The convenience industry reported $859.8 billion in sales in 2023, according to the NACS State of the Industry Report® of 2023 Data.

While this is an impressive result for the industry, overall sales decreased by 5.1% year over year—mostly as a result of declining fuel prices. This is the first drop in total industry sales since the industry took a major hit in 2020.

Fuels’ impact on overall industry sales highlighted the importance of fuel sales on the convenience operators’ bottom line, but inside sales metrics were just as vital. Industry in store sales hit a 20-year record of $327.6 billion in 2023, an increase of 8.2% year over year.

The increase in inside sales was not enough to counteract the decrease in fuel sales of 11.8% year over year, but it did bring some good news in terms of increased basket size.

The average consumer basket—a combination of merchandise and foodservice—was $7.80 in 2023, up from $7.36 in 2022.

This is a vast improvement from 2022 when retailers lost 7 cents per basket—the average convenience operator was losing money on each transaction and had to pay the difference using fuel profits.

A twelve-cent swing may seem insignificant, but each penny makes a difference in a multi-billion-dollar industry.