Global trends: convenience metamorphosis

We recently published our global retail trends report for 2026 and one of the key trends we highlighted was that the ‘convenience revolution is underway’. It is noteworthy that the thrust of our argument is not really around technology or checkout process but more simply around range and core proposition being reorganised around evolving missions and occasions.

Historically fluid and responsive, the channel is now diverging into two distinct models.

One model – traditional convenience – remains rooted in neighbourhood-style stores, often operated by supermarket groups, serving local communities with top-up grocery missions and modest food-for-now options. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this: there is a clear need for ‘small supermarkets’ in both urban and rural areas where shoppers that are pressed for time don’t mind paying a premium to access edited ranges of take-home groceries as well as pick up food-for-now and food-for-later as well as maybe accessing assorted services. 

The other – pure convenience – is evolving rapidly: specialist convenience operators, often involved in, but not limited to, fuel retailing, are pivoting toward immediate consumption, reshaping their formats and assortments to meet the demand for out-of-home calories.    

This latter group will continue their shift into immediate or imminent consumption, increasingly focusing on food and drink to be consumed in minutes, not days, and gradually eroding take-home grocery assortments to zero or the bare minimum. Circle K in the USA is a case in point here: it notes that 80% of the in-store merchandise that it sells is consumed within one hour.

This transformation will see operators introduce new food and drink brands - either in-house or third party - as they complete their metamorphosis from small supermarkets to something more akin to a quick-service restaurant.

This transition is already well underway: in the US, 7-Eleven – which trades through in-house fast-food concepts such as Laredo Taco and Raise the Roost – already stands among the country’s Top 30 restaurant operators, while c-store operator Casey’s is among the Top 5 pizza chains in the USA. This trend was underscored by the recent acquisition of 450-strong sandwich chain Potbelly by c-store business RaceTrac, a move that will see the introduction of the fast-casual sandwich proposition to some of RaceTrac’s 800 c-stores.   

This process is not about store size: the relationship between store size and missions and occasions needs to be decoupled once and for all. Some retailers – such as Buc-ee’s – do a brilliant job of catering to immediate consumption from stores of over 50,000 sq. ft., while others like REWE and Zabka are opening tiny stores in the mobility retail channel. This is not about location either: pure convenience obviously enjoys a neat overlap with mobility retail (stores targeting consumers on the go at gas stations, airports, EV charging hubs, railway stations etc.), but these concepts can also thrive in other locations such as office blocks, campuses, stadia and rural sites.   

Retailers in the UK are enthusiastically participating in this metamorphosis. We’ve highlighted some significant moves in our recent UK convenience trends report and it’s worth noting that there has been some impressive progress from some of the regional co-ops in this regard.