Higher gasoline prices caused a decline in consumer traffic to convenience stores in the second quarter, according to the NPD Group. The firm's Convenience Store Monitor says convenience store traffic
declined by 4% compared to same quarter year ago. The firm tracks purchasing behavior by 51,000 c-store shoppers in the United States.
Traffic declines were steeper for major oil and
small independent chains, down 7%, vs. traditional convenience stores where traffic was down 1%. But sales improved by 2% due to an increase in the average check, as well as growing purchase incidence
in some key categories.
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