Elie Katz, CEO, National Retail Solutions. POS, NRS Digital Media, NRS Pay, NRS Funding, NRS Purple & NRS Petro: Helping retailers succeed.

While your competitors are burning money keeping the lights on at 3 a.m. for that lone energy drink customer, you could be sleeping soundly—and still winning the profitability game. Most convenience store operators chase growth by extending their hours, convinced that more time equals more money. Yet the real opportunity lies hidden in plain sight: Your standard 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. operating window already captures the vast majority of customer traffic and purchasing power.

The early morning hours, when commuters grab coffee and breakfast, represent one of the most concentrated periods of customer activity. That’s more action before most people finish their second cup of coffee than many stores see during their entire graveyard shift. For convenience store leaders, maximizing profitability hinges not on expanding hours but on strategically orchestrating operations to match the distinct rhythms of customer demand that ebb and flow from dawn till dusk. Think of it as conducting a symphony where every instrument—from staffing to sandwiches—plays its part at precisely the right moment.

Mastering The Daily Cadence: Synchronizing Operations With Customer Rhythms

Your customers aren’t the same people throughout the day—they just happen to shop at the same store. The morning commuter grabbing coffee moves like they’re being chased by deadlines (because they are). The afternoon browser actually reads your promotional signage. The evening shopper just realized they’re out of milk, and their patience ran out two errands ago. Recognizing and responding to these personality shifts can dramatically impact both sales and sanity.

Orchestrating For The Morning Rush (6 a.m.- 9 a.m.)

If Starbucks has taught us anything, it’s that morning customers will pay premium prices for speed and caffeine. They’re not browsing—they’re on a mission. Morning operations demand military precision, where every second counts and your staff needs to move like a Formula One pit crew, not a book club meeting.

Position your A-team at critical touch points during these hours: coffee stations, checkout counters and breakfast displays. Quick transactions aren’t just appreciated; they’re the difference between a regular customer and someone who’ll find a faster option tomorrow.

Merchandising becomes choreography. Grab-and-go breakfast items deserve red-carpet treatment at your entrance. Coffee pairings should practically jump into customers’ hands. Create clear pathways to morning essentials—think of it as designing a racetrack where everyone wins. Your hot food program better deliver because nothing ruins a morning (and loyalty) faster than a cold breakfast sandwich or empty coffee pot at 7:15 a.m.

Adapting To Midday Opportunities (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.)

Lunch shoppers are a different breed. They actually make eye contact with staff and might even ask about your rewards program. As the morning rush subsides, operational focus shifts from pure efficiency to strategic engagement. Local workers seeking lunch, errand-runners needing fuel (of both kinds) and delivery drivers on break create diverse revenue opportunities that your morning rush can’t accommodate.

Staff can finally breathe—and sell. Suggestive selling works when customers aren’t checking their watches every three seconds. “Would you like chips with that sandwich?” becomes a revenue generator instead of an annoyance. Your merchandising should evolve like a quick-change artist. Where breakfast demands grab-and-go efficiency, lunch invites browsing. Fresh food displays should look like they belong on social media, not in a police lineup.

Food offerings must mature with the clock. The numbers tell the story: Foodservice sales now account for 27.7% of in-store sales industrywide, up from just 11.9% in 2004. That’s not growth—that’s a revolution funded by chicken tenders and roller grill items.

Maximizing The Evening Wind-Down (4 p.m. – 10 p.m.)

As darkness falls, so does the patience level of customers who’ve been adulting all day. Evening operations require a delicate balance: maintaining service standards while preparing for close and keeping everyone safe. After-work shoppers seek dinner solutions, forgotten essentials, and yes, that well-deserved bag of chips that’s definitely a single serving (we don’t judge).

Your merchandising should shift to family-mode. Promote take-home items and larger formats because nobody buys a single soda for family dinner. Consider “last chance” pricing on fresh items; your trash compactor doesn’t appreciate gourmet sandwiches any more than paying customers do.

Security considerations intensify, but savvy operators know that good lighting serves a dual purpose: It deters troublemakers and helps customers locate their wallets more quickly. Visible staff presence and clear sightlines say “we’re watching” without feeling like a maximum-security facility.

Data As Your Navigator: Refining Your Strategy

Your POS system knows more about your customers than their therapists do—it’s time to start listening. These daypart strategies provide a framework, but real optimization comes from mining your data gold. When do specific categories peak? Which promotions actually work versus just taking up space? How many staff members does it really take to handle Tuesday afternoons?

Track everything that matters: morning transaction times (every second counts), midday attachment rates (did they buy that cookie?) and evening basket sizes (dinner for one or four?). Heat mapping reveals traffic patterns that might surprise you—that dead corner could be prime real estate at the right time of day. Think of data as your store’s GPS: You wouldn’t drive cross-country without one, so why run your business that way?

Turning Standard Hours Into Strategic Advantage

Enhanced C-store profitability doesn’t require becoming a 24-hour caffeine dispensary—it requires intelligent optimization of the hours that matter. While others exhaust themselves and their budgets staying open for ghosts and insomniacs, smart operators perfect their performance when the audience is there.

Every hour from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. presents unique opportunities for stores willing to adapt rather than just endure. Data-driven refinements compound over time, turning standard operating hours into a precision-tuned profit engine. The convenience stores that dominate tomorrow won’t necessarily be the ones that are open the longest—they’ll be the ones that perform best when their customers are awake, funded and shopping. After all, there’s nothing convenient about an empty store at 3 a.m., no matter how long you keep the lights on.

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