[:en]A Simple Roadmap for Re-Opening Your Stores[:es]How to React to the Plummet in C-Store Sales[:fr]How to React to the Plummet in C-Store Sales[:]

[:en]How far have your sales slid? Everyone’s been hit hard.

For now, what can you do to salvage enough revenue to make it through until consumers return to normal behavior again?

When could that be anyway? No one truly knows. It could be a few months. And it might be a couple years.

Then again, you could see the coronavirus come back a little in the middle of the summer or during the fall and terrify the market once more.

Will you ever find yourself in such a difficult market ever again? You may well never find yourself this challenged.

For now, what can you do to make it through until we hit the worst point (which hopefully has already happened), and things begin to get on a track to normal again?

Here’s some ideas:

1. Add Mobile Ordering and Delivery

Of course, consumers want more of this now because of the coronavirus pandemic. And at the same time, consumers in a normal market want mobile ordering and delivery.

So not only will mobile ordering and delivery help your c-store now, but it’ll help you in the years to come too.

Driving this growth are Millennials and Generation Z. 52% of these two groups say they would buy more if mobile ordering and delivery were available.

It may be hard to find the funds to add this option. But then again, it may be your best opportunity to drive growth in the near future too.

2. Add New Product Lines

Right now may be more about your c-store’s survival than anything else. You may need to have the willingness to abandon traditional product lines and add new ones.

Because consumers right now are panicking, they’re hoarding essential items like food. You know that. You probably see that happening at your grocery store.

Well, maybe for now and the foreseeable future, your c-store has to become a serious supplier of specialty snacks. You might have beef jerky at your store already, for example.

How could you expand that selection?

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And this may be the time to think way, way outside the box.

3. Why Consumers Go to C-Stores During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Not all c-store news is bad. Some consumers are willing to spend more right now. For those with that ability, Convenience Store News found this is why they go to c-stores:

● Less crowded than other stores (57.9% of those surveyed)
● Convenient location (35.1%)
● Items they need actually in stock (32.5%)

Notice that word “need.” That implies an item a customer views as essential for life during the coronavirus pandemic.

How can your c-store keep hard-to-find inventory in stock more than the competition?

The coronavirus pandemic doesn’t mean you have to throw your arms up in the air and quit.

Instead, adjust to market conditions. At the very worst, you’ll be okay and make it through. And you could also hit on a new strategy that gives you a serious advantage over your competition.[:]

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