What the 2025 NACS Numbers Mean for Gas Station Inside Sales

Published October 26, 2026 · Reading time ~7 minutes

The big picture: fuel is most of the sales, not most of the profit

According to NACS State of the Industry data released in April 2026, U.S. convenience stores sold $817.5 billion in 2025. Of that:

Fuel was 65.0% of sales but only 38.8% of gross profit. Fuel sales fell 5.4% to $476.3 billion, mostly because the average price per gallon dropped from $3.30 to $3.11. Gallons actually rose 0.5%.
Inside sales (food and merchandise) reached a record $341.2 billion, up 1.7%. It was the 23rd straight year of inside sales growth.
The average store handled 45,160 transactions a month, about 1,484 a day, counting the pump and the register together. That was down 2.7% from 2024.

Put simply, the store side is a little over a third of the sales and most of the profit. NACS Magazine's June 2026 summary puts merchandise and foodservice at 35.0% of average store sales and 57.4% of gross profit.

The warning sign: bigger baskets, smaller profit per basket

The same NACS Magazine report calls 2025's record inside sales "a close call." Inside transactions fell 1.6% per store, per month. Shoppers spent a little more each visit (basket value rose 24 cents), but cost of goods and operating expenses grew faster than inside gross profit, so profit per inside basket fell 8 cents compared with 2024.

Costs are the reason. In NACS Magazine's five key metrics from the 2026 State of the Industry Summit, Rapanick, managing director of NACS research, noted that:

Total store operating expenses are up 23.3% since 2021.
Fuel margins averaged over 40 cents per gallon in 2025, which helped cover weaker inside profit growth, but rising expenses leave "less room for error" if fuel prices jump.
Total transactions across the industry fell 3.0% in 2025, with inside transactions slipping back below 2023 levels and fuel transactions at their lowest since 2021.
Wages and benefits rose from about $80,000 to about $104,000 per store, per month over five years.
In 2025, 82% of industry sales were paid by card, and the industry paid $21.3 billion in card swipe fees.

Rapanick's advice is direct: NACS has long urged retailers "to pay an entire site's bills by using inside gross profits," and "basket profitability is a game of pennies, where adding one item to a basket can turn a loss into profit."

Three numbers worth tracking in your own store

NACS suggests every operator know how their store compares with the industry. You do not need a big data team for this. A monthly spreadsheet covers it.

1. Your breakeven pool margin

NACS defines breakeven pool margin as the fuel margin you need to cover all store operating expenses after your inside gross profit. In plain terms: take your monthly expenses, subtract your inside gross profit, and divide what is left by the gallons you sold. That is how many cents per gallon the pumps must earn just to break even. The higher that number, the more exposed your store is when fuel margins tighten. The goal NACS keeps repeating is to push it down by growing inside profit.

2. Inside transactions per day

Count register transactions separately from pump-only sales. Industry inside transactions fell in 2025, and NACS says sustainable growth "will come from increasing customer counts." If your inside count is falling, the first job is getting pump customers through the door: clear window signs, a reason to come in, and a store that looks stocked from the forecourt.

3. Average inside basket and items per basket

Most point-of-sale systems can report average ticket and items per transaction. Watch both by month. If the basket is growing only because prices went up, profit per basket can still fall, which is exactly what happened across the industry in 2025.

Adding one item to the basket

Food and drinks bring most shoppers inside. NACS reports foodservice was 28.5% of inside sales and 38.9% of inside gross profit in 2025, and packaged beverages were the No. 2 category at 18.7% of inside sales. Those are the trip drivers.

The add-on is where general merchandise earns its space. A customer who came in for a drink and leaves with a charging cable, a pair of sunglasses or a pair of work gloves is the "one more item" NACS is talking about. A few practical habits (these are our suggestions, not NACS findings):

Put the add-on where the trip ends. Chargers, cables and earbuds belong within reach of the register, not on a back aisle. Our guide to checkout impulse zones covers layout in detail.
Match items to who buys fuel at your store. Commuters and drivers buy phone chargers and car accessories, outdoor workers buy gloves and sunglasses, and travelers pick up local caps and gifts. See best-selling c-store impulse items for 2026 for a starting list.
Use simple, round prices. A clear price on a small item keeps the decision to a few seconds.
Train one line for the cashier. "Need a charger for the road?" asked to a customer holding a phone with a low battery is not a hard sell; it is service.
Keep displays full and faced. A tidy display sells and makes missing items obvious, which also helps with cutting shrink on small accessories.
Review add-on sales monthly. Drop what does not move and give its space to what does.

Example math (illustration only, not industry data): if a store with 1,000 inside transactions a day adds one accessory to just 1 in 50 of them, that is about 20 extra items a day, or roughly 600 a month. Run the same math with your own counts and margins to see what one more item could mean for your breakeven pool margin.

Keeping costs down on the merchandise side

Rising expenses are the other half of the problem. On general merchandise, a few buying habits help:

Buy closer to what you sell. Smaller, more frequent orders keep less cash tied up in backstock. Warner Wireless Gears has no minimum order, so you can reorder a display instead of a pallet. When you do want volume, see buying phone chargers by the case or pallet.
Choose a supplier that ships fast. Eligible orders placed by noon Central Time can ship the same business day from Houston when inventory allows, so empty pegs do not stay empty for long. Our guide to choosing a wireless accessory wholesale distributor lists what else to ask.
Use a display that fits the space you have. A custom display built for a counter or end cap keeps add-ons visible without taking floor space from your trip drivers.

How to buy wholesale from Warner Wireless Gears

Warner Wireless Gears is a Houston B2B wholesaler for approved gas stations, convenience stores and retailers, supplying cellular accessories, sunglasses, caps, fragrance, winter gear and more.

Apply at warnergears.com/register with your business and resale documentation.
Get approved. Complete applications are usually reviewed in about one business day. Full steps are in How to Open a Wholesale Account.
Order with tier pricing and live stock, or visit the showroom.

Call 346-606-7722 Mon–Sat 9:30 AM–6:00 PM CT if you would like a rep to suggest a counter add-on assortment for your store.

Address: 10165 Harwin Drive, Suite 190, Houston, TX 77036
Web: www.warnergears.com · Email: info@warnergears.com

Sources

NACS: U.S. Convenience In-Store Sales Top $340 Billion (press release, April 15, 2026; 2025 State of the Industry data)
NACS Magazine: In-Store Sales Drive Growth (June 2026)
NACS Magazine: 5 Key Metrics Defining the Convenience Industry's Health (June 2026)

Related WWG categories

Warner Wireless Gears LLC: B2B wholesale for approved retailers, not a public consumer storefront.