7-Eleven store closures trigger decline in consumer sentiment

7-Eleven has announced plans to close over 400 of its underperforming stores in the United States by the end of this year’s fourth quarter. As the convenience store giant prepares for these closures, YouGov BrandIndex data highlights the impact on consumer perception.

Tracking consumer perceptions

BrandIndex tracks 16 metrics including Recommendation, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, and Impression for brands daily. Since the announcement on October 10, 2024, consumer trust and brand perception have visibly eroded. For instance, 7-Eleven's Recommendation score was at 1.6 at the start of the observation period but sharply fell into negative territory, reaching -5.7 by November 6 – a decline of 7.3 points.

The Quality score was at -0.8 which deteriorated to -6.7, a drop of 5.9 points. Impression scores consistently declined from 7.6 to 4.4 (-3.2 points). Value and Satisfaction scores experienced decreases of 5 and 4.1 points, respectively.

Shifting consumer consideration

The closures are likely influencing former 7-Eleven customers to consider alternative grocery and convenience retailers. Data from January 1 to November 6, 2024, identifies the top ten stores where consumers are shifting their consideration. Aldi leads the list with a Consideration score of 37.2%, followed by Kroger (27.5%) and Trader Joe’s (26.2%). Other popular options include Whole Foods Market (18%), Publix (15.2%), and Safeway (12%). Retailers like Albertsons (10.5%), Wegmans (9.9%), Meijer (9.1), and Amazon Fresh (9%) round out the list.

This data illustrates where consumer preferences are moving and highlights opportunities for competing brands to attract former 7-Eleven shoppers. As consumer habits evolve, understanding these shifts can help brands refine their strategies to capture market share.

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. 7-Eleven Recommendation score is based on the question: Which of the following brands would you RECOMMEND/tell a friend to AVOID Quality: Which of the following brands do you think represents GOOD/POOR quality? Value: Which of the following brands do you think represents GOOD/POOR VALUE FOR MONEY? Satisfaction: Which of the following brands would you say that you are a SATISFIED/ DISSATISFIED customer of? Impression: Which of the following brands do you have a generally POSITIVE/NEGATIVE feeling about? and delivered as a net score between –100 and + 100. Scores are based on an average daily sample size of 415-456 US adults between January 1 to November 6, 2024. Figures are based on a 1-week moving average.