Wawa named nation’s best convenience store, survey says. Where do your favorites rank?
Wawa is best known for its made-to-order hoagies — but there’s more that keeps customers coming back, according to a new survey.
The convenience store earned high marks for customer satisfaction, scoring 82 out of 100 points in the 2024 American Customer Satisfaction Index Convenience Store Study, released Oct. 1.
QuikTrip came in second place with 81 points, results show, while Buc-ee’s and Murphy USA tied for third with 80 points each.
“Convenience stores are no longer just a quick stop for gas and snacks – they are becoming serious competitors in the food service industry,” Forrest Morgeson, director of research emeritus at the ACSI, said in a news release.
McClatchy News reached out to Wawa for comment Oct. 1 and was awaiting a response.
Here’s how other convenience store chains stacked up:
- Casey’s General Stores: 79
- Sheetz: 79
- Kwik Trip: 78
- BP: 77
- Cumberland Farms: 77
- Speedway: 77
- Circle K: 76
- RaceTrac: 76
- 7-Eleven: 75
Shell stations fell to the bottom of the list with a score of 74, study results show.
‘Recipe for success’
The convenience store report is a first for the index, which analyzes customer satisfaction “benchmarks” for some of the nation’s largest fast-food and full-service restaurants.
For the study, 5,710 customers were randomly surveyed between March and September and asked about their experience at major convenience store chains, according to ACSI.
Key benchmarks included the convenience of store hours, checkout speed, coffee quality and mobile app reliability.
“Mobile apps play a prominent role for many customers, with 34% of ACSI survey respondents indicating that they have used a convenience store’s mobile app to place an order,” according to the study.
Some stores fared better than others based on region, results show. For example, Wawa did well among customers in the South and Northeast, but QuikTrip was the superior convenience store in the Midwest.
Circle K and 7-Eleven reigned out West, tying at 72 out of 100 points, data shows.
“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,” Morgeson said.
This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Wawa named nation’s best convenience store, survey says. Where do your favorites rank?."