Watershed Moments In Convenience Retailing

Water may be nature’s most essential gift, but that doesn’t stop consumers from looking for a little bit more.

Water is Legendary

Water is about as indispensable as it gets. It’s humankind’s direct connection to nature: sixty percent of our bodies is made out of it; you can only go a few days without it.

Yes, there’s nothing more essential than good old H2O, but that hasn’t stopped people from looking for ways to improve it.

No surprise there: since ancient times the human race has been conditioned to expect legendary attributes from their water.

Greek Hero Achilles got dunked in the River Styx to make him invulnerable (except for—oops—his heel). Ponce de Leon visited the early Americas to search for the Fountain of Youth. Incans considered Lake Titicaca, on the Peruvian/Bolivian border, the be the starting point of human civilization.

A Little Something Extra

So people have been thinking about adding a little extra to their water for a while. In places hot enough to grow citrus, like the Ancient Mediterranean and Middle East, they used those fruits for flavor. In Medieval and Renaissance Europe, they liked to distill things to create floral waters like violet and water lily. In spice trading hubs, such as India and China, they’d mix in ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom.

Much, much later, mass produced packaging opened up a new set of possibilities for water sales. Providers of mineral water were early adopters[1]. Glass containers offered an opportunity to store and transport their products, often carbonated, without going flat. Many of those early manufacturers are still going strong today: Schweppes (1783) from Germany, Evian (1829) from France, Saratoga Springs (1830s) from New York, and Perrier (1889) from France.

It only took almost 100 more years to come the first mass-produced flavored bottled water in 1969, Clearly Canadian.[2] But that, as it turns out, was just a ripple on the surface.

21st Century Additives

In the 21st Century, beverage technology, competition, and an increase in discerning consumers have resulted in a incredible number of variations on the most basic drink of all.[3] A large segment of modern products expand on water’s fundamental health and zero calorie appeal, ratcheting up its inherent strengths with immunity and energy additives. Propel Fitness Water was one of the first to add electrolytes and fruit flavors, in 2000.[4]

In time the development lead to a whole new subcategory, “functional water,” which is another way to say enhanced water. Here’s a table of some of the more common types you find on c-store shelves today, and their purported benefits:

Boutique and Private Label Waters

Two other kinds of water that have begun to trend in convenience retail are boutique and private label waters.

Boutique waters often highlight regional purity, artisanal sourcing, or eco-conscious packaging—appealing to health-conscious and premium-seeking buyers. Examples include Mountain Valley Spring Water (Arkansas), Castle Rock Water (California), and that old favorite, mentioned above, Saratoga Springs Water (New York).

Paralleling this development is the private label. In large chains these are bottles labelled the with the c-store company’s own brand. TXB and Love’s Travel stops offer variations under their brand. So do SSCS customers Circle K and Onvo. While some selections are basic water, some c-stores do carry branded local variations with regional appeal, often marketed for their purity or sustainability. If you are a trusted c-store brand, there’s a distinct advantage to carrying your own private label water: it’s proven to be the top-selling c-store subcategory.[5]

Carrying a bunch of different types of water might seem a little head-spinning for a c-store operator at first, but no more than the rest of a diversifying, ever expanding inventory. If you’ve got the right technology in place to track and manage your items, supported by the best team in the business, it becomes far less of a big deal. At SSCS, we’ve got exactly the right kind of software to help you get every drop of profit you can from your product mix. Give us a call at (800) 972-7727, and we’ll help unbottle your store’s potential.

[1] History Oasis; “Timeline of Bottled Water;” no date listed.

[2] “Time Line of Bottled Water”

[3] While soda fountains and early brands like Hires Root Beer were technically carbonated water, the syrups added to them as such a part of their identity that they become another beverage completely.

[4] flavorman.com; “Flavored Waters”; no date listed.

[5] Private Brands in Convenience; NACS Research and Technology Paper; p. 12; 2023.