About a decade ago, we videotaped interviews with NACS Show attendees, asking them to complete the thought, “The NACS Show is …”

The responses were illuminating. Every response was about a feeling or an experience. It was about emotion and excitement. And then they often added another line: “You gotta go!”

“You gotta go” is also something people increasingly say about the great stores in our industry. And that is a huge shift in how consumers define our business. Our stores have traditionally been defined by their convenient locations, their extended hours of operation or their speed of service. And yes, those are still very much attributes of our industry. But consumers are continuing to evolve their definition of our industry beyond traditional forms of convenience. They’re increasingly going to our stores because doing so makes them feel good. It’s an experience, not just a transaction.

Consumers are continuing to evolve their definition of our industry beyond traditional forms of convenience.
—Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to explain what “experience” means to customers because it varies from customer to customer, and even with individual customers based on their mood and needs at a specific moment in time.

Because the definition of “experience” is evolving, this year’s NACS Show integrated different ideas on how to enhance your customers’ experiences. The next two issues of NACS Magazine deliver comprehensive coverage of the NACS Show and present great takeaways and insights. Look for callouts throughout this issue (and my “floating head”) that give insider’s perspective into enhancing customer experience.

This was my 25th NACS Show, and each one has been a unique experience. Every year I take away pages of notes with new ideas and concepts to consider and to-dos and follow-ups with people I met there. And like many of you, I use the NACS Show to jumpstart my strategic planning process for the coming year. We gather as teams and talk about what we’ve seen and heard—and what we can do about it and build into plans for 2025.

Perhaps my biggest takeaway from the NACS Show year after year is its energy. It’s the vibe from a show that is really unlike any I’ve ever attended. It’s the vibe of people sharing ideas and helping each other so they can better serve their customers. It’s the vibe of a thriving industry that is pushing itself forward.

The industry’s energy pushes the NACS staff forward after we’ve just expended a lot of energy delivering the best experience possible to every attendee at the NACS Show. Despite what a few folks jokingly asked me on site, we don’t take a month-long nap after the NACS Show. We only have a few weeks to get out the next issue of NACS Magazine. We have a new NACS Daily due tomorrow. The phone is ringing, and it’s probably a reporter who wants to learn more about the elevated customer experience in stores. Excuse me, but I gotta go!