Study: Hispanics visit c-stores more frequently

Houston -- On average, Hispanics visit convenience stores more frequently on a monthly basis compared to non-Hispanics, according to a recently released report by The NPD Group. The report, entitled The Hispanic Convenience Store Shopper, finds that Hispanics overall made almost two more visits a month than non-Hispanics to major oil chain c-stores, and nearly one more visit over a 30-day period to traditional c-stores than non-Hispanics.



“Hispanics are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, and an important segment for the c-store channel,” said David Portalatin, NPD’s c-store industry analyst. “As this report reveals, Hispanics share a common language but they are not homogenous. The key to attracting Hispanics is to understand their shopping behaviors, product purchase, brand preference, and reasons for selecting retailers as a population segment and by level of acculturation.”



Among Hispanic shoppers, the higher visits frequency was largely attributed to Spanish-dominant shoppers (Including bi-lingual and Spanish-only speakers), according to the NPD report, which examines the typical c-store shopping behavior of Hispanics by level of acculturation and how it compares to non-Hispanics. English-dominant Hispanic shoppers were more comparable with non-Hispanics. Hispanics on average also spent more at c-stores than non-Hispanics with spending levels among Hispanics increasing as acculturation level decreases.



Like non-Hispanics, convenience is the primary reason three out of four Hispanics select a c-store, and 10% of Hispanics select a c-store because a Spanish-speaking employee is available to them.



In addition to higher frequency and spending levels, The Hispanic Convenience Store Shopper report findings also illustrate that Spanish speakers tend to buy a larger variety of items than more acculturated Hispanics.