Dayparting at C-stores: Using an LED Sign to Increase Sales and Traffic

​Every convenience store owner knows about the importance of dayparting for in-store items. It used to mean scheduling different items for the day and night, but dayparting has now transformed into a 24/7 schedule. Today, most convenience shoppers are looking for quick meals or snacks, which makes C-stores a more attractive option for a snack on the go.​

The number of C-stores is growing rapidly, and this makes the market more competitive. In order to be a top performing store, it’s crucial for C-store owners to implement fresh and flexible marketing strategies. LED signage is an effortless way to increase sales and traffic. Let’s dig a little deeper to understand the benefits of digital signage for C-store locations.

Dayparting fuel prices, which is like dayparting for in-store items, means changing the price of gas by a few cents up or down to optimize sales at a specific time of day. The day-parting fuel prices strategy can be executed even better when using it along with dayparting advertisements for in-store offers. By using outdoor and indoor LED signs to advertise daily sales that drive foot traffic into the store for food and beverage purchases, C-store owners take advantage of high profit margin sales. Understanding the products your customers are interested in purchasing at a specific time of day will be the first step into maximizing your potential earnings.

The NACS State of the Industry report shares in-depth information on what times work best for certain C-store revenue categories. Breakfast, as stated in the report, is the best time to promote packaged beverages. For example, a C-store could post gas prices that are one cent cheaper than their closest C-store competitor, and in turn advertise orange juice or fresh coffee for a discounted price. This would help drive customers through the doors. Once inside LED signage will drive up purchase rates for high-demand, high-margin items.

Another way this works is by using this theory in reverse. Let’s say a competitor has cheaper gas, and the C-store doesn’t want to decrease gas prices. Promoting prepared food items during lunch, or the evening commute can increase traffic to the C-store, which would also increase the traffic to the pump.

The cost to advertise with an LED sign is lower than every other form of advertising out there, plus it’s much more responsive to market changes. Everything that brings in revenue for a C-store is smoothly and adequately advertised with a digital sign. LED signs are the only kind of advertising that can update promotions in real time and increase foot traffic due to factors like weather, unexpected events, daily product inventory, and keep up with competitors 24/7.