Cigarette Sales - Going [Down] in Smoke

Cigarette Sales - Going [Down] in Smoke

Here at CAF, we don’t claim to be experts in tobacco retailing but we have noticed some alarming trends in the last few years that have been impacting our retail customers.  In 2013, industry statistics show that more than 1/3 of your in-store revenue most likely came directly from tobacco sales and that nearly 1/4 of in-store visits yielded a purchase of cigarettes.  That’s huge!  But, as you know, tobacco sales are starting to decline and are predicted to continue to do so. On average, 18% of a C-store’s in-store profit dollars come from Cigarette sales – so that lost revenue really hurts!

What can you do to recover your profit dollars?

We asked our customers this very question, and their responses varied, but there seemed to be one common answer among them. Retailers are adding a variety of fresh food, hot food, or quick serve offerings at their stores. These items typically have higher profit margins and have proven to be a great way to replace some of those lost profit dollars. Providing fresh food offerings will help to differentiate you from the competition and will give your customers another reason to come into your store.

Something to consider: Substituting fresh food sales for cigarette sales means you may need to reconsider how your location appears to your new target customers.  In most cases, your image standards may need some improvement! If you walked into a restaurant and it was dirty or had a bad odor, would you feel comfortable eating the food there? No way! Your customers hold your station to these same standards. If your gas pumps and forecourt are dirty, chances are they will NEVER purchase a fresh food item from your store, let alone come inside. Research shows that after street price, “cleanliness is the number one reason customers choose to visit a c-store” (M/A/R/C 2009). What does the condition of your location say about the quality of the food you are offering? Well most consumers believe it means everything!! So ask yourself, “Does my store look remarkably clean and inviting? Or is it dirty and unsanitary; chasing customers away?”If you answered the latter, take action today and start giving your customers a reason to come in-side your store.


  Click the icons below to find your solutions.  Having the right solutions to defeat these frustrating challenges is essential for you to improve the customer experience at your location.

 

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The CAF name and reputation were built on a foundation of trust. This online privacy policy describes the information CAF collects through the services available on our web site, mycaf.com (the “Site”) and how we use that information. Our policy also describes the choices you can make about how we collect and use your information.

What type of information does CAF collect about me?

CAF may collect personal information. Personal information does not include business contact information (e.g. office address, telephone number) in those jurisdictions that recognize such information as not being personal information. Personal information means information about an identifiable individual and may include:

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In addition to the personal information you actively provide us, we also collect web site use information which includes information about your internet service provider, browser type, domain name, IP address, the web site that referred you to us, the web pages you request, the date and time of those requests, and entry and exit points. Our collection of web site use information may involve the use of cookies and pixel tags.

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Our web site may share information with companies that provide support services to us (such as credit card processors, mailing houses or web hosts) or that help us market our products and services. These companies may need information about you in order to perform their functions. These companies are not authorized to use the information we share with them for any other purpose.

We may disclose specific information upon governmental request, in response to a court order, when required by law, to enforce our corporate policies, or to protect our or others' rights, property, or safety. We do not provide information to these agencies or companies for marketing or commercial purposes.

In the event of a sale of some or all of our business, CAF may disclose personal information to those involved in a transfer of all or part of the assets or business.

Unless permitted by law, no personal information is collected, without first obtaining your consent for the collection, use and sharing of that information. The provision of personal information to CAF means that you agree and consent that we may collect, use and share your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy.

How do I remove or modify my personal information?

CAF strives to ensure that any personal information provided and in its possession is as accurate, current and complete as necessary for the purposes for which we use that information.

If you signed up to receive email communications by providing your email address on the home page of mycaf.com, you may either call our customer care line at 425.837.0025 to remove your email address to opt out.

Why does CAF collect web site use information?

During your visit to mycaf.com, we will collect certain web site use information for a number of purposes, namely to:

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What about links to other sites?

Please be aware that we provide links to third-party web sites as a service to our guests, and that we are not responsible for the content or information collection practices of those pages. Please note that these web sites' privacy policies may differ from this privacy policy. We encourage you to review and understand their privacy practices before providing them with information.

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CAF strives to maintain appropriate physical, procedural and technical security with respect to its offices and information storage facilities so as to prevent any loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, or modification of personal information. This also applies to our disposal or destruction of personal information.

We encrypt the pipe through which personal information, such as credit card numbers, is sent, using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to ensure that your information is safe as it is sent over the Internet to our server.

What about links to other sites?

Please be aware that we provide links to third-party web sites as a service to our guests, and that we are not responsible for the content or information collection practices of those pages. Please note that these web sites' privacy policies may differ from this privacy policy. We encourage you to review and understand their privacy practices before providing them with information.

Privacy policy changes

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post a new statement on our Site and change the date at the top of the policy. Therefore, we encourage you to check the date of our privacy policy whenever you visit this Site for any updates or changes. If you have provided personal information to us, we will email you any changes to the privacy policy that might affect the way we use your personal information.

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