Wawa Wins C-Store Rankings

Folks really love Wawa’s hoagies: that fresh-food offering helped the c-store chain based in the Pennsylvania town whose name it bears come out on top of a new set of industry rankings from American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) with a score of 82 (out of 100). Rounding out the top end of the index’s Convenience Store Study 2024 are QuikTrip, which finished second with an 81, followed by Buc-ee’s and Murphy USA, tied at 80 apiece, and Casey’s General Store and Sheetz, 79 each.

“The higher-satisfaction chains have prioritized serving up a robust set of food options,” the report notes. “Hoagies are a big draw for Wawa customers, while QuikTrip looks to install QT Kitchens across the chain. Buc-ee’s has a reputation for a wide variety of on-the-go food options, and Casey’s General Stores is a go-to option in the Midwest for pizza, both traditional and breakfast varieties. In fact, Casey’s is now America’s fifth-largest pizza purveyor by kitchen numbers.”

Says Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI: “Convenience stores are no longer just a quick stop for gas and snacks – they are becoming serious competitors in the food service industry. The top-performing convenience store brands are now on par with fast food chains in terms of food quality and variety, offering customers a wide range of fresh, gourmet options. By focusing on the in-store dining experience, while maintaining the speedy service that customers have grown accustomed to, convenience stores may have found the perfect recipe for success.”

If you’ve ever taken part in a  Wawa versus Sheetz debate (they’re both based in Pennsylvania), then you know how seriously folks defend their favorite hometown convenience store. So, in the friendly spirit of competition, the ACSI also measured customer satisfaction at the regional level. Once again, the top players prevail.

Wawa performs well in both of its primary markets, taking first place for customer satisfaction in the Northeast and second in the South. Buc-ee’s wins the South region, while Sheetz takes second in the Northeast.

Homophones QuikTrip and Kwik Trip take the top two spots in the Midwest. Satisfaction levels in the West trail other regions by a sizeable margin. A fragmented market led to fewer individual brands attaining sufficient data to report regional-level results. Here, 7-Eleven and Circle K, both with large footprints, tie for the top spot at 72.

The ACSI Convenience Store Study 2024 is based on 5710 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between March and September 2024.

Click here for more from the study.