Connecting on a New Level

For many years, convenience store retailers struggled to get a handle on who their customers were and what they wanted.

Through loyalty programs, retailers began to collect data on their shoppers. They next overcame the hurdle of knowing what to do with that data. And, most recently, they began unlocking the power of personalized offers to their customers. 

Some c-store retailers are not stopping there. In the new year, Casey's General Stores Inc. will go live with Casey's Access, an end-to-end retail media business. Through this platform, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and other vendor partners will be able to leverage Casey's data to connect audiences with relevant promotions, offers and marketing content.

The convenience store operator joins 7-Eleven Inc. in venturing into the retail media space. 7-Eleven's Gulp Media Network leverages first-party data to help fulfill immediate-consumption purchase occasions.

The world, not just the convenience channel, has more information at its fingertips than ever before. Knowing how to best use that information to benefit all parts of the convenience proposition — the retailer, the brands and the customers — will be key, and retail media may very well be the next frontier.