Never stop learning: How the global convenience retailing industry is investing in future-proofing its leaders

By Alina Dizik

An industry that reaches tens of millions of consumers daily demands leaders who can keep pace. For the 2,000 supplier members and 1,300 retailer members of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), a global trade association across more than 50 countries, that means taking leadership development seriously.

Estimated to generate 160 million transactions daily in the United States alone, no other retailing sector touches as many consumers as convenience and fuel retailing.  The association’s membership spans the full spectrum of the market, from family-run neighborhood shops to multinational convenience chains and everything in between. And as the broader retail landscape rapidly evolves, shaped by the increasing use of AI and automation while catering to shifting shopper expectations, it’s NACS that convenience leaders rely on to stay informed and competitive.

NACS partnered with Kellogg Executive Education 11 years ago to equip industry leaders with the insights, processes and tools to navigate changing consumer behavior, align diverse stakeholders and think strategically about what’s next.

“Kellogg is translating these cutting-edge ideas into scalable playbooks for all of our members,” says Frank Gleeson, president and CEO of Alexandria, Va.-based NACS, which partners with Kellogg Executive Education to deliver the weeklong marketing program for roughly 40 members each year. “It’s not just for marketers, it’s for company leaders who want to have insight into consumers, and it offers them real diversity of ideas.”

Building leadership at scale

Henry Armour, who recently concluded a 20-year tenure as president and CEO of NACS and launched the offering with Kellogg, says topics have shifted in the last decade. “The first few years our program had nothing on digital marketing; today half the sessions have elements of digital marketing,” says Armour. “Every year, we sat down with the faculty and we reviewed the curriculum for the following year to ensure it was meeting ever-changing needs.”

In retail today, the focus is on “understanding customer journeys,” Armour explains. “While the path was once prescribed around fulfilling a shopping need, it’s now shifting toward understanding the customer’s full day and how digital increasingly shapes it,” he says. “We look at the most productive intercept points and always include a session on KPIs and the value of a well-developed marketing plan. The most interesting impact so far is in marketing ideation, particularly the creative process, where AI is proving most productive.”

The Kellogg program, which launched more than a decade ago, is part of a portfolio of executive education programs offered at NACS to its members. Other programs include courses through Cornell’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management,  MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Yale University’s School of Management and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. NACS member companies who attend three or more executive education courses earn a NACS Master of Convenience designation for their investment in personal leadership development. “There’s tons of automation in the industry—from loyalty to intelligence to store transformation and dynamic pricing—unless you can go to places to learn about it, you’re a year or two behind,” Gleeson says. “Kellogg gives that world-class platform to do it.”

Courses are delivered through case-based learning with faculty including academic directors Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing, and Julie Hennessy, who leads Kellogg Executive Education’s global programming. Here are a few of the highlights from the weeklong session: 

AI tools for marketers 

Taught by Mohanbir Sawhney, clinical professor of marketing, the course explores how understanding everyday human behavior, including quick decisions, habitual stops and impulse buys, makes convenience retailing well-suited for generative AI.

Building successful customer loyalty programs

The course is taught by Thomas O’Toole, clinical professor of marketing, drawing on his expertise in customer loyalty to allow executives to design programs that strengthen repeat visits and translate shopper data into sustained growth.

Demonstrating the ROI

The NACS custom executive education course at Kellogg sells out each year, says Gleeson. And executives come back to the office with practical playbooks. “Once they return, they are using behavioral design to make stores feel more intuitive, thinking about customer insights beyond surveys, and using AI for practical applications like promotions and taking work away to make individual units more efficient,” he says.

For Kevin Martello, vice president of foodservice and industry relations at Keurig Dr Pepper, who partners with NACS to co-endow the NACS Marketing Leadership Program at Kellogg, the takeaways are “foundational.” Many attendees leave with strategies they can put into practice internally, as well as in their work with retail partners while continuing to network among the course participants. “Through the NACS Alumni network, that exchange of ideas, insights and best-in-class practices carries throughout the year,” he says.

Circle K, which operates more than 17,200 stores globally,  sends executives from all over the world to study at the Global Hub. Each year demand outstrips the six available spots, says Sue Vandersall, senior vice president of global talent development at the company. “When people come back, they feel we’re not the only ones with these challenges,” she says. “They are connecting with the bigger picture; the consistent theme is it teaches them to look outside of their silo.”

As convenience retail continues to expand its digital presence, programs like the Kellogg partnership are designed to prepare executives to rethink store formats, customer engagement and operational strategy for next-gen retail. For NACS, it’s about shaping, not just reacting to, industry change.

Interested in a custom professional development program for your company? Learn more about Kellogg Executive Education or send an inquiry to our team to start the conversation.