NACS Leadership Forum

Event overview (what it is): NACS Leadership Forum is a high-level convening event organized by NACS (the National Association of Convenience Stores) that brings together senior leaders from the convenience and fuel retail industry, along with key suppliers and partners that support store operators, fuels marketers, and category brands. Compared to a large general trade show, a leadership forum typically emphasizes strategy, executive networking, and direct interaction between decision-makers and industry solution providers.

Where and when: The exact date and venue can vary year to year. If you share the specific edition year (for example, 2025 or 2026), we can tighten location and timing. For now, this report is written for the event format and buyer composition typically associated with NACS leadership-focused programming.

1️⃣ Who attends (BUYERS / ATTENDEES)

Primary attendees (buyer decision-makers): The most valuable “buyer” audience is usually not entry-level staff. NACS Leadership Forum is designed to attract executive and senior operational leaders who influence budgets, vendor selection, and enterprise initiatives across fuel retail and convenience operations.

Common buyer attendee groups we expect to find:

• Convenience store operators and retailers: Owners, CEOs, Presidents, Managing Partners, and senior VPs overseeing store operations.
• Executive operations & category leadership: VPs of Operations, Chief Operating Officers (COOs), Directors of Retail Operations, and Merchandising/Category leaders responsible for store mix and performance.
• Fuel and procurement leadership: Heads of Fuel/Wholesale Procurement, Supply Chain leaders, and related purchasing directors (especially where fuels pricing, margins, and vendor terms matter).
• Technology & digital transformation leaders: CIOs/CTOs, VP of Technology, Heads of Payments, Loyalty, Cybersecurity, and enterprise systems (POS, loyalty, fleet management, integration, analytics).
• Payments, loyalty, and customer experience leaders: Leaders managing loyalty programs, branded payments, checkout modernization, and consumer data initiatives.
• Field leadership: Regional presidents, Area managers, Directors of Store Operations, and Program leaders scaling initiatives across multi-store footprints.
• Industry suppliers and service providers (also buyers): Senior executives from technology vendors, fuel system providers, logistics partners, marketing agencies, and kiosk/payment solutions.

In short: This is a leadership and strategy environment where buyer density is typically higher for senior decision-makers than in many “general attendance” retail shows.

2️⃣ Where the show is happening + attendee geographic origin

Show location: The event venue is selected to support executive travel and industry convenience. For the exact city/venue, we would align with the official event listing for the selected year.

Attendee geographic origin (typical pattern):

• United States (dominant): Because NACS is a U.S.-centered trade association, the majority of attendees are U.S.-based retailer executives and supplier leaders.
• Regional concentration: There is often a stronger presence from states with large convenience and fuel footprints and from markets represented by multi-store operator groups.
• Canada presence (secondary): Some Canadian convenience and fuels stakeholders may attend depending on cross-border relationships and the specific program agenda.
• Corporate travel profile: Attendees are typically flying in from operator headquarters and corporate technology/procurement teams.

Best geographic targeting approach: For attendee data or buyer sourcing, we generally see the highest conversion when we focus on:

• U.S. executives at multi-store convenience retail groups
• Technology/Payments/Operations leaders at operators and large supplier organizations
• Regional operator groups that are scaling store networks

3️⃣ Audience reach (Local / National / Global)

Reach type: Primarily National within the United States, with some broader North American visibility depending on attendee participation that year.

Why “National” matters for buyer sourcing: Leadership forums typically draw decision-makers who represent enterprise priorities (procurement, payments, loyalty, supply chain, technology rollouts). That means our buyer fit analysis should prioritize:

• Multi-location retailers
• Corporate-level decision makers
• Vendors supporting fueling, c-store operations, and customer engagement

4️⃣ Sample buyer company names (BUYERS ONLY) + Websites

Important note: We can refine these samples significantly once you provide your client/product requirements (Point 8). For now, the buyers below represent common executive and vendor categories that typically align with convenience retail leadership initiatives such as merchandising, payments, loyalty, technology, fuel supply, logistics, and store operations efficiency.

Top 5 buyer-fit samples to contact first (for rapid testing): 7-Eleven, Circle K, Wawa, Sheetz, Casey’s General Stores. These represent major operator leadership that is more likely to purchase platform and program-based solutions tied to technology, loyalty, payments, and merchandising.

5️⃣ Job profiles, industries & event type

Best job profiles to target:

• Chief Executive Officer (CEO) / President / Managing Partner (for large operator groups)
• COO / VP of Retail Operations / Director of Store Operations
• VP of Technology / CIO / CTO
• Head of Digital / Loyalty Director / Customer Engagement leader
• Head of Payments / Payments Product Manager (or equivalent)
• Director, Category Management / VP Merchandising
• Director, Supply Chain / Fuel Procurement Lead
• Enterprise Architecture leader (when the solution requires integrations)
• Senior Director, Security/IT Risk (if cybersecurity is relevant)
• Procurement leadership (category procurement, vendor management, sourcing)

Industries most aligned to this event type (what typically “belongs” here):

• Convenience retail and fuel retail operations (the core attendee base)
• Payments and transaction technology
• Retail technology (POS, in-store systems, enterprise retail platforms)
• Supply chain and logistics enablement
• Fuel and fuels marketing/channel partnerships
• Consumer marketing and loyalty ecosystem services

Event type categorization (for buyer sourcing): Executive leadership forum, industry strategy gathering, and solution-provider networking for the convenience and fuel retail supply ecosystem.

6️⃣ Estimated attendance (expected total footfall)

Estimated attendance: Typically several hundred to low-thousand attendees for a leadership forum format.

What we count as “footfall” for our analysis:

• Executive attendees (operators and suppliers)
• Keynotes and panel participants
• Briefing sessions and leadership networking groups
• Supplier and partner representatives attending by invitation or sponsorship

Buyer density expectation: Even if total attendance is smaller than a mega exhibition, the likelihood of encountering senior decision-makers is often higher in leadership settings. That typically improves conversion for B2B buyer outreach versus large trade shows with broader attendance.

7️⃣ Key focus areas & buyer engagement

Key focus areas (likely to drive attendance and conversation):

• Store growth and profitability: margin improvement, operational efficiency, and scaling playbooks.
• Fuel and channel strategy: supplier partnerships, fuel procurement, and retail program design.
• Loyalty and customer engagement: multi-channel engagement, retention strategies, and value propositions.
• Payments modernization: checkout speed, payment acceptance, fraud prevention, and omnichannel payments.
• Retail technology and POS ecosystem: systems upgrades, integration strategy, and data-driven operations.
• Supply chain and execution: inventory availability, vendor reliability, and logistics improvements.
• Risk and compliance: operational governance, IT risk, and security (where applicable to the session agenda).

Buyer engagement approach (how we position the message): For this kind of event, outreach should emphasize “executive relevance” rather than “mass attendee lists.” The most effective pitch angles usually connect to measurable outcomes like:

• Improved transaction speed and conversion
• Higher customer retention and loyalty performance
• Reduced operational friction and better store-level execution
• Lower risk in payments, data, and vendor operations
• Improved merchandising performance and category profitability

8️⃣ Client-product fit note (we need your client website to finalize best buyers)

Step 1 (required from you): Please share your client website URL (or the landing page where we can see the product/service). We will review it and confirm:

• Which buyer personas are the best match (operator leadership vs. supplier-side technology teams)
• Which job titles to prioritize (payments/loyalty, ops, procurement, IT, merchandising, etc.)
• Which industries and solution categories to filter for within the attendee universe

Step 2 (how we will pick “best buyers” once we review the site):

• If your client sells payments, POS, loyalty, or checkout modernization, we will prioritize titles like Head of Payments, CIO/CTO, Director of Loyalty, VP Technology, Enterprise Systems, and Payments Product owners.
• If your client sells retail operations software (workforce scheduling, inventory optimization, store execution, analytics), we will prioritize COO/VP Operations, Director of Store Operations, VP Retail Technology, and Supply Chain/Inventory leaders.
• If your client sells fuel/channel partnerships, fuel systems, or supply chain logistics, we will prioritize procurement, fuel strategy, supply chain directors, and enterprise procurement leadership.
• If your client sells marketing services, we will prioritize Customer Engagement leadership, VP Marketing, Loyalty program directors, and trade marketing/key account roles.
• If your client sells cybersecurity or IT risk solutions, we will prioritize CISO/Cybersecurity leaders, IT Risk, and enterprise security decision-makers.

Until we see the client website: the “best buyers” list above is a starting shortlist aligned with common NACS Leadership Forum buyer interests. Once you provide the website, we will return a refined buyer ranking and a tighter title-to-company match.

9️⃣ Industry suggestions (mapped to the industry list we typically use)

Based on how NACS Leadership Forum buyer interests usually align with industry taxonomy, the most relevant industries to filter for are:

• Retail
• Logistics & Supply Chain
• Payments-related tech falls under: Computer Software, Information Technology & Services, and Computer & Network Security (depending on the product)
• Marketing/loyalty ecosystem falls under: Marketing & Advertising and Public Relations & Communications (depending on service type)
• Professional services and vendor enablement can fall under: Business Supplies & Equipment (if applicable) and Management Consulting (if the offering is advisory)
• Technology event fit: Events Services only if the client is event production/partnering (usually not the core here, but possible)

Best practical approach: We use the industry filters above as a first pass, then tighten with job title targeting and company type logic (convenience retail operators vs. technology/payments/supply vendors).

Final recommendation (quality expectations for buyer sourcing)

Overall buyer suitability: Strong for senior decision-maker outreach. NACS Leadership Forum is generally a better match for B2B buyers selling enterprise solutions (payments, loyalty, store technology, operational systems, supply chain enablement, and customer engagement services) than for purely consumer-facing offers.

Primary buyer segment we recommend we prioritize:

• Convenience/fuel retail executives (Ops, Merchandising, Technology, Payments, Loyalty, Supply Chain)
• Supplier organizations that support those priorities (retail tech, payments, logistics, fuel programs)

Next action from us: Please share your client website URL so we can review the product/service and return the best buyer list (with priority ranking and title targeting aligned to your exact requirements).