 5)

**Biscuits and Pastries**
In the biscuits and pastries category, no brand dominates like Zhuomaquan and Red Bull in the previous categories. Even Garden, with the highest distribution, has a distribution rate of only 78%, indicating intense competition. Another distinctive feature is that although Garden has the widest distribution, only 39% of stores carrying Garden products claim that Garden sells best. Meanwhile, 60% of stores carrying Orion products believe that Orion biscuits and pastries sell the most in their stores. (Figures 6 and 7)

**Chewing Gum**
In gas station convenience stores, chewing gum is also a highly concentrated category, with almost all stores carrying Extra (100%) and Wrigley's Spearmint (95%). Moreover, 89% of sampled stores report that Extra sells best. (Figures 8 and 9)

**Marketing Investment – Floor Displays**
Although gas station convenience stores are still a relatively new channel compared to traditional retail outlets, major brands have begun to invest marketing resources in stores to increase purchase likelihood. In our sampled stores, 87% have floor displays, but almost all floor display activities are for beverage products, while other categories seem not to have actively followed suit. Meanwhile, in some sampled stores, we also observed consumer interaction activities led by the stores. Clearly, both store operators and suppliers hope to create a terminal environment that further enhances the consumer shopping experience.

Although gas station convenience stores are a channel with great potential and rapid growth, their wide distribution and roadside locations significantly increase brand owners' coverage costs. How to quickly and effectively understand in-store conditions, maintain a certain frequency of store visits to keep products in optimal condition, and monitor the execution of marketing resource investments have become challenges for brand owners. Ailingong uses a crowdsourcing model to help solve these problems. Ailingong currently effectively covers all gas station convenience stores in key provinces in South and East China. We welcome beverage, tobacco, candy, food, and other related enterprises to learn about and use the Ailingong platform for efficient inspection, merchandising, data collection, and other related services.

Data collection for this study was completed by the Ailingong crowdsourcing platform. Ailingong currently effectively covers all gas station convenience stores in key provinces in South and East China. We welcome beverage, tobacco, candy, food, and other related enterprises to learn about and use the Ailingong platform for efficient inspection, merchandising, data collection, and other related services.


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