Convenience Stores Turn to Home Delivery to Fight Pandemic Slump
7-Eleven, Circle K, and Casey’s send everything from slushees and Ding Dongs to Tylenol and eggs to your door.
Street art is displayed on a boarded-up 7-Eleven amid coronavirus closures and protests in New York City’s East Village on June 19, 2020.
Photographer: Gotham/Getty Images North AmericaAmerica’s 152,000 convenience stores survived—even thrived—during the Amazon era by being the quickest way to buy things like ice cream and cigarettes. They mostly ignored the web because they could, thanks to their ubiquitous presence on urban street corners and suburban roadways.
The coronavirus is quickly challenging that business model. Since the pandemic hit the U.S. in March, drastically reducing in-store shopping, big players like 7-Eleven, Circle K, and Casey’s General Stores have accelerated the rollout of delivery from thousands of locations via third-party platforms such as DoorDash, Postmates, and Uber Eats.