Connecting Convenience

Watch the May Connections Live Quarterly webinar, a free 60-minute webinar for PDI customers and other professionals in the energy and convenience ecosystem.  

In this recording, PDI industry experts discuss: 

• Industry trends and insights from our recent “Pulse of Convenience Report”
• News on GasBuddy’s 25th Anniversary
• Current security threat vectors targeting specific industries and organizations across the US
• Open registration for Connections Live 2025 in Denver, CO this August

Did you miss the March webinar? Watch it now.

Meet the Presenters

Bethany Allee

CMO, PDI Technologies

Patrick De Haan

VP, Head of Petroleum Analysis, GasBuddy

Dan Hoban

EVP, Field Services, PDI Technologies 

Download “2025 Pulse of Convenience Report” 

Convenience stores were the fastest-growing retail channel in the US from 2023 to 2024.

Despite this success, industry challenges remain. Inflation continues to be a concern, along with the potential impact of tariffs, supply chain disruptions, and other macro-economic factors. 

Inside c-stores consumers are increasingly seeking healthier choices and expanded foodservice, and younger generations are prioritizing digital payments over credit cards and cash. 

These challenges make it clear that convenience stores need to continually evolve. The question is, how? 

In our new report, we provide insights on the state of the convenience retail industry to help you understand: 

Key c-store facts

Current consumer trends

Opportunities for growth

Download the report, then connect with PDI experts to learn how to maximize your technology investment. 

Connecting Convenience

Watch the March Connections Live Quarterly webinar, a free 90-minute webinar for PDI customers and other professionals in the energy and convenience ecosystem.  

In this recording, PDI industry experts discuss: 

• The latest industry trends and insights  
• How PDI’s strategy of Connecting Convenience impacts your business  
• The value of PDI Wholesale Solutions  
• How you can continue your Connections Live learning, all year round! 

You don’t want to miss the May Connections Live Quarterly webinar. Watch it here.

Meet the Presenters

Linnea Geiss

COO, PDI Technologies

Brian Lind

VP, Product Strategy and Partnerships, PDI Technologies

Traci Fulmer

Director, Education and Development, PDI Technologies 

Matt Murdock

Director, Wholesale Product Management, PDI Technologies 

Download “C-Store Shopper Insights Report for CPG Brands”

For CPG brands, data is power. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to ensure you’re getting the cleanest data about the increasingly vital convenience retail channel. 

But what if you had transaction-level data and insights on the key trends from c-stores across the US? 

It’s time to get closer to c-store shoppers and their evolving behaviors with “C-Store Shopper Insights for CPG Brands.” This free report will help you understand: 

1. Key facts about the c-store industry 

2. The unique value of this channel 

3. The latest trends for 2025 

Download the report, then connect with PDI experts to learn how to maximize your technology investment. 

Interested in other convenience reports?
Find more PDI reports here. 

As innovation across the convenience store industry accelerates, data insights are playing a pivotal role in shaping its trajectory. To keep up, you need a solid strategy that maximizes the value of data across your entire organization. 

The abundance of data in convenience retail 

Today, it’s not usually a question of whether you have enough data. Most organizations report having more than enough data—they just don’t always know what to do with that data. 

Across the US convenience channel, PDI licenses transaction data representing more than $40 billion in c-store sales annually. We also publish timely reports, such as the “Tracking Convenience Report: From the Pump to the C-Store,”  leveraging the data collected to deliver key industry analysis and insights. 

The convenience retail industry itself is a massive source of real-time transactional data. According to NielsenIQ, the convenience channel accounts for 15% of all Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) sales in the US. Moreover, the average American fuels up more than three times per month, equating to 14.6 billion fill-ups annually. 

Add it all up, and there’s a wealth of consumer insights to be gained from convenience store transaction data. But how do you turn it into an asset for your business? 

The unique PDI advantage 

If you’re unsure how best to extract the value of convenience store data, PDI experts can help. At PDI, data is at the heart of everything we do. We can help you capture data, access it on your terms, and identify innovative ways to turn it into business value. 

In the retail environment, we derive insights from receipt-level transactions and loyalty program data. This robust, timely information is already empowering businesses to act proactively and strategically, giving them a true competitive edge. 

The PDI advantage lies in the depth and variety of data we collect—receipt-level store transactions, fuel pricing, loyalty programs, and first-party data specific to the convenience retail market. That data comes from sites ranging from the largest chains to independent operators, providing a more complete picture of consumer behavior across the entire industry. 

You can use these same data sets to analyze market basket and shopper behavior trends like never before. It’s the first step in uncovering insights and using them to inform your decision making and develop more effective business strategies. 

Turning data into actionable insights 

To stay ahead of your competitors, it’s critical to transform raw data into actionable insights that drive meaningful strategies. We’ve designed PDI Retail Insights to do exactly that. 

With PDI Retail Insights, you can: 

• Analyze promotion performance to see what’s working best 

• Measure distinct changes in customer behavior over time 

• Assess how promotions on one item affect sales in related categories 

• Ensure you’re stocking the right products at the right time 

• Identify underperforming brands or categories 

• Adjust to peak and off-peak times with real-time data 

By leveraging these insights, you can make better-informed decisions, deliver timely and relevant offers to your customers, and ultimately increase both loyalty and profitability. 

Turning data into income 

Beyond operational improvements, PDI can also help you unlock new revenue streams through your data. By analyzing billions of customer records and transaction data, PDI aggregates this information to create a more valuable resource for retailers and CPG brands alike. 

PDI Data Services offer a wide range of options designed to turn your data into income. By sharing your data with third parties—such as CPG brands—you can monetize it to create new revenue opportunities while strengthening your supplier partnerships. This transformative approach helps ensure that your data not only drives internal growth but also becomes an asset that contributes directly to your bottom line. 

Realizing the data-driven future of convenience 

When you have the right data-driven insights, you can make smarter, more profitable decisions. From delivering personalized offers that build customer loyalty to creating innovative partnerships that generate new income streams, PDI can help you unlock the full potential of your data. 

Discover how to transform your data into actionable insights—and income—with PDI. 

Catch up on the latest convenience industry trends and hot topics that will impact retailers in 2024.

During our webinar, you will:

• Gain expert insights from industry thought leaders
• Learn how to engage today’s value-focused shoppers
• Explore what’s coming next on the innovation horizon

There’s overwhelming evidence that US consumers, across socioeconomic and demographic lines, want to buy from environmentally conscious companies and will pay more to do so. The defining factors in what types of sustainable products and services consumers will pay more for depend on credibility, category, and loyalty.

By identifying the needs, wants, and behaviors of the modern eco-conscious consumer, convenience retailers can establish long-term, data-driven sustainability strategies that position their business for sustained success.

Credibility

As more brands begin to make claims of sustainable practices, credibility is at the forefront of consumers’ minds.

According to the PDI Business of Sustainability Index, 79% of consumers want an easier way to identify environmentally friendly companies. For 53% of consumers, unambiguous language on products alone would help communicate the truth about sustainability practices, while 40% say they need third-party or independent validation to trust eco-friendly claims.

Category

Consumers are increasingly willing to pay more for sustainable products and services, based on year-over-year results. But not all categories are created equal when it comes to where consumers will spend more for sustainable options.

Utilities, food and restaurants, and gas stations lead then categories where consumers are most likely to make environmentally friendly purchases, followed by hotels, residential gas, car rentals, and airlines.

Loyalty

Sustainable habits and loyalty, PDI research found, are deeply intertwined—as evidenced by the fact that loyalty has emerged as a powerful driver of sustainable purchasing patterns. In fact, 74% of consumers say they would sign up for a loyalty app to reduce their carbon footprint.

Today, 75% of all consumers say they would fill up at a gas station that offers carbon offsetting. Of the 64% of consumers willing to pay more for that offset, 89% say they would also use a loyalty or rewards app. For consumers who will both pay more and sign up for a loyalty program, the percentage willing to fill up at a gas station that offers carbon offsetting rises to 91% from that initial 75%.

The results are clear: consumers who care about sustainability are willing and eager to form long-lasting relationships with brands they trust.

Shaping a sustainability strategy for sustained business success

PDI Loyalty solutions leverage robust data insights across the CPG, convenience, and fuel industries to help you gain a better understanding of your customers. Armed with powerful insights on consumers and the tools to reach them, you can build more personalized, valuable, and longer-lasting relationships with them.

Across the industry, loyalty program members bring 30% greater value than non-loyalty consumers in average convenience retail basket spend. The combination of sustainability strategies and loyalty programs has become a compelling driver of consumer preference, spend, and lifetime value.

5 tips for data-driven sustainability

Having a sustainability strategy has never been more important. PDI can be your partner in developing a strong, profitable, data-driven sustainability strategy. The foundation of every smart sustainability strategy starts with these fundamentals:

1. Take a leadership role—act before the market forces you to. Sustainability allows brands to gain a competitive advantage today, but in the coming years sustainability is likely to become a necessity rather than a differentiator. Get ahead now to capture the gap in supply and demand (and keep building customer loyalty).
2. Define a holistic sustainability strategy—even if you move incrementally. Small steps, when done with honesty and authenticity, can take you a long way. In the eyes of today’s consumers, transparency about processes and where you are in your sustainability journey is more important than big, but often empty, claims.
3. Once you commit, keep going—sustainability is a long-term investment. And one that will pay out handsomely, especially if you can incentivize your customers to make that journey with you.
4. Engage more effectively with consumers—promote your efforts to earn their trust. Involving your customers in your sustainability journey is a great way to inform them of your efforts and make them feel like their purchases are meaningful.
5. Validate your efforts—work with independent third parties to build credibility. Establishing yourself as a trustworthy and sustainable brand is what ultimately drives long-term loyalty with increasingly skeptical consumers.

Gen Z, born between 1995 and 2015, is one of the fastest growing consumer groups across the globe. Despite its youth, this generation and its growing influence on brands and business has quickly transformed into a powerful economic force.

Today, Gen Z accounts for more than 40% of consumers around the world and boasts a whopping $360 billion USD in disposable income, according to a study from Bloomberg.

That alone makes Gen Z a powerful market for CPG brands, fuel providers, and national convenience retailers to tap into. However, the generation also demands that businesses meet a higher standard before they’re willing to become loyal customers.

The three main factors impacting Gen Z’s purchase decisions today are:

1. Digital influence
2. Social and environmental consciousness
3. Transparency and authenticity

Digital influence drives buying patterns

To reach a generation of digital natives, digital marketing is essential to both online and in-person purchases.

Gen Z is wary of the long-term effects of social media, but platforms like Instagram remain deeply ingrained in the way they buy individual products and develop lasting relationships with brands.

A study on Gen Z consumer trends from McKinsey & Company found that in any given week, Gen Z will shop the same amount offline as they do online.

However, even those in-person transactions are influenced by digital presence. In a survey conducted by Squarespace, 60% of Gen Z agreed that the way you present yourself online is more important than how you come across in person.

For CPG brands, this emphasizes the importance of a digital presence to increase both online and in-store sales.

Gen Z and sustainability

Although they’re not alone, Gen Z is more concerned about the environmental impact of their purchases than any other generation. According to the PDI Business of Sustainability Index, 91% of Gen Z say they want to buy from sustainable companies.

In fact, 77% of Gen Z is willing to pay more for sustainable products and services, compared to 72% of Millennials, 67% of Gen X, and 62% of Baby Boomers.

Gen Z’s proclivity for environmentally conscious choices extends to the fuel pump, where 76% of Gen Z consumers said they would pay more for gas if the carbon emissions were offset, according to PDI.

Having easy access to an abundance of information from a young age has made Gen Z keenly aware of the consequences—or benefits—of their buying decisions. That’s one of the reasons why 81% of the generation is more likely to purchase environmentally friendly products based on the climate events they’ve experienced in the past 12 months.

To stay top of mind as Gen Z consumers navigate the market, brands need to consistently communicate their sustainable values and practices. Sustainability messaging is most effective when it occurs digitally and at the point of sale—and when it’s backed by honesty and authenticity.

Trust comes from transparency

Brands that secure the trust of Gen Z consumers tend to see strong patterns of loyalty and high customer lifetime value. In a study from Edelman, 67% of respondents said that they were more likely to stay loyal and advocate for a trusted brand.

But breaking that trust can be proportionately detrimental: 60% of Gen Z agree that they will entirely cease buying a product if they lose, or fail to develop, trust in the brand.

That level of scrutiny is commonplace, as 40% of Gen Z buyers think corporations are doing a poor job of reducing their carbon footprint and 37% believe corporate profits should support environmental organizations.

With every step a brand takes toward becoming more sustainable, transparency and authenticity are the only sure way to secure Gen Z’s trust and lifetime loyalty.

Executive Overview

HQ: Dublin, Ireland

Industry: Foodservice

Size: 30+ markets; 3,000 employees

Solution: PDI Loyalty

Business Challenges

• Reward customers for their purchases to increase satisfaction
• Create detailed reporting through integrations with Kepak HQ and Salesforce
• Develop a fully integrated Kepak-branded rewards website and app

Solution Overview – PDI Loyalty

PDI Loyalty is a powerful, flexible solution that provides a 360° view of your customers.

• Analyze basket-level data for both in-store and online purchases to identify opportunities to
  increase customer frequency and spend.
• Create personalized, compelling customer offers and promotions.
• Design and execute marketing campaigns to more effectively engage existing customers and attract new ones.

Learn more about PDI Loyalty

Customer Results

• Integrations with 16 distributors with 7 back-office systems
• Daily transaction data received from 2,500+ customers
• 2,000+ brand-specific product items processed daily

Loyalty is not a program, it’s an outcome. Especially in times of economic uncertainty, marketing teams in Europe and beyond rely on loyalty solutions to build relationships with consumers and increase wallet share.  

During this video, you will learn about: 

• Key challenges for fuel and convenience retailers in EMEA 
• The importance of rewarding customer loyalty 
• How PDI can help you attract and retain customers through loyalty marketing