Want a fast way to catch up on the latest trends and news from across the fuel and convenience industry? Watch the May Connections Live Quarterly webinar!
Three of PDI’s top industry experts shared their insights and answered participants’ questions in the latest installment of our quarterly live event. Here’s a summary of what they covered.
Convenience industry snapshot
PDI CMO Bethany Allee highlighted some fascinating statistics and evolving consumer behaviors from the 2025 “Pulse of Convenience” report.
She covered areas such as how the price of fuel impacts both fuel and in-store trips, and she explained why prepared foodservice is such a powerful growth opportunity for operators.
Bethany also noted that with 58% of c-store operators bullish on their business outlook for 2025, continued investment in digital transformation remains a business imperative for growth and differentiation.
Lastly, Bethany addressed the top business concerns for both chains and independent operators: staffing challenges and labor costs. To learn more about these workforce trends, download our latest guide, “Staffing Success: The C-Store Workforce Guide.”
Be sure to follow Bethany (@CStoreCMO) on X.
GasBuddy travel forecast and other news
In the second segment of the webinar, Patrick De Haan , VP and Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, shared the latest updates from GasBuddy and previewed the 2025 travel season.
With GasBuddy celebrating its 25th anniversary as one of the most trusted platforms for consumers looking for the best gas prices, c-store reviews, and offers, Patrick highlighted findings from the GasBuddy 2025 Summer Travel Survey.
Predictions for the summer season include lower average US gas prices in 2025 ($3.08) compared to 2024 ($3.58). In fact, the forecast cited the lowest inflation-adjusted summer gas prices since 2003. Check out the survey details here.
You can watch more of Patrick on “What’s up at the pump?” or follow him (@gasbuddyguy) on X.
Retail threat landscape
In the third segment of the webinar, Dan Hoban, EVP, Field Services, covered the broader cybersecurity threat landscape with insights from the PDI Q1 2025 Threat Landscape Report.
One key item to note for c-stores is that retail jumped from the eighth-most targeted sector to the fourth-most targeted industry sector between 2024 and 2025. Much of that rise was driven by a sudden surge in ransomware attacks—up by nearly 75% from Q4 2024.
To help address the spike in ransomware, Dan noted the increasing value of ongoing security awareness training to keep all employees prepared, a method shown to help reduce phishing clicks by up to 50%.
You can hear more from Dan on the recent “SOCaaS and AI: The Power Duo for Predictive Cybersecurity” webinar.
Register now for Connections Live 2025!
Don’t miss the industry’s premier training and networking event—join us for all the action in Denver, CO from August 24-27.